Alex de Minaur recovered from match point down to defeat Alexander Zverev, while Carlos Alcaraz launched a comeback of his own to leave the Laver Cup level at 5-5.
For much of his afternoon on court against Zverev, De Minaur seemed destined to end his day with an excruciating defeat. He rapidly found himself down a set and a break, then Zverev served for the match at 6-2, 5-4. After miraculously giving himself another lifeline, De Minaur finally faced a match point at 8-9 in the final set tie-break.
No matter how grim the scoreline appeared, every effort he made was punctuated by roars of approval from one person in particular. There were loud screams of encouragement, pounding of chairs and stamping of feet. At one point, as doubt crept into Zverev’s game during the second set tie-break, a voice from the sidelines yelled out: “Check his oil! Check his oil!”
Agassi’s support inspires De Minaur
Those words came from Andre Agassi, Team World’s captain, providing unconditional support to his player. With such backing from one of the greatest tennis players of all time, there was no way De Minaur could lose. His probing soon revealed that Zverev had indeed run out of oil, his engine failing, as the Australian closed out a 2-6, 7-6 (5), 11-9 win.
Agassi’s unbridled enthusiasm was reflected in his team as they held their own on day two of the Laver Cup against a group of higher-ranked opponents. With Team Europe leading 3-1 overnight, Learner Tien of the US opened the day with a 6-3, 2-6, 10-7 win over Flavio Cobolli before De Minaur defeated Zverev, the recent French and US Open champion.
While match wins were worth one point on Friday, they were worth two on Saturday. Team Europe closed the day with a narrow 7-5 lead over Team World. Alcaraz levelled the series by saving two match points to defeat Taylor Fritz 6-3, 4-6, 13-11 before Casper Ruud and Zverev teamed up to beat Alexander Bublik and Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 7-6 (7).
Agassi’s return to the tennis scene
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this week is simply the presence of Agassi as he continues his re-emergence on to the tennis scene. For some time after his retirement, Agassi and his wife, the 22-time grand slam champion Steffi Graf, kept a low profile at home in Las Vegas.
Their lore was often only extended through top young players such as Fernando Verdasco, Sorana Cirstea and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who would sometimes train with them at their home. They would return from Nevada speaking of how invaluable Agassi’s counsel had been to their careers. Otherwise, they minded their own business.
Things have drastically changed over the past 18 months, starting with the announcement last February that Agassi would replace John McEnroe as Team World’s captain. Since then, he has been everywhere. He joined TNT Sports in the US as a commentator at Roland Garros last year, then he worked on the BBC’s commentary team for the first time in the final days of this year’s Wimbledon.
Agassi’s rapport with players
Agassi seems comfortable talking tactics with modern players who sometimes view the sport differently to their elders. One of the most memorable narratives surrounding Agassi in retirement was the love-hate relationship he famously described himself as having with the sport in his autobiography, Open. It has been particularly satisfying to witness the unbridled joy and love he carries for the sport now.
Agassi simply cannot sit still on the Team World bench. He is constantly cheering and encouraging his players, hell bent on keeping morale up, and his boundless energy provokes positive reactions. As a delirious De Minaur celebrated his victory over Zverev, his first move was to sprint to Agassi while repeatedly shouting: “You like that? You like that?” Without hesitation, Agassi responded: “I love it. I love it.” Blood was rolling down De Minaur’s knee at the end of the match after he grazed it on a spectacular diving forehand. In his excitement, Agassi shouted: “I wanna lick that blood off you right now.”
This strong rapport was also clear in certain sentimental moments. After Tien had closed out his victory and completed all of his post-match duties on the court, he and Agassi hovered by their bench for a long, sweet debrief. Tien was clearly still frustrated by his high unforced error count, so Agassi offered him some tactical advice for future matches. Once they had finished, Tien leaned down to pick up his bag, prompting a quick intervention from the all-time great: “Dude, I’ll carry this shit for you if you want me to,” he said. “That’s how much respect I have [for you].”
