Frances Tiafoe Sparks First Laver Cup Victory for Team World

After dropping the first set to Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday, France Tiafoe stormed back to win the hotly contested match and give Team World the overall victory at the Laver Cup. 

The 24-year-old American staved off four match points in the second-set tie-break to eventually force a winner-take-all third set. He dialed up just enough magic to rally back from a lackluster start to the match and pull out the win over the Greek star, 1–6, 7–6(11), 10–8.

After the match-winning point, Tiafoe collapsed to the ground in celebration as his Team World teammates flooded the court to rejoice in their 13–8 victory over Team Europe

“It is an unbelievable feeling,” Tiafoe said in his on-court interview, per ATP. “Our captain Jonny Mac was tired of losing … saying we needed to get it done this year on his fifth try. All week leading up I kept saying this was our year. The guys showed up. Felix beat Novak, Jack and Felix also played unbelievable doubles. We all did it together, it wasn’t just me. I showed a lot of heart to get this done. This is big. We are going to celebrate big tonight.”

Sunday’s result finished out a strong Laver Cup for Tiafoe, who also downed Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in doubles alongside fellow American Jack Sock earlier in the team event. The match was the final one of Federer’s accomplished career. 

Tiafoe, the No. 19-ranked player in the world, finally broke through in singles when he made the semifinals at this year’s U.S. Open. Though he fell to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set thriller, the 24-year-old established himself as a clear competitor among a generation of young players stuffed with talent.