Ruud beats Opelka in straight sets as Europe take Laver Cup lead
Team Europe go 1-0 up after the first singles match of this year’s competition
Casper Ruud at the Laver Cup in Boston
Picture Credit – Getty Images
EUROPE 1-0 WORLD, AFTER MATCH 1
RUUD (E) d. OPELKA (W), 6-3, 7-6(4)
Casper Ruud beat Reilly Opelka in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(4), as Team Europe drew first blood in the 2021 Laver Cup.
Felix Auger-Aliassime will look to level matters for Team World in the second singles encounter of the day when he takes on Matteo Berrettini.
The Norwegian got the first break of the tournament when he moved 2-1 ahead in the first set, and led all the way from there.
In the Laver Cup, singles and doubles matches are all best of three sets with ad scoring. In the event of split sets, the third set is a 10-point match tiebreaker.
Each player will compete in at least one singles match during the first two days – but no player can play singles more than twice during the three days.
Each match win is worth one point on Friday, two points on Saturday, and three points on Sunday.
The first team to reach 13 points out of a total 24 points available wins the tournament. If the points are tied at 12-12 at the end of all matches, a decider is played on Sunday to confirm the champions.
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