Vancouver | Team Europe gain their first points

It seems that John McEnroe will not be returning the Laver Cup to Bjorn Borg as his Team World, having won it for the first time in the fifth year of the competition, continue to dominate Team Europe in the Rogers Arena, Vancouver, Canada where the event is being staged this year.

Having made a clean sweep of the opening day, Team World came close to repeating that on Day Two of the three-day competition leaving Team Europe with the task of winning all the remaining matches on Day Three (where wins collect three points) and overhaul them at the finish line – a seemingly impossible task.

Casper Ruud secured Team Europe's only points at tis year's event so far

(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for Laver Cup)

Taylor Frit kept the’ host’s’ momentum going forward when he took out Andrey Rublev 6-2 7-6(3) but then came the first glimpse of a possible revival by the ‘visitors’ when Norway’s Casper Ruud claimed Team Europe’s first points with a 7-6(2) 6-2 victory over Tommy Paul but that revival proved short-lived, as Frances Tiafoe got Team World back on track with a 7-5 6-3 defeat of Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz and the doubles pairing of Feix Auger Aliassime and Ben Shelton overwhelming Hurkacz and Gael Monfils 7-5 6-4.

With the overall score now standing at 10-2 in favour of his team, it wasn’t surprising to see McEnroe beaming court-side though he did express caution.

“We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing. The job’s not done but we’re pretty close.”

That sentiment was echoed by Auger Aliassime playing in front of his home crowd: “It’s not over yet, we get to go again tomorrow,” the Canadian said following the doubles.

Commenting after posting their first points, Team Europe captain Borg said: “Team World is strong, they’ve been playing great tennis. I think hopefully, we’ll be slowly coming back.”

However, as things stand, regaining the Laver Cup which he held for four consecutive years, will require a massive effort by Borg’s team.