Djokovic key to giving Europe big lead in Laver Cup on return to action

Djokovic
had
not
played
since
taking
his
grand
slam
count
to
21
with
the
Wimbledon
title
in
July,
but
he
looked
as
if
he
had
hardly
been
away
as
the
Serbian
beat
Frances
Tiafoe
and
then
teamed
up
with
Matteo
Berrettini
in
the
doubles.

Tiafoe
beat
Rafael
Nadal
at
the
US
Open
earlier
this
month
and
combined
with
Jack
Sock
on
Friday
to
defeat
the
Spaniard
again
in
what
was
Roger
Federer’s
last
ever
match,
but
the
American
could
not
get
to
grips
with
Djokovic
in
Saturday’s
final
singles
contest.

Djokovic’s
6-1
6-3
win
secured
two
points
for
Team
Europe
to
put
them
out
in
front,
and
he
was
involved
again
in
the
last
of
the
day’s
action
as
the
team’s
advantage
doubled
to
four
points.

Berrettini
and
Djokovic
tussled
with
Sock
and
Alex
de
Minaur
and
ultimately
had
too
much,
winning
7-5
6-2
in
less
than
an
hour
and
a
half.

Earlier,
Taylor
Fritz’s
three-set
triumph
over
Cameron
Norrie
put
Team
World
briefly
back
on
level
terms.

Fritz
made
a
brutal
start
but
ended
up
being
forced
to
a
match
tie-break,
eventually
coming
through
with
a
6-1
4-6
10-8
victory.

That
wiped
out
the
two-point
lead
Berrettini
had
given
Europe
in
the
first
match
of
the
day,
with
the
Italian
edging
Saturday’s
most
gruelling
tussle.

He
saw
off
Felix
Auger-Aliassime
7-6
(13-11)
4-6
10-7,
and
despite
finding
himself
on
court
for
over
two
hours,
Berrettini
was
still
sharp
enough
to
emerge
victorious
alongside
Djokovic.