GENEVA, September 21, 2019
Team Europe leads 5-3 over Team World after Satuday’s Day Session at the Laver Cup in Geneva. Roger Federer edged past Nick Kyrgios in what has probably been the the most-exciting match of the weekend so far.
In front of about 17,000 spectators inside the Palexpo Arena, the Swiss maestro thrilled his home fans with a 6-7(5), 7-5, 10-7 victory over the Australian. Federer withstood 14 aces and broke Kyrgios’ serve two times to prevail after one hour and 50 minutes. The 38-year-old from Basel remains unbeaten in Laver Cup singles matches with a 5-0 record.
“I was just trying to stay focused. If you can turn the momentum, the crowd gets back into it and I need some earplugs next time, it was just phenomenal,” Federer said.
“Today was extremely loud. I don’t recall that on the tour ever being almost this loud. I remember Bogota, when I played an XO in Colombia, when I walked on court, I was scared,” the 20-time Grand-Slam champion smiled. “So this reminded me of this. Those were maybe my two loudest moments, and one I had today. So I’m very happy.”
“I had goosebumps.”@rogerfederer discusses his win over Nick Kyrgios, the crowd’s impact on the match and how Rafa’s coaching helped him on court.#LaverCup pic.twitter.com/VxkqaN7R2U
— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) September 21, 2019
Earlier in the day, John Isner fought past Alexander Zverev in three sets to level the scores at 3-3. The World No. 20 from the United States fired 14 aces, played a rock-solid champions tie-break and won three points more than the 22-year-old German to secure a 6-7(2), 6-4, 10-1 victory in one hour and 34 minutes.
“I wasn’t making any inroads on his serve at all and he was the better player for 85 per cent of that match,” said Isner.
“Of course, I got a little lucky at 4-4 but once I got up 5-4, I had a lot of momentum, and I think I showed that in the tiebreaker.”
John Isner: “It’s 3-3. We’re in this. We’re here to win this!“ #LaverCup pic.twitter.com/JiSI6fub4a
— Florian Heer (@Florian_Heer) September 21, 2019
“I can’t say that I played a bad match. I was a bit unlucky in the end but John played a very good tie-break,” said Zverev, who is making his second appearance in Geneva this season. In May, the World No. 6 lifted his 11th ATP Tour career trophy at the Geneva Open clay-court event.
“Both tournaments are very important to me. I played the ATP event here, as I hadn’t played a good clay-court season and I managed to win my first title of the year. The Laver Cup is also very important, as you are part of a team and represent your continent. The matches are really good and very close.”
