Laver Cup tied 1-1 as Ruud, Nakashima win opening matches

LONDON, Sept 25 : Team Europe's Casper Ruud edged Francisco Cerundolo in the Laver Cup opening match before defending champions Team World struck back with Brandon Nakashima's win over Jakub Mensik to leave the teams tied at 1-1 after the first two matches on Friday.

Norwegian Ruud beat Cerundolo 6-7(4) 6-4 10-8 in the latest clash between the long-time rivals, who have now won five matches apiece after 10 meetings.

The second match was also decided by a 10-point tiebreak, the de facto third set, as American Nakashima defeated Mensik 6-1 3-6 10-7.

"That's tennis for you, the margins are small," said Ruud, who pulled out of the US Open with a back injury before representing Swede in the Davis Cup this month.

Ruud and Cerundolo firmly held their own serves in the first set before the Argentine outwitted the three-times Grand Slam finalist in the tiebreak with feints and forceful returns.

But Ruud, constantly encouraged by world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz and other teammates, staged a comeback in the second, getting the decisive break to go 5-4 up and close out the set.

The match tiebreak remained neck and neck until 8-8, before Ruud pushed Cerundolo back with a strong serve and then smashed the ball cross-court to win the match.

"I have to thank my team and my bench. They pushed me all the way. They kept me in it, really ... Europe can build on this," said Ruud.

'AI' NAKASHIMA LEADS TEAM WORLD COMEBACK

But Team World's comeback was swift as Nakashima dominated the first set, breaking Czech Mensik twice in a row to build a 5-0 advantage that helped secured the first set.

Mensik then took a 3-0 lead and got himself into the contest by taking the second set. However, Nakashima was ultimately victorious on his Laver Cup debut, winning three