Laver Cup in London, Day 1, Friday, 23.09.2022
It has become one of the biggest events in top tennis and this year it is even more special: The Laver Cup 2022 in London! The best tennis players in Europe will meet the crème de la crème of the rest of the world, and the spectacle will start on Friday.
In the evening, a veteran will compete who should certainly have the support of the audience. One who is making his debut in this competition at the ripe old age of 35 and is up against someone who also has no experience in the Laver Cup.
So it’s two debutants facing each other from 8pm. Bet365 is sure: THIS will be a very close match with Australian advantages. In my Murray de Minaur tip, I reveal why my bet also tends to many, many games!
It will be a very special weekend, not only for all those who want to give Roger Federer another big stage as a farewell. Andy Murray, a loyal and often equally successful companion for many years, is allowed to take part in this competition for the first time.
He will be aiming to score for Europe on Friday evening after his colleagues Stefanos Tsitsipas (against Diego Schwartzman) and Casper Ruud (meets Jack Sock) have already, it is hoped, submitted.
At the US Open, the Brit couldn’t quite show what he had set out to do. An exit in the 3rd round does not sound very pleasing, but in the end it showed what he can still achieve in his old age.
He beat Francisco Cerundolo and Emilio Nava before the duel with Matteo Berrettini. They will be rooting for each other in the coming days, but a few days ago Murray was not in a good mood after his 4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 3-6.
15 chances to break he gave the Italian, on Friday he doesn’t want to invite his opponent so often. By the way, his name is Alex de Minaur. These two have only met once so far, in 2019.
The then only 19-year-old de Minaur was able to prevail 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. He is currently ranked 22nd in the world, which is obviously reason enough for our bookmakers to see him as the favourite in the duel against Murray.
1.70 to 2.10 on average, the lead is relatively small. Murray was not the only one to take a break after the US Open, de Minaur also used a few weeks to relax. His Grand Slam, that was over together with Murray.
After wins against Filip Krajinovic and Cristian Garin, he faced Pablo Carreno Busta in the 3rd round. 1-6, 1-6, 7-6, 5-7, eventually de Minaur had to pack his bags and head home.
For quite some time now, he has been doing well and is rarely eliminated early, but when the really big names come, they are often still a bit too big. With opponents in the Andy Murray category, ranked 43rd in the rankings, he has almost always been able to cope.
The 22-year-old has probably followed the Laver Cup closely in front of the TV in recent years, and in 2022 he will be competing himself for the first time. With Diego Schwartzman and Jack Sock considered underdogs in Friday’s first two singles matches, a win from him would be particularly important.
My Murray de Minaur Tip
The atmosphere in the o2 Arena will be at its best when Andy Murray meets Alex de Minaur on Friday night. The Briton is playing in front of his crowd, which should certainly fire him up in the first ever Laver Cup match.
In recent weeks and months, he and Alex de Minaur have posted relatively similar results in the analyses, de Minaur may be a tad ahead, the only direct duel also went to him.
Nevertheless, the clocks tick a little differently on Friday. I don’t believe that one of the two will clearly prevail over the other and can imagine a match that will go into “overtime”. For this reason, I’m betting:
We’ll get to see three sets!
