Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton create Laver Cup chemistry to best Alcaraz-Zverev in Berlin

Neither Laver Cup team will head into Day 2 with the advantage, after both sides put up two points Friday in Berlin.

Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton stepped up in the final contest of the day to deny Carlos Alcaraz a winning event debut alongside German No. 1 Alexander Zverev. Fritz and Shelton secured a 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory at Uber Arena to bring Team World even with Team Europe at 2-2.

“We both served really well under pressure. Ben served incredibly well. I didn’t have to hit any volleys, so that was huge,” Fritz told Andrea Petkovic on court.

“It makes life pretty easy when you’re playing with a guy who’s moving like Taylor is right now. Pretty light on his feet,” added Shelton.

Having built a 5-2 lead by challenging Zverev when he was the net man, matters became complicated for Team World. Once Fritz stepped to the line a game later looking to serve out the set, the lack of first serves from the US Open finalist and shaky errors by Shelton gave the opposition a window of opportunity. Zverev nailed an inside-out forehand return winner to clinch the break, leading to a tie-break.

Two misreads by Zverev—Fritz's backhand stab lob on the opening point that allowed the Americans to reset the point and his changing the direction of a rally crosscourt—saw the Team Europe pair fall behind 4-1. And this time, Fritz and Shelton protected their advantage to grab the one-set lead.

In the fourth game of set two, Alcaraz and Zverev had four chances to move ahead 3-1 against the Fritz serve. None were converted and neither tandem would see another break point until 4-4. In a lengthy rally, Shelton split Alcaraz at the net and Zverev on the baseline with a deep forehand winner.

The lefty then shook off the first double fault of the encounter to hold from 15-30 in the final game.

“We had a lot of fun. This is our first time playing together and I think the chemistry was pretty good,” said Shelton. “It’s tough that we can’t play together again here, but I think you’ll see us on the doubles court in the future somewhere.”

Is his partner in sync with the idea? It appears so.

“Definitely some tournaments down the line, we’ll test it out a bit more. If it keeps going well, you could see us at Davis Cup, maybe.”

Team Europe's Grigor Dimitrov earlier kicked off the evening session by battling past Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2). The Bulgarian saved three set points in the second set and crossed the finish line despite struggling with an injury that looked similar to the problem that hampered his US Open bid.