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On a thrilling final day at the 2019 Laver Cup in Geneva, Team Europe, jolted by Rafael Nadal's injury-enforced withdrawal, rode on victories by Roger Federer and Sascha Zverev to overcome a 7-11 deficit and win their third title in as many editions of a team competition that is expected to be tennis' equivalent of the Ryder Cup.
Here are the five players who shone the brightest during the third edition of the Laver Cup in Geneva.
#5 Taylor Fritz (Team World)
Taylor Fritz, on his Laver Cup debut, was in action on the first day, facing another competition debutant in Stefanos Tsitsipas.
After Dominic Thiem saved three match points against Denis Shapovalov in the opening match of the day to put Team Europe into the lead, Jack Sock belied his singles ranking of 210 to beat Fabio Fognini to even the tie for Team World.
Fritz took the court hoping to build on his team's momentum, but it was the Greek who made the faster start and took a one-set lead for the loss of just two games. Fritz responded by taking the second set 6-1 only to fall 10-7 in the ensuing match tiebreak.
On a dramatic final day of competition, Nick Kyrgios's injury thrust Fritz into the spotlight as the young American took the court against Dominic Thiem in the second singles match of the day. Following a win for Jack Sock and John Isner over Roger Federer and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the day's first match, which put Team World into the lead for the first time in the tie, Fritz had the momentum of his team's win once again and this time he did not disappoint.
The young American saved three consecutive break points at 5-5 in the first set and broke Thiem to take the opening set 7-5. With no breaks in the second set, Thiem levelled the match in the tiebreak.
The Austrian also had a 2-0 lead in the match tiebreak, only for Fritz to win 10 of the next 13 points to deliver a stunning win, which swelled his team's lead in the tie to 11-7 and put Team World within one win of their first title.
#4 John Isner (Team World)
One of five players to have played in all three editions of the Laver Cup, John Isner started his 2019 campaign on the second day of competition when he took on Team Europe's Sascha Zverev in the first match.
Having won just one out of three singles matches in his Laver Cup career, Isner faced a player who was perfect in four singles matches at the competition. After Zverev took the opening set on a tiebreak, Isner edged a tight second set 6-4 to force a match tiebreak. The American, though, dropped just one point to claim his second victory in eight matches against the young German. Isner's win levelled the tie for Team World at three points apiece.
On the final day of the competition, Isner and compatriot Jack Sock combined to beat the European team of Roger Federer and Stefanos Tsitsipas, which put Team World into the lead (8-7) for the first time in the tie. After Fritz upset Thiem in the second match of the day, Isner had the chance to deliver a first title for the World team when he faced Federer for the second time in a Laver Cup clash. But Isner came up second best as Federer delivered a win in a must-win match for the Team Europe to reduce the deficit to 10-11.
#3 Sascha Zverev (Team Europe)
Sascha Zverev teamed with Roger Federer to face Team World's Jack Sock and Denis Shapovalov in the first doubles tie of the 2019 Laver Cup.
Federer and Zverev were quick off the block as they took the opening set. In a tight second set, the duo survived set points before sealing a 6-4, 7-5 win in the longest doubles match at the Laver Cup. It was their first win in the competition (Team Europe's second win in seven doubles matches at the Laver Cup) following a loss to Sock and Nick Kyrgios in a match tiebreak in 2018.
On the second day, Sascha Zverev faced John Isner. He edged a tight first set on a tiebreak but Isner fought back to force a match tiebreak. Zverev won just one point as the young German's perfect singles record in the competition came to an end.
On the third day, Jack Sock and John Isner beat Roger Federer and Stefanos Tsitsipas to give Team World the lead for the first time in the tie. Taylor Fritz's win over Dominc Thiem swelled Team World's lead to 11-7. Federer beat John Isner in the next match to keep Team Europe's hopes alive as it came down to the duo of Zverev and Milos Raonic to decide the destination of the 2019 Laver Cup.
The young German rode on the momentum of Federer's win to take the opening set 6-4 but Raonic regrouped in the second set to force a match tiebreak. Pumped up by Federer and Rafael Nadal's encouraging pep-talk about 'turning his season around', Zverev dropped just four points in the match tiebreak to seal Team Europe's third title. It was also the second time in as many years that Zverev's win sealed Team Europe's Laver Cup triumph.
#2 Jack Sock (Team World)
Following a devastating season and a half that saw his ranking plummet from No 8 at the start of 2018 to No 210, Jack Sock arrived at his third Laver Cup hoping to rekindle his form at a tournament that has been kind to him in the past.
Facing Monte Carlo champion Fabio Fognini in the second match of the first day of action in Geneva, Sock belied his lowly singles rank to stun the Italian in straight sets. The win helped level the tie at a point apiece for Team World.
Sock teamed up with Shapovalov for the fourth match of the day against Team Europe's Roger Federer and Sascha Zverev. It was Sock's seventh doubles match at the Laver Cup. The Nebraska native had featured in all of Team World's doubles ties at the two previous editions of the competition, with an impressive 5-1 record.
But it was Federer and Zverev who recovered from an early break to take the opening set 6-4 and survived multiple set points in the second set to close out a hard-fought 6-4, 7-5 win in the longest doubles match in Laver Cup history.
Sock was in action on the second day when he teamed up with friend Nick Kyrgios in the last match of the day against Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Team World took the opening set 6-4 and looked on course for a straight-sets win but Nadal and Tsitsipas took the second set 6-3 to force a third set. Team World though were good enough to win the tiebreak 10-6, to reduce their deficit to 5-7 at the end of the second day.
The American was in the spotlight on the third day as well when he teamed up with compatriot John Isner to deliver a 5-7, 6-4 (10-8) win to push Team World into the lead for the first time in the tie (8-7). The win made Sock the first player to win eight matches at the competition (7-1 in doubles, 1-2 in singles).
#1 Roger Federer (Team Europe)
One of four players in action on all three days of the Laver Cup, Roger Federer teamed up with Sascha Zverev on the opening day to face Jack Sock and Denis Shapovalov, winning 6-4 7-5 to give Team Europe a 3-1 lead going into the second day of play.
On the second day, after John Isner beat Sascha Zverev to level the tie at three points apiece, Federer faced Nick Kyrgios in the second match of the day. The Swiss maestro squandered a 4-0 lead in the first-set tiebreak to drop the opening set but responded with a break in the eleventh game of the second en route to forcing a match tiebreak to eventually prevail 10-7. The win made Federer the first player to win his first five singles matches at the Laver Cup as Team Europe took a 5-3 lead in the tie.
Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from the competition owing to an injury on the final day ended the prospect of Federer teaming up with his great rival.
Federer, instead, teamed up with Stefanos Tsitsipas to take the opening set 7-5 against Jack Sock and John Isner. Tsitsipas' interspersing moments of brilliance with unforced errors and struggles on the return of serve proved to be Team Europe's undoing as Team World took a 7-5, 4-6 (10-8) win to romp into the lead for the first time in the tie (8-7).
After Taylor Fritz upset Dominic Thiem in the second match of the day to provide a 11-7 lead to Team World, Team Europe stared at a stunning upset on Federer's home turf. But Federer was determined to avoid this, beating John Isner 6-4 7-6 (3) in a match that featured a single break of serve. The win extended Federer's perfect singles record at the competition to 6-0 as Team Europe reduced the deficit to 10-11.
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