Casper Ruud takes on Francisco Cerundolo in the opening match of the 2024 Laver Cup as Team Europe aim to end Team World's two-year dominance.
The opening match-up at the Uber Arena will see the three-time Grand Slam finalist take on his Argentine opponent featuring at the event for the second time.
Match preview
If Team Europe are to snap their losing record at this year's Laver Cup, then Ruud's expertise will be beneficial, with the Norwegian player having never tasted defeat in previous participations.
Ruud notched victories over Reilly Opelka in 2021, Jack Sock in 2022 and Tommy Paul 12 months back to hold a 3-0 win-loss record heading into this year's event.
Only once has he been taken to three sets in all three victories, beating Sock two years ago as Team Europe went ahead 1-0 on day one before ultimately falling to Team World on the last day of the three-day event.
The world No. 9 comes into this year's Laver Cup on the back of a fourth-round run to the US Open, losing to eventual runner-up Taylor Fritz, and a mixed Davis Cup, but he aims to give his team the advantage against Cerundolo.
Unlike his Norwegian opponent, the Argentine has not had multiple appearances at the tournament, with last year's event in Canada marking his debut.
Cerundolo beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in two sets to give Team World a 2-0 advantage on day one as they raced into a 6-0 lead before ultimately notching consecutive editions.
He seeks a second victory in his second Laver Cup match, keen to boost his team's prospects of claiming the three-day tournament for the third consecutive year.
Cerundolo's form heading into the event has been mixed, with an early exit in round two of the final Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows followed by a pair of wins and a defeat in the Davis Cup last week.
The world No. 31 hopes that momentum stands him in good stead against his Norwegian opponent to land the first punch in the Laver Cup.
Head To Head
Paris Olympics (2024) - Round of 16: Ruud 6-3 6-4
Paris Masters (2023) - Round of 32: Cerundolo 7-5 6-4
Rome Masters (2023) - Quarter-final: Ruud 7-6(5) 6-4
Barcelona (2023) - Round of 16: Cerundolo 7-6(5) 6-3
Bastad (2022) - Round of 16: Cerundolo 6-4 3-6 7-5
Miami Masters (2022) - Semi-final: Ruud 6-4 6-1
Ruud and Cerundolo have faced off six times on the ATP Tour, with each player winning three matches.
Not only have their clay match-ups been tied (2-2), but the same applies to their encounters on hard courts — the three-time Slam finalist claimed success in their first-ever meeting at the 2022 Miami Masters 1000 but Cerundolo beat the Norwegian in Paris last year.
Strikingly, only one of their six tussles has gone to three sets, with the victor in five match-ups getting the job done in two.
We say: Ruud to win in two sets
The pair's head-to-head shows that Friday's match can go either way, but we are backing Ruud's Laver Cup experience to count for something as Team Europe seek to notch the opening point at Team World's expense.
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