Laver Cup, Day 2 Preview: Fritz meets Zverev yet again after Alcaraz and Shelton face off

After one day and four matches, we have a competitive Laver Cup. The score between Team Europe and Team World stands at 2-2. But the stakes rise on Saturday, when each result counts for two points instead of one. Either team can break it open on the middle day.

Europe’s players once again have the higher rankings in all three singles matches. Can World pull off an upset and keep it close for another day?

Daniil Medvedev vs. Frances Tiafoe

Medvedev and Tiafoe have only played just once since 2021, which is probably the way the American likes it. He’s 0-5 against the Russian, and he’s taken just one set in those meetings. Medvedev’s consistency, defensive skills, and knack for making his opponents hit tough volleys all conspire to disrupt Tiafoe’s offensive-minded game.

Who will the slow indoor surface in Berlin favor? Medvedev likes hard courts, we know, but he doesn’t necessarily like them this slow. The last time these two played on a surface like this, at Indian Wells in 2023, Tiafoe pushed Medvedev through two close sets. Tiafoe has also been hot of late, and he likes a big stage, including Laver Cup’s. In 2022, he clinched Team World’s first Cup with a match-tiebreaker win over Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday.

All of which should make this an interesting clash of very different styles and personalities. Winner: Medvedev

Carlos Alcaraz vs. Ben Shelton

These two 21-year-olds have played once, in Canada last summer. Alcaraz won in two sets, but it wasn’t a pretty affair. The Spaniard and the American can both hit their rough patches, and that day they traded them back and forth.

We should get something better on Saturday. Alcaraz will want to make a good impression in his Laver Cup singles debut. Shelton, meanwhile, has thrived in the competition so far. He’s 4-0 total, and 1-0 in singles. Most important, he has a serve that’s made for the great indoors.

Still, the match will likely reside on Alcaraz’s racquet, the way it usually does. What type of form will he be in? Will he be able to find a decent, steady level before two sets are over? On a good day, Shelton has the firepower to pin him back and keep him from finding that baseline rhythm he loves. Winner: Alcaraz

Alexander Zverev vs. Taylor Fritz

The day-session singles matches will give us a couple of matchups that we don’t see often. The night session? Not so much. Fritz vs. Zverev is getting to be a big-event tradition. And an increasingly competitive one. With his wins over Zverev at Wimbledon and the US Open this year, Fritz has pulled even in their head-to-head at 5-5.

Before 2024, these two had traded wins and losses back and forth, and the circumstances seem to call for a return to that pattern on Saturday. Zverev will be playing in front of his hometown fans, and he should like the slower court more than Fritz.

Whichever way it goes, this battle of bomb servers will probably come down to a shot or two, or one clutch return at the right time. It will also be a telling test for their personal rivalry. Zverev isn’t going to want to go out three straight times to a contemporary he’s always been ranked ahead of. Winner: Zverev

Casper Ruud/Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Ben Shelton/Alejandro Tabilo

The Europeans are the higher-ranked and more-accomplished singles players, and Tsitsipas has the highest doubles ranking of the four, at No. 95. But Shelton and Tabilo play doubles more regularly, and each possesses the lefty serve that can be so deadly in the four-man format.

Ruud has never played doubles before in this event, and Tsitsipas is 1-2 in three appearances. Still, they seem like a good combination. One guy can hit forehand bombs from the baseline, while the other patrols the net. But Shelton is 4-0 in Laver Cup doubles, he brings game-breaking pace with his serve and forehand, and he’s energetic a presence in the forecourt. That may be enough to keep Team World on its doubles roll. Winner: Shelton/Tabilo