London: Frances Tiafoe clinched the Laver Cup title for Team World on Sunday, saving four match points to edge Team Europe's Stefanos Tsitsipas 1-6, 7-6(11), 10-8 and give his side a 13-8 victory, here.
John McEnroe's side entered the final day of the three-day event in London trailing four-time champions Team Europe 4-8. However, with each win worth three points on Sunday, Team World turned the tables in style to win the Laver Cup for the first time.
"I don't want to talk too much because I want the party to begin very soon. But I want to thank my players. They brought energy, belief and intensity. I want to especially thank my brother Patrick, my right hand," McEnroe said during the trophy ceremony.
In front of an electric crowd at The O2, Tiafoe saved four match points in the second-set tie-break as he produced moments of magic at the crucial moments to triumph after one hour and 46 minutes.
The American's victory sparked scenes of celebration on the bench, with his teammates running onto court to embrace the World No 19, who collapsed to the floor in delight.
"It is an unbelievable feeling. Our captain Jonny Mac was tired of losing…saying we needed to get it done this year on his fifth try. All week leading up I kept saying this was our year. The guys showed up," Tiafoe said in his on-court interview.
"Felix beat Novak, Jack and Felix also played unbelievable doubles. We all did it together, it wasn't just me. I showed a lot of heart to get this done. This is big. We are going to celebrate big tonight," he added.
Earlier, Felix Auger-Aliassime moved Team World to within one win of capturing the trophy, when he upset Team Europe's Novak Djokovic 6-3, 7-6(3).
The Canadian hit his spots on serve throughout the one-hour, 35-minute clash, while he opened his shoulders outmanoeuvre the former World No. 1 and earn his first victory against Djokovic.
"I've been close a few times and in recent times to win against these great champions, so it feels great to get the win. Especially in front of the fans in this arena and for Team World," Auger-Aliassime said in his on-court interview.
In the first match of the day, Auger-Aliassime and Sock edged Matteo Berrettini and Andy Murray 2-6, 6-3, 10-8.
In an entertaining battle at the O2 in London, the Canadian and American held their nerve when it mattered, finding first serves and deep returns in the Match Tie-break to secure their victory after one hour and 37 minutes.
Sock has now won four points for his side, having teamed with Tiafoe to defeat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Swiss star's final tour-level match on Friday night.&nbsp;
—IANS

Frances Tiafoe clinched the Laver Cup title for Team World on Sunday, saving four match points to edge Team Europe's Stefanos Tsitsipas 1-6, 7-6(11), 10-8 and give his side a 13-8 victory, here.

 Tiafoe stuns Tsitsipas to capture Laver Cup title for Team World

Tennis

New York: Emma Raducanu played down injury concerns on the eve of the US Open after the defending champion suffered discomfort during practice on Friday.
Raducanu enjoyed a meteoric rise at Flushing Meadows last year, becoming the first qualifier to win a grand slam as she claimed an unexpected victory in New York, reports DPA. The British number one overcame Leylah Fernandez in last year's final, clinching a breakthrough success after reeling off 10 consecutive wins without dropping a single set.
But her hopes of defending the title appeared under threat when she twice stopped her session with Ekaterina Alexandrova on Friday, being consoled by coach Dmitry Tursunov after appearing upset by pain in her right hand.Raducanu headed off court for treatment before returning to complete the session, and insists she is not worried by the episode.
"I had a few small things, got a couple of blisters, a bit of a niggle here and there," she explained. "It's just one of those weird days where you just feel a bit out of it.
"I can't really explain myself, to be honest. I'm sure everyone in this room has probably had a day like that. I have no concerns of an issue, no."
Raducanu has endured an inconsistent year to date, suffering several niggling injuries and posting 13 wins and 15 defeats in 2022.
While the 19-year-old is not looking to inflate expectations ahead of the US Open, she expressed her delight at returning to the scene of her greatest triumph.
"It's really nice to be back in New York," Raducanu added.
"It's great for me to come here having done a year on the tour, having played most of the tournaments.
"I'm really happy with what I've done this year and how I've come out of certain situations. I've obviously got amazing memories in New York.
"I think defending a title is just something that the press makes up. I'm just taking it one match at a time.
"Every single player is very capable in this draw. I just focus on what I'm doing, my own trajectory. As I said last year, I'm just going to do things my way."
Raducanu, who claimed notable victories over Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka in Cincinnati last week, will face Alize Cornet in the first round at Flushing Meadows.
—IANS

Emma Raducanu played down injury concerns on the eve of the US Open after the defending champion suffered discomfort during practice on Friday.

 US Open: Raducanu has 'no concerns' following injury scare

Mason (Ohio): Caroline Garcia of France defeated Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-4 in the Western &amp;amp; Southern Open final, becoming the first qualifier to ever win a WTA 1000 title since the tier was created in 2009.
The 28-year-old former world No.4 will surge back into the Top-20 on Monday after a week that saw her win eight matches in nine days, defeat three top-10 opponents, and overcame Kvitova to win her 10th career title, third of the season, and first WTA 1000 since 2017.
The world No.35 took 1 hour and 42 minutes to topple the 28th-ranked Kvitova.
"Pure joy, I think," Garcia was quoted as saying by wtatennis.com after the victory on Sunday evening. "Just happiness. Every single win is very important. Every title is very special, (WTA) 250, 1000, it's always very hard to describe it. It's not happening so often, and you have to really enjoy it. I'm really grateful for this great week of tennis, and to win another title, it's very special. 
"Every match, every day was a new day, new challenge. Every time I had to be focused on myself, on my game, what can I do, how I can be more aggressive, how can I improve. Just one day at a time I ended up here today in the final and now lifting the trophy," she added.
"The (WTA) 1000, everything goes so fast. You have to refocus every morning. It's a tough challenge, but I'm really happy the way we made it through."
Garcia's ranking fell as low as No.79 this year, but since the French Open, no one has been performing better on the circuit. The former world No.4 has won 27 main-draw matches since June, leading all players during that time period.
It is an incredible return to the winner's circle at WTA 1000 events for Garcia, who claimed the first two WTA 1000 titles of her career in back-to-back weeks at Wuhan and Beijing in 2017. With 33 match-wins on the year in total, only Iga Swiatek (50), Simona Halep (39) and Ons Jabeur (38) have more victories this season than Garcia, according to wtatennis.com.
During her stellar run this summer, Garcia has also become the ace leader for the season, surpassing Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Garcia added 11 aces in Sunday's final to increase her total for the year to 286.
"We know (Kvitova is) a big hitter, trying to move you as soon as she can and putting pressure on the return," Garcia said. "So the plan was definitely to not let her do that, which is not always easy, but that was the plan."&nbsp;
—IANS

Caroline Garcia of France defeated Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-4 in the Western &amp; Southern Open final, becoming the first qualifier to ever win a WTA 1000 title since the tier was created in 2009.

 Caroline Garcia makes history, becomes first qualifier to ever win a WTA 1000 event

Cincinnati: Stefanos Tsitsipas, who overcame top seed Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals, will play a revitalised Borna Coric in the Western &amp; Southern Open championship match.
Medvedev had a 7-2 advantage in their previous meetings, but Tsitsipas, the seventh-ranked player in the world, prevailed in two hours and 23 minutes, according to DPA.
Tsitsipas’ net play, in which he won 27 of 36 points at the net and 82% of his first serve points, contributed to the victory. He made 33-28 winners compared to Medvedev’s 35-27 unforced errors and 11 double faults, including a crucial break in the third set.
After losing in the semifinals in both 2020 and 2021, Tsitsipas advances to the Cincinnati final for the first time with the victory on Saturday night. Tsitsipas survived a set point to the Russian to draw the match at 3-3 after Medvedev had won the first game of the encounter. He then won the tie-break on his first attempt.
In the second set, the Russian reclaimed control, jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead thanks to a string of double faults from Tsitsipas before rallying to a 5-3 lead with Medvedev down 0-40 on serve as both players had periods of inattention.
The world number one certainly lost some momentum, but he maintained his composure to finish the second set and tie the match.
The third set was cut short by fireworks, which seemed to affect Medvedev more so than Tsitsipas. The Russian committed a number of costly double errors, one of which gave the Greek a 4-2 advantage. Tsitsipas profited to secure the victory.
Coric defeated ninth seed Cameron Norrie with a commanding 6-3, 6-4 victory to advance to the decider, which would be his second career Masters final.
After undergoing shoulder surgery earlier this year, the Croatian has had a solid week in Cincinnati, having defeated Rafael Nadal and only dropping one set so far.
Coric initially looked to be in trouble after falling behind 3-1 in the opening set, but he quickly rallied to win the frame.
Following that, the 25-year-old won eight straight games to take a 4-2 lead in the second set and secure victory in 1 hour, 31 minutes. In the end, Coric recorded seven aces and 22 wins.&nbsp;
—IANS

Stefanos Tsitsipas, who overcame top seed Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals, will play a revitalised Borna Coric in the Western & Southern Open championship match.

 Tsitsipas overcomes Medvedev to clinch spot in Cincinnati final

Cincinnati: Caroline Garcia of France has become the first qualifier to reach a WTA 1000 tournament final after continuing her dream run at the Western &amp; Southern Open with a hard-fought win over sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. In a match halted twice for extended periods by rain on Saturday evening, Garcia triumphed 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 in the semifinal that lasted two hours and five minutes, reports DPA. Garcia's victory over Sabalenka secured her spot in the decider against Petra Kvitova, who beat Madison Keys in the other semifinal earlier on Saturday.
The victory also adds another top-10 scalp to Garcia's list from this week's Cincinnati event, having knocked out fourth seed Maria Sakkari and seventh seed Jessica Pegula en route to the final four. The world number 35 had also beaten top-ranked Iga Swiatek during a run to the Poland Open title three weeks ago. Garcia has a Tour-leading 26 main-draw victories since June with title wins in Bad Homburg and Warsaw in that stretch; next most match wins in that stretch is Simona Halep (19) and Beatriz Haddad Maia (17).
Saturday's win was fuelled by a strong first-serve points won percentage of 81.3 per cent for Garcia, sending down 8-4 aces while Sabalenka was not helped by 7-1 double faults. The 28-year-old, whose highest rank was fourth in 2018, saved seven break points while converting six of the 13 she generated. She had to come through qualifying to earn a place in the Cincinnati main draw and looked like racing past Sabalenka after taking the opening set in impression fashion.
A two-and-a-half-hour rain delay halted Garcia's progress at 1-1 in the second set, and it was Sabalenka who returned the strongest from the break. Garcia needed her left arm bandaging when trailing 5-4 in the second set, forcing Sabalenka to endure a long wait to serve to level the match. Just as the match looked to be tilting the Belarusian's way, an improved Garcia broke to lead 3-1 in the deciding set; however, rain returned in the next game with Garcia 30-15 up on serve, causing another hold-up.
But Garcia would not be denied after play resumed approximately 90 minutes later, winning the final three games to secure an historic place in the decider. In the earlier match, Kvitova fended off home favourite Keys to secure a return to the world's top 20. The two-time Wimbledon champion battled to a 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-3 victory in two hours and 18 minutes.
—IANS

Caroline Garcia of France has become the first qualifier to reach a WTA 1000 tournament final after continuing her dream run at the Western & Southern Open with a hard-fought win over sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.