De Minaur and Tien claim wins as Team World surge into 5-3 lead at Laver Cup

[p]Reigning French Open and US Open champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zverev-alexander/dGbUhw9m/"]Zverev[/a] lost to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-minaur-alex/EZgZ9Xfh/"]‌De Minaur[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/de-minaur-a-EZgZ9Xfh/zverev-a-dGbUhw9m/?mid=xvQdqyYj"]2-6, 7-6(5), 11-9[/a], after American [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tien-learner/xUHOBJK6/"]Tien[/a] beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cobolli-flavio/zDtaCcPe/"]Cobolli[/a] ‌[a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/cobolli-f-zDtaCcPe/tien-l-xUHOBJK6/?mid=6eZQlcAT"]6-3, 2-6, 10-7[/a], allowing Team World to wipe out Europe's 3-1 overnight lead.[/p][p]With ‌two points on offer for each match win on the second ‌day in a race to 13 points for the championship, De Minaur made the most of the opportunity despite a first-set loss in which Zverev dominated with ‌strong forehands near the sidelines.[/p][p]Zverev was 5-4 up ⁠and serving for the second set ‌when he committed two double faults that allowed the Australian to bounce back ​with a break and win the set on a tiebreak.[/p][p][b]"Check his oil,"[/b] World captain Andre Agassi told De Minaur, asking him ​to force the 29-year-old Zverev into tiring, long rallies.[/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="ba2e6224-857f-486e-91c3-b7198dfec660" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="ea83917a-a197-46f7-93ab-fd7c04dfab92" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]The advice paid off in the 10-point match tiebreak, with De Minaur using repeated cross-court ⁠shots to thwart Zverev when ​the German was 9-8 up, before getting match point and securing victory with a precise backhand down the sideline that Zverev could only hit back to the net.[/p][p][b]"It was a tough battle, I left it all out ‌there," [/b]said De Minaur after his second straight Laver Cup win over Zverev.[/p][p]Earlier in the day, Agassi's American compatriot Tien beat French Open finalist Cobolli in another nervous tiebreak.[/p][p]Tien controlled the contest from the net as he eased to a 4-0 lead in the first set. Cobolli fought back with a break and, although it did not save the first set, the Italian carried the momentum into the second, getting two breaks in a row on his way to winning it.[/p][embed guid="22daf293-c7b7-4119-9c9b-ee02639a3ef1" url="https://x.com/LaverCup/status/2103850922052915591" social-type="twitter" /][p]But the ‌20-year-old Tien, playing in his first Laver Cup, targeted the baseline to ​frustrate Cobolli in the match tiebreak and won a 34-shot rally ‌to clinch victory.[/p][p][b]"I think in this format, no matter what the score is... the match can turn on a dime,"[/b] Tien said.[/p][p]Europe will hope to fight back when world number three [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alcaraz-garfia-carlos/UkhgIFEq/"]Carlos Alcaraz[/a] plays [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fritz-taylor/UH09iaZ6/"]Taylor Fritz[/a] later on Saturday, followed by a doubles match ⁠where Zverev and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ruud-casper/zN9UpRqp/"]Casper Ruud[/a] will ⁠team up against Team World's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nakashima-brandon/ETGnbrpH/"]‌Brandon Nakashima[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bublik-alexander/t0WN9vR6/"]Alexander Bublik[/a].[/p]