The Laver Cup got off to a dramatic start on Friday—with Team Europe ultimately coming out on top of both singles matches to lead Team World, 2-0.

Team Europe’s Marin Cilic and Team World’s Frances Tiafoe battled it out for the competition’s first points. In the first-ever meeting between the two players, Cilic defeated Tiafoe, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (0).

Cilic’s serve was the x-factor in this one, as Tiafoe just couldn’t find a way to figure it out consistently enough. The American did, however, put up an admirable fight in what is likely to be his only singles appearance in Prague.

Cilic, meanwhile, could very well get the call to play again on Day 3, when matches are worth three points. While there are more talented players on the Team Europe roster, Cilic should be well rested compared to the players that will be competing on Saturday. And with Friday’s win over Tiafoe, Cilic also happens to be an impressive 16-3 lifetime against Team World’s players.

In the afternoon’s second match, Team Europe’s Dominic Thiem took on Team World’s John Isner. With Europe having already taken a 1-0 lead in the event, the pressure was clearly on Isner in this one.

The American responded well early, taking the first set 7-6 (15). The 32-point tiebreaker provided some of the session’s most memorable moments, with players from both sides—seated courtside—supporting and exulting at every opportunity.

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From that point on, however, it was all Thiem. The 24-year-old would win the second set, 7-6 (2), and then he took the deciding, 10-point tiebreaker, 10-7. While Isner was clearly doing well to hold his serve, the eye test suggested that Thiem had a serious advantage after the first.

At around the midway point in the second set, Isner was noticeably tired. The longer Thiem was able to drag out points, the more likely it was that he would give himself a strong opportunity for a winner.

Thiem did face a bit of a scare when he went down 4-0 in the 10-point tiebreaker, but the Austrian was able to claw his way back in it. It was a gigantic swing in the match, but an even bigger swing in the Laver Cup. Team Europe now leads Team World 2-0, and Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal haven’t even played their singles matches.

Despite the increasingly valuable matches to come on Saturday and Sunday, Team World could find itself in a perilous position if it doesn’t find a way to keep the competition close by day’s end.

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UPDATE: Alexander Zverev defeated Denis Shapovalov, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), to give Europe a 3-0 lead. The two were very evenly matched—Shapovalov saved four match points late in the second set—but Zverev was able to dig a little deeper to come away with the win.

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Through three matches, every set of the Laver Cup had gone to a tiebreaker, proving that the tennis was a lot more competitive than the 3-0 score indicated.

But Team World did end up earning its first victory of the competition. Jack Sock and Nick Kyrgios were the ones that prevented Team World from getting blanked, defeating Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 10-7, in doubles. It was one of the more exciting matches of the event thus far, as the fun that Sock and Kyrgios were having was contagious.

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