By Ricky Dimon

Playing doubles with each other for the first time ever, Federer and Nadal defeated Sam Querrey and Jack Sock 6-4, 1-6, 10-5 at the inaugural Laver Cup on Saturday night. The victory by the two all-time greats inside Prague’s O2 Arena gave Team Europe a 9-3 lead over Team World heading into the last four matches on Sunday.

With each remaining match counting three points, Team World still has a mathematical chance to win. It can do so by winning all four on Sunday, or by winning three and then taking what would be a tiebreaking doubles showdown. The Europeans need only a split of the four matches to lift the cup with their current six-point cushion in hand.

A victory by Querrey and Sock would have left the proceedings at a far more competitive 7-5 heading into the final day, but Federer and Nadal had other ideas. The Swiss-Spanish duo broke early in the opening set and maintained the advantage the rest of the way. After dropping the second set, Federer and Nadal righted the ship quickly in the ensuing 10-point tiebreaker. Sock missed a volley to give away one mini-break and he lost serve again at 1-4 with a double-fault.

It ended with Federer ripping forehands at Querrey, who eventually missed a volley.