Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev won their opening singles to put Team Europe ahead of Team World after Day 1 of the inaugural Laver Cup in Prague on Friday.
Nick Kyrgios and Jack Sock then handed Team World their first point by beating Tomas Berdych and world No 1 Rafael Nadal in the day's closing doubles rubber to round off the score at 3-1 for Europe.
"I'm happy the way the day went, we had a couple of wins that were super close and we could lose," Roland Garros and US Open champion Nadal said.
"We have a good result for our team. Happy to go to back to bed with 3-1 and tomorrow is another day."
With four matches a day - three singles and a doubles, the players can earn a point for each win on Friday, two on Saturday and three on Sunday.
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World No 5 Cilic beat 72nd-ranked Frances Tiafoe, a replacement for the injured Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, 7-6, 7-6 in the tournament opener.
The big-serving Croat and the 19-year-old American held on to their serves in the first set before earning a break apiece in the second, with Cilic showing better nerves in both tie-breakers.
Seventh-ranked Austrian Thiem then put Europe 2-0 ahead, beating world No 17 John Isner 6-7, 7-6, 10-8.
Shot of the day
Friday's @jpmorgan Shot of the Day came during the compelling clash between #TeamEurope's @ThiemDomi and #TeamWorld's @JohnIsner. #LaverCup pic.twitter.com/9hBDUv5eOj
— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) September 23, 2017
Isner offered his regular dose of aces as both held on to their serves throughout the rubber, taking it to the 10-point super tie-break used to decide games tied after two sets.
Isner went 4-0 up in the super tie-break, but the patient Austrian came back to win the rubber.
In a clash of the teams' youngest players, the 20-year-old world No 4, Zverev, overpowered 18-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov 7-6, 7-6 in another rubber without breaks.
In the doubles, Berdych lost his serve halfway through the first set as off-court friends Kyrgios and Sock seemed far more comfortable on the black court of Prague's O2 Arena.
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Berdych and Nadal regained some momentum in the second set, but the Team World duo grabbed the super tie-break.
Leading Team Europe, Bjorn Borg decided to rest world No 2 Roger Federer on Friday while John McEnroe decided not to use his highest-ranked player, 16th-ranked Sam Querrey.
