Championship tennis returned to the Windy City at 1:16 p.m. Friday when Grigor Dimitrov blasted an ace past American Frances Tiafoe.
One point for Team Europe, one giant leap for Chicago sports?
The Laver Cup is here. And judging by the size of the United Center crowd and the knowledge of the fans, this was long overdue.
The sounds were what you hear at grand slams — the hushed dialogue between points, the whistles after close calls, the rhythmic clapping that accompanies a player challenge, the screams for “C’mon, Frances!” after the Maryland native lost the first six points.
All the love for Team World — which includes American players — finally paid off in the end.
The Euros won all three singles matches, but Team World won the final match of the night — and it was a beauty. American Jack Sock and Illinois alum Kevin Anderson thumped the dream team of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Federer and Djokovic had never played together before. Imagine having Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi on the same side. Or John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors.
Federer and Djokovic have 34 grand slam singles titles between them.
The match highlights included a moment of levity when Djokovic hit a forehand that didn’t reach the net. What blocked it? Federer’s derriere. Djokovic reacted in horror.
Federer closed out the first set with a winning volley, but he erred in the match-deciding tiebreaker, double-faulting at 4-4. Team World won the tiebreaker 10-6.
Sock’s earlier match also contained much drama. He won the second set over Britain’s Kyle Edmund but sputtered badly in a deciding tiebreaker. After falling behind 8-3, he fired a ball to the other end of the United Center, nearly making it to the 300 level.
“I was trying to give a shout-out to the (Michael) Jordan banner,” Sock joked.
Edmund finally won the tiebreaker, 10-6, marking a dreary end to a terrific match.
“I’m very disappointed in myself for not pulling that one out,” Sock said. “I played a shocking tiebreak.”
Supportive fans hollered “Let’s go Jack!” and “Sock it to him, Jack!”
Asked after the match about his sore hip, Sock quipped: “When you have Jordan’s House chanting your name, it gets better.”
Sock, who grew up in Nebraska and blossomed in Kansas City, recalled playing a tournament at the Midtown Athletic Club when he was 14.
“I got a taste of Chicago, and it always has been one of my favorite cities, especially when the weather is nice,” he said. “The city is sweet.”
And it has a sweet spot for tennis, especially team tennis. The second Laver Cup pits the top Europeans against the rest of the world. Teammates sit in a C-shaped couch alongside the court. Captains Bjorn Borg (Europe) and John McEnroe (World) sit with the competing player during changeovers, offering advice.
There are NBA-style introductions before matches, and players wear shirts in the team color — blue for Europe, red for World.
The umpire says: “Advantage, Europe,” rather than “Advantage, Edmund.”
The court is black, a striking look that provides a nice contrast for viewers. It’s a hard court, but the surface is relatively slow, promoting rallies.
The first team to 13 points wins the Laver Cup, with Saturday’s matches worth two and Sunday’s worth three.
“It hasn’t been the ideal start,” Sock said after his singles loss, “but the celebrations will be coming.”
The evening’s first match produced a host of mini-celebrations for Team World. But in the end, there was more heartbreak, leaving a 3-0 deficit.
Diego Schwartzman, the 5-foot-7 Argentinian, battled Belgium’s David Goffin in a match that could not have been tighter.
After Schwartzman forced a tiebreaker by winning the second set, he fell apart. He trailed 7-3 in the first-to-10-point tiebreaker.
Down 6-7, he executed a half-volley drop shot that had an off-the-charts degree of difficulty. The winner prompted several World teammates to storm the court for high-fives. Schwartzman won six straight points and was in prime position to claim the match.
But down 9-7, Goffin earned his coffee with some dark closing skills. He won the final four points, with Schwartzman mishitting a forehand on the final one.
“Amazing atmosphere,” Goffin said. “I had to stay focused.”
He did, giving Europe a sweep of the first three matches before Team World claimed Friday’s finale.
tgreenstein@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein
