Carlos Alcaraz rises to Laver Cup occasion with singles victory over Ben Shelton

Carlos Alcaraz's first Laver Cup singles match couldn't have gone better. The reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion handed American Ben Shelton his first-ever defeat in five Laver Cup matches in singles action Saturday, 6-4, 6-4, in a performance that Tennis Channel's Jason Goodall dubbed the Spaniard's best since winning Wimbledon in July.

Playing in Laver Cup for the first time this year in Berlin, Alcaraz quickly erased any doubts that might've resulted from coming out on the losing end alongside Alexander Zverev in doubles on Friday night. The Spaniard saved all five break points he faced in his meeting with Shelton, breaking the American's vaunted serve late in the first set and early in the second en route to taking victory in one hour and 43 minutes.

"I'm really happy for being part of Team Europe for the first time," Alcaraz, who hit 23 winners to 13 unforced errors, said afterwards. "I'm trying to play ... to help my team. Ben is a really powerful player, a really tough one, but I played a really solid match.

"I put a lot of returns in, which was what I had to do if I wanted to beat him ... and I'm really happy to get the points for Team Europe."

With each victory worth two points on the second day of play, Alcaraz's win leveled the score between Team Europe and Team World at 4-4 to close out Saturday's morning session. Earlier, Frances Tiafoe put the two-time defending champions on top with his first win in six attempts over Daniil Medvedev, 3-6, 6-4, [10-5].

“Honestly I just started having fun. Laughing with my team, laughing with my team over there and here. Just having a bit of fun and started really finding my rhythm,” Tiafoe said. “The courts are obviously much slower than I’m used to playing on, so it’s tough playing Daniil on this court.

"But after the second set, midway into the second and in the tiebreak, I felt like I was Roger Federer, honestly.”

The quip got two thumbs up from Federer himself, who was seated in the front row.

Saturday's night session will see a US Open rematch between Taylor Fritz and Alexander Zverev, before Shelton returns to the court with Alejandro Tabilo to take on Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas.