Laver Cup Day 2 Blog: Federer tops Kyrgios; Anderson begins World run

WATCH—An interview with Team Europe captain Bjorn Borg:

After the first day of play at the second edition of the Laver Cup, defending champion Team Europe leads Team World 3-1. For video highlights and analysis of Friday's matches, click here.

We'll be updating this blog throughout Saturday—where each match is worth two points—as results and highlights come in.

It's not often that Isner surrenders a 5-2 lead in a tiebreaker. Then again, it's not often that Zverev digs out a low volley and celebrates by high-fiving Bjorn Borg, seated on the very same court.

The Laver Cup delivered another dramatic singles match, full of twists and turns—and another blow to Team World, which lost their second match of this year's event in which it held a match point.

Isner came out firing and nearly took a 4-0 lead over a shell-shocked Zverev. With the first set a lost cause, the German focused on his serve the rest of the way and matched Isner with hold after methodical hold, despite the occasional rally greater than six shots in length.

It didn't appear to be enough once Isner took the aforementioned 5-2 lead in the second-set tiebreaker. "This place is practically here for you," Nick Kyrgios, imploring Isner to push through on the sidelines, told his teammate. (My favorite quote from coach Kyrgios, after a lovely Isner backhand winner: "Absolute symphony.")

But despite the support from the crowd and the sidelines, this match would soon turn in Zverev's favor, with his match-point save the turning point:

WATCH—Zverev saves match point against Isner

At 6-6, Isner, coming forward, prepared to put away a sitter volley at shoulder height—but stoned it into next. He would have earned a second match point—and the first on his serve—but it was Zverev who forced a 10-point match tiebreak with a backhand pass down the line.

Zverev took a 4-0 lead with his seventh straight point. That included an Isner double fault to open the de facto third set. Despite always keeping Zverev at arm's length, Isner could never regain the advantage.

And with this backhand pass, which Zverev seemed to execute as easily and effectively as Isner does with his serve, Team Europe took a 5-1 lead in the race to 13.

WATCH—Zverev defeats Isner in 10-point match tiebreak:

“He’s human,” Jack Sock told Kyrgios on two occasions in the second set. And he couldn’t be more right from a tennis perspective—the last time we watched Federer in singles competition, he was succumbing to the humidity in Flushing Meadows and being outplayed by the unheralded John Millman.

But indoors and against an opponent he's largely handled over his career—including in last year's Laver Cup finale—Federer looked more like the all-time great we know, defeating this Australian with remarkable ease.

Kyrgios has made his presence felt in nearly every match this Laver Cup with his cheerleading from the sidelines. But he was mostly muted today; this dive volley winner was a rare highlight when he was holding a racquet:

Of course, Kyrgios managed to get his words in—at the chair umpire, after a service winner was called back. Given what we just witnessed at the US Open, Kyrgios and Team World captain John McEnroe deserved a code violation of some sort, even during this nominal exhibition. Tennis Channel's Alex Faust reported that Kyrgios was indeed given a language warning.

Federer, meanwhile, continued to play efficient and error-free tennis. He closed out the match with a comfortable hold to put his European side in the relatively comfortable position of leading 7-1. With both of tonight's matches worth two points, the deficit could nearly be overcome; all of Sunday's matches are worth three points.

MATCH POINT—Federer d. Kyrgios:

With his lethal serve, giant forehand, underrated movement and newfound confidence, Kevin Anderson is going to win a big title very soon. (How he has just four, all from very minor events, is hard to believe.) And while he may forever have a difficult time beating Novak Djokovic in best-of-five set play—he failed to win a single set against him in this year's Wimbledon final, despite holding five set points—he was always going to have a shot to beat the Serb in the Laver Cup's abbreviated format. And he did just that, to cut Team World's six-point lead at the halfway mark of the competition to just four.

MATCH POINT—Anderson d. Djokovic:

Anderson actually won one fewer point than Djokovic in the first set but prevailed in a tiebreaker. He never broke Djokovic's serve all day, but pushed his way to the finish line with a stream of winners that simply exploded from his racquet—38 winners against 24 unforced errors. Whenever Anderson got a racquet on the ball, it seemed to be perfect contact.

Djokovic played one of the best singles matches of this Laver Cup, but ultimately came up short because it was Anderson who won the biggest points. The game's hottest player managed the only break of the match, at 5-5 in the second set but it was Anderson's mini-break at 5-4 with this short forehand—it's incredible how much pace he managed to get on it—that gave him the advantage for good.

With the current score of 7-3, Team World is guaranteed a live singles rubber after Sunday's opening doubles match. Captain John McEnroe would be crazy to be slot anyone but Anderson in that position.

Each of Team World's five points has been won at night at this year's Laver Cup. The key for the team tomorrow will be making inroads during the day, and doubles—where Team World is unbeaten—will kick off Sunday's schedule, where each match is worth three points.

Unfortunately for Team World, they'll be unable to run out the Sock-Kyrgios team that took care of Dimitrov and Goffin without much trouble. "No doubles combination can be played more than once," according to the Laver Cup rulebook. Another rule: "At least four of the six players must play doubles." That means captain John McEnroe could put Sock back out there alongside either John Isner, Diego Schwartzman or Frances Tiafoe—one of those three players must compete in tomorrow's doubles match to satisfy the four-player participation requirement.

These are decisions McEnroe will savor, though, after facing a six-point deficit after Saturday's day session. Team World will have to win three matches on Sunday to claim the Laver Cup, and given Team Europe's impressive singles roster, you'd have to think that one of those victories will have to come in doubles.

MATCH POINT—Sock/Kyrgios d. Goffin/Dimitrov: