ATP Tour

Alcaraz saves 2 MPs, survives Fritz thriller at Laver Cup

Plenty of smiles, drop shots, lobs and more led to a memorable victory for Carlos Alcaraz Saturday evening at the Laver Cup.

One year after falling to Taylor Fritz at the event, Alcaraz returned the favour by saving two match points en route to a 6-3, 4-6, 13-11 victory against the American.

Despite Team Europe falling in the first two matches of the day, Alcaraz used his thrilling win to tie the Laver Cup at 5-5.

“Two great and tough losses today and obviously I was thinking a little bit about last year, [when] we lost every match on Saturday,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. “Coming into the match, I was trying not to let it happen again. So I was kind of nervous at the beginning, I’m not going to lie. But really happy that I took the win at the end.”

The Spaniard’s creativity was on full display throughout the match, from bringing Fritz forward to leaping sky high to flick balls back in the court and hitting a variety of lobs. The drop shot proved particularly effective, including on the last point of the match.

“I feel the drop shot is part of my game… I am trying to use it in my favour. I think the drop shots that I made in the match, I think that I won if not every drop shot, at least a really high percentage of [them],” Alcaraz said. “So in those really close and important moments, I tried to use it because it was a really good weapon for me in this match.”

Alcaraz faced match points at 9/10 and 10/11 in the deciding tie-break. The 23-year-old saved the first with an ace down the T and the second by fending off a Fritz overhead.

According to Infosys ATP Stats, Alcaraz won 43 per cent of his return points to put pressure on Fritz’s serve throughout their clash. The No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings now leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 6-1. Fritz’s only win came at last year’s Laver Cup.

Now a critical doubles will set the stage for Sunday, the final day of play. Team Europe’s Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev will take on Team World’s Alexander Bublik and Brandon Nakashima.