Federer, who was in the crowd, gave on-court reporter Mark Petchey a double thumb’s up when asked about Tiafoe’s comment. The American is playing some of the best tennis of his career, having just reached the US Open semi-finals for the first time after making the final in Cincinnati.
Tiafoe entered the match facing a 0-5 Lexus ATP Head2Head deficit against Medvedev, but did not let that intimidate him. He played freely in the critical moments and had a blast on court even when losing points. After one Medvedev shot drew Tiafoe to his side of the court, the American did his signature sprinkling celebration to compliment his opponent.
“I just have a lot more confidence in myself. I’m having a lot of fun playing the game at the moment,” Tiafoe said. “I’m just trying to play the right way and compete as hard as I can, let the chips fall where they may. I respect everyone, but I’m just not fearing anyone at the moment. I’m just going out there, taking it to guys and seeing what happens.”
Alcaraz produced a nearly flawless performance to defeat Shelton 6-4, 6-4, squaring the Laver Cup at 4-4.
“I’m really happy for being part of Team Europe in Laver Cup for the first time,” Alcaraz said. “I’m trying to be as [good] a partner as I can, as [good] a player as I can to help my team. I played against Ben, [who] is a really powerful player, a really tough one. I’m pretty happy because I played a really solid match since the beginning until [the end] of the match.”
