Casper Ruud beats Tommy Paul for Team Europe's first win at Laver Cup in Vancouver

Team Europe is on the board at the Laver Cup in Vancouver. Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud got the better of Tommy Paul 7-6(6), 6-2 in Saturday's second day-session singles match to give Team Europe its first win in six matches so far this weekend.

Ruud's win followed a 6-2, 7-6(3) win for Taylor Fritz over Andrey Rublev to open Day 2's play, which gave Team World a 6-0 lead. Team World swept the four matches on Friday, where they were all worth one point one the overall scoreboard, and Saturday's matches are each worth two points.

"Game on, baby," Ruud said afterwards in his on-court interview. "I'm fortunate it went my way. A bit of a steal, maybe, that tiebreak ... that's Laver Cup.

"Even though World are up 6-2, there have been some close calls. They won the first two or three tiebreaks we played, and this one went Europe's way. Hopefully, it can be somewhat of a momentum shift for us."

Ruud led 4-1 in the opening set against Australian Open semifinalist Paul, but needed to save a set point in the ensuing tiebreak before ultimately wrapping up his fourth straight win against the American.

Ruud improved his Laver Cup record to 3-0 in the process, but experienced something new by making his debut on Day 2 in 2023: In his previous two appearances in 2021 and 2022, he played the opening match of the event. Last year, he played for a team anchored by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, but this year, the now-three-time Grand Slam finalist is the second-highest ranked player for Team Europe.

"Coming out, pressure at 0-6, I really thought that it was time to play the best match of the year," Ruud said. "It wasn't far away. I'm very happy with the level, great for us, and I felt great out there.

"I tried to learn from last year. It wasn't easy. I was like a kid in the candy store, being around the four greatest players ever, and that was one of the most fun weeks for me. I was really excited to be back in Europe. Different team, but we're young and we're strong and we're ready for the rest of the weekend."

In Saturday's night session, Hubert Hurkacz will pull double duty for Team Europe, which hopes to end Saturday's play even at 6-6 in the overall score. Hurkacz will face Frances Tiafoe in singles before teaming with Gael Monfils against Felix Auger-Aliassime and Ben Shelton.