Djokovic called out by Team World star ahead of double Laver Cup duty

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Novak Djokovic has been told that all of the pressure is on him ahead of his first match at the Laver Cup. The world No 7 has not played in more than two months, and has the task of giving Team Europe a two-point lead after Taylor Fritz got World level at 4-4 in Saturday’s day session.

Djokovic is set to face Team World’s Frances Tiafoe in his first match since winning Wimbledon, as the Serb will look to earn two points on the scoreboard for Team Europe when he faces the recent US Open semi-finalist. Ahead of the night session on day two, it’s all square between the two teams and Djokovic will be on double duty as he will then partner up with Matteo Berrettini in the doubles.

The teams were level at 2-2 ahead of day two with Berrettini winning his singles match to give Europe the lead before Fritz helped World catch their rivals again. And the American has now called Djokovic out as he told the 21-time Grand Slam champion that he had all the pressure as the player expected to win.

“I think it’s big that we are going in 4-4,” the world No 12 said after his victory over Cameron Norrie, who was subbed in when Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Laver Cup following Roger Federer’s farewell on Friday night. “I think that’s going to apply a lot more pressure on them.”

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While the 35-year-old was the favourite going into tonight’s matches, Fritz thought it would actually benefit Team World. He continued: “A lot more pressure on Novak to, you know, to perform and play a good match, because, you know, everyone is looking to him to, you know, kind of lock in the win, be that guy that takes care of business, gets his wins.

“Obviously not a lot of people usually beat Novak, but Frances is playing great. I think keeping it to 4-All is going to apply a lot more pressure than if it was 6-2, they are going to feel a bit looser going into that match.”

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This year’s Indian Wells champion also admitted that Team World were desperate to win the Laver Cup for the first time, losing the four previous editions to Europe. Fritz rubbished claims that the team tournament was a staged exhibition as he explained their desire to get their hands on the trophy.

“I feel like even if we win there is going to be tons of people that say, ‘Oh, it’s staged, it’s an exho, blah, blah, blah,’” he said. “We want this so bad. Yeah, it’s definitely good that it’s close. We try our best every year, and ultimately it’s close right now, but it is going to come down to day three.”

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