Matteo Berrettini and Felix Auger-Aliassime didn’t just bring the crowd at the TD Garden in Boston to their feet on Friday, they also made history—their two-hour, 52-minute battle was the longest match in Laver Cup history.
Berrettini would emerge with a 6-7 (3), 7-5, 10-8 victory after a match tie-break.
“I was just fighting,” the Italian said. “The match was really hard.”
“You just have to hang in there and do your best,” Auger-Aliassime said.
“Matteo did that.”
Auger-Aliassime, who—at No. 11 on the ATP rankings—isn’t just the Canadian No. 1, but also the North American No. 1, had his chances. He led 7-5 in the match tie-break, and was also two points away at 8-8. But the No. 7-ranked Berrettini clinched the win.
This is the fourth edition of the Laver Cup. It was held in Prague in 2017, Chicago in 2018 and Geneva in 2019. The event was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.