On top of World

Geneva, September 21

Roger Federer edged out Nick Kyrgios in a super tie-break to give Europe a 5-3 lead after the opening session of the second day of the Laver Cup in Geneva today.

 The 20-time Grand Slam champion, who won his first match alongside Alexander Zverev in Friday's doubles tie, beat Australian Kyrgios 6-7(5) 7-5 10-7 to the delight of his 17,000-strong home crowd.  "The crowd could feel it, I could feel it. I needed to get some energy going but you can't do that if you don't play any good shots and Nick was playing very well," said Federer. Bjorn Borg's holders had seen Team World draw level earlier with John Isner's victory over Zverev.

The 38-year-old Federer had won his last two matches against Kyrgios in straight sets, but dropped the opener in a tie-break. But he hit back to level the match with a break in game 11 of the second set, before holding off a late Kyrgios rally in the super tie-break to take it on his third match point. 

Later, Rafael Nadal will play his first matches of the weekend when he takes on Milos Raonic in the singles, before teaming up with Stefanos Tsitsipas to face Kyrgios and Jack Sock in doubles.

Earlier today, Isner fought back from a set down to beat Zverev 6-7(2) 6-4 10-1 and haul Team World level at 3-3 after Europe led by two points after the opening day.

Osaka reaches final 

Tokyo: Japanese tennis sensation Naomi Osaka beat Elise Mertens of Belgium today to reach the final of the Pan Pacific Open, thrilling her Japanese fans in the city of her birth.

Top seed Osaka dispatched Mertens 6-4 6-1 in Osaka, western Japan, to reach her first final since winning the Australian Open. The pair both held their serves for the first set until Osaka broke Mertens in the 10th game.

Osaka, 21, rounded into form in the second, and after the pair traded early breaks, won the last four games of the match to sprint to victory in just over an hour.

"It's been kind of rough like the past couple of months so I'm really glad that I made it to the final," she said.

Her challenger in the final will be Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, 28, who ousted Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-3 6-3. 

Kenin wins Guangzhou Open

Guangzhou: American Sofia Kenin fought back from a set down to overcome Samantha Stosur 6-7(4) 6-4 6-2 and win the Guangzhou International Women's Open title today.

It was the third title of the season for 20-year-old Kenin following triumphs in Hobart and Mallorca but the third seed was made to work hard by the Australian wildcard, playing in her first singles final in 2-1/2 years.

Kenin raced to a 4-2 lead before the 35-year-old Stosur, won the opening set on a tiebreak but was unable to match the intensity of Osaka all along. — Agencies