The scoreboard shows its shape. Europe was leading 3-1 after Friday, when only Brandon Nakashima’s win over Mensik interrupted them. Team World then won Saturday’s first two matches, Learner Tien over Cobolli and de Minaur over Alexander Zverev to take a 5-3 lead, before Carlos Alcaraz saved two points against Fritz to level it at 5-5 and Kasper Ruud and Zverev won the night’s doubles 7-5.
Europe moved to 10-5 in Sunday’s opener, with Zverev beating Tien 7-6 (3), 6-3, 13-5, with the final two singles not played.
Mensik, who was on the wrong end of the same math twelve months ago, knew exactly what an overnight lead was worth. “Compared to last year, it was the opposite, we needed three matches to win, they needed two,” he said. “It’s certainly a better position to have.”
Of course, for Carlos, he feels it in his body, so for him to prioritize singles
Henman explained the call afterward, and it was as much about who didn’t play. “We have been really busy for the last five-six days. You take into account the physical nature of the surface and the demands of the matches,” said the vice-captain. “Certainly for Carlos, he feels it in his body, so to prioritize singles for him. With Flavio and Jakub ready, it was a good combination. As Fritz and de Minaur were also due to play singles, we would have been happy to keep them there as long as possible.”
The risk showed early. “We were playing for the first time, so we needed some time to get to know each other a little bit on the court. The start was a little difficult, but the longer the match went on, the more comfortable we felt,” said Mensik. “Even if we were disruptive, I believed in us, we had chances on the return, and anything can happen in doubles.”
Kobolli’s best feeling
Kobolli was waiting for the assignment. “I like a lot of pressure when I play tennis, so we knew from the first day that today was three, not one. You have to be ready every day to play in this form,” said the Italian. Having been defeated by Tien yesterday, he had his own reason for wanting this; “Yesterday I was feeling bad because of my loss, so it’s great for me to win this game and get the energy up.”
It also handed Zverev, beaten by de Minaur on Saturday, the easiest possible option. “We had three chances to close it in singles, and especially with Carlos playing after me, it gives me a lot of confidence, a little freedom to play,” the German said on court. “But it was still an incredibly tough match, credit to the Learner as well.”
We didn’t have a bit of hesitation when it came to putting our doubles teams together
Team World saw the same heel on the other side. “They can have matches on Day 3, so being in a position where going into Day 3 we have to win three out of four matches when they pick the matches, that’s just a tough ask,” Fritz said. Andre Agassi called Sunday’s schedule “a brutal advantage and we still almost beat it”, while Patrick Rafter pointed to his own pairings: After losing two players in the two weeks leading up to the event, “we didn’t have a bit of hesitation when we started putting our doubles teams together.”
Zverev, who has now played the event more often than anyone, was left with an answer that explains why the selection mattered at all. “To win as a team. There is no better feeling in sports, and we don’t get enough of it in tennis.”