The American tennis player Ben Shelton defeat the Russian Daniel Medvedev by 6-7 (8-6), 7-5 and 10-7, in the second match of the final day of the Laver Cup, and put the World Team at 11-7 overall, just one victory away from winning the title.
After the doubles victory starring the European duo Carlos Alcaraz-Casper Ruud, which tightened the score for Europe, Shelton himself, who was present in the pairs duel with his compatriot Frances Tiafoe, did not seem to notice the blow and, thanks to his excellent serve, he held serve in the first stage.
The Russian, Tiafoe’s victim on Saturday, continued on the same path and the first set was a steady exchange of points from serve with almost no response from the opponent.
This scenario can only lead to sudden death, which was forced after a compromised service by Medvedev. In the tiebreaker, thanks to his powerful left foot, the one from Atlanta seemed to channel the tie break, where he had two set points to the fury of the Russian, who threw his racket to the ground.
However, Shelton, who was beginning to feel tired – he was playing his fifth match against Laver – was unable to convert his chances and Medvedev rallied to overcome the deficit and win the first set.
The second set started with the same trend and both players found no resistance on their serve, until the game reached the sixth.
The accumulated fatigue seemed to take its toll on the Atlanta striker, who, with 2-3 from 0-40 in the game, was forced to shoot well to save four breaking balls and stay in the contest.
In his next service, he again saved another tight situation, but it helped him to gain morale. At 5-5 and Medvedev’s ball, the Russian earned a weakness in the face of Shelton’s new push and hit the net with an easy shot that resulted in a break for the American. In the following game, the world number 17 confirmed the advantage and sent the match to the final set.
In the resolution, the mentality of the Muscovite failed again, with new single hits falling on the tape that the young American took advantage of to break number 5 in the ATP rankings.
With this victory, the World Team extended its lead in the overall standings by four points. The next duel, between German Alexander Zverev and the North American Frances Tiafoe, may be the decisive one.
If the representative of the intercontinental team achieves victory, the Laver Cup will go to the showcase team led by John McEnroe. Otherwise, the trophy will be settled in a final clash in between Alcaraz and the American Taylor Fritz.
Source: La Verdad
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