Team World close to retaining Laver Cup a third straight time

BERLIN — Team World just needs two more match wins to claim the Laver Cup a third straight time.

Team World won three of four matches from Team Europe on Saturday to take an 8-4 points lead into the third and final day.

After Friday’s matches were split evenly, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz beat top-five opponents and Ben Shelton and Alejandro Tabilo crushed Europe’s Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-1, 6-2.

Team Europe’s only win came from Carlos Alcaraz, the French Open and Wimbledon champion. He beat Shelton 6-4, 6-4 with one break in each set. Alcaraz saved all five break points he faced. Shelton conceded his first sets in his fifth career Laver Cup match.

Tiafoe, who reached the US Open semifinals, beat No. 5 Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 6-4 (10-5) for the first time in six attempts.

“Midway in the second [set] and in the tiebreak, I felt like I was Roger Federer, honestly,” Tiafoe joked while smiling at Federer, who was in the stands.

No. 7-ranked Fritz, the US Open finalist, upset No. 2 Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-5 for his third consecutive win over the German. Fritz hit 27 winners to Zverev’s 11.

The day ended with Shelton’s and Tabilo’s doubles rout.

The Laver Cup is formatted like golf’s Ryder Cup. The first team to 13 points wins. There are four matches on Sunday, each worth three points.