Austrian tennis player Dominic Thiem narrowly beat USA's John Isner at the Laver Cup. The Austrian created a comeback in the second match of the day 6-7 (15-17) 7-6 (7-2) 10-7. The American had his chances, but ultimately it was Thiem who ended on the winning side. The rule says Thiem and Isner will be eligible to play only one more singles match during the three-day event, held in Prague.
Thiem of Team Europe handed its side a 2-0 lead over Team World following his win over Isner. Earlier on Friday, Croatian Marin Cilic defeated talented American Frances Tiafoe in the Laver Cup opener.
Isner came close to making it all tied at 1-1, but fell just short.
World No. 4 Alexander Zverev will be eyeing to add more points on the board to Team Europe in the third match of the day. The 2017 Montreal Masters champion is set to face Canadia's Denis Shapovalov. Zverev edged Shapovalov in the Montreal semi-finals this past August. Zverev is the favorite coming into the match. However, Shapovalov is eager to bring Team World its first point.
A tight match
Thiem and Isner both held on routinely to their serves in the first set of the second match of the day at the Laver Cup. As no breaks of serve were seen, the set went into a tie-break. The Austrian had the first set point at 6-5, which was saved by Isner.
The American then saved three more Thiem's set points, before he closed out the set. Isner needed seven set points to win the opener.
Thiem pressed Isner in the second set, but the American resisted. Isner saved a break point in the eighth game and then saved two set points two games later. Isner then came close to breaking the Austrian for the first time in the match.
However, the match went into the second tie-break after Thiem saved three break points chances in the 11th game. Thiem, 24, dominated the tie-break to clinch a decider.
After losing the second set, Isner bounced back successfully at the beginning of the super tie-break. The American opened up an early 4-0 lead in the decider.
However, Thiem didn't give up, as he lost just three more points in the rest of the match.
Match stats
Thiem hit eight aces and won 90 percent of his first serve points against Isner at the Laver Cup. The Austrian didn't break Isner during the match but managed to save all three of the American's break point tries. Isner fired 23 aces and won 80 percent of his first serve points on Friday. But, in the end, it just wasn't enough for the big-serving American. The match came to an end after two hours and eight minutes of play.