Alex de Minaur may have ended up with a bloodied knee from a typically fearless diving volley but he was happy to draw blood for Team World by saving a match point en route to downing Alexander Zverev at the Laver Cup.
Helping drag Andre Agassi’s side back into the three-day event at London’s O2 Arena, the Australian, who simply thrives in team competition, maintained his 100 per cent singles win record against Europe in Laver Cup duels, fighting back to defeat double grand slam champ Zverev 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 11-9.
“If you can notice, my blood is red as well,” De Minaur said, smiling at how Team World’s scarlet shirts had seemed to reflect his bloodied right leg, which he had hurt when making the spectacular tumbling Boris Becker-like volley on his way to winning a point in the match tie-breaker.
“It was a very tough match. A tough battle. I left it all out there and got fortunate in the end to get the job done and I’m happy to give some points for Team World.”
It was de Minaur’s fourth singles win in three editions of the Cup in which he’s yet to be defeated in singles combat, and his second-straight victory over Zverev after defeating the German in San Francisco last year as Team World won the title.
“We were in the same position last year and it worked out pretty well for us. We know we can do some damage. We know we’re the underdogs, but we also know that we can step out on this court and light it up,” de Minaur said.
His victory on Sunday morning AEST put Team World into the lead after Europe’s 3-1 overnight lead had evaporated when American Learner Tien outlasted Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in a baseline slugfest to secure a 6-3, 2-6, 10-7 victory in the opener to the second day.
But de Minaur’s victory was rather more unexpected, especially with Zverev being on a rare roll, unbeaten in nine matches and fresh from both his US Open triumph and two Davis Cup wins.
But de Minaur had looked in good shape on Davis Cup duty in Queensland too and he never gave up the ghost, even when Zverev was serving for the match.Â
“Check his oil,” Agassi had told de Minaur, trying to get him to force Zverev into a wearying war of attrition.
Even then, Zverev missed his big chance, serving for the match and a straight-sets win at 5-4 in the second stanza only to cough up two double faults that allowed de Minaur to break and level the match on a tiebreak.
The next crisis point for de Minaur was when Zverev gained match point in the first-to-10-point match tiebreak, only to play a conservative point.
De Minaur then earned a match point of his own and capitalised on the world number two coming up with a weak smash, which he returned with an irretrievable sharp down-the-line backhand to seal his two-hour win.
AAP
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