Today's Edition
ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)
The third season of World Tennis League kickstarted with electrifying action as the Game Changers Falcons staged a dramatic 29-26 comeback victory over the TSL Hawks at the Etihad Arena on Thursday. Andrey Rublev provided the final push when it mattered to take his team through in the afternoon match even though his team ended up inferior for most of the match.
In the other game, the Kites secured a convincing 25-20 victory over HonorFX Eagles to mark an eventful start before Bryan Adams took over the venue and the euphoria that came with it.
Earlier, the Game Changers Falcons pulled off a dramatic 29-26 comeback victory over the TSL Hawks in the season's opening match, thanks to Andrey Rublev's heroics in the final set.
Trailing 17-21 heading into the last set, Rublev came out firing on all cylinders for the Falcons in the men’s singles, winning the fourth set, to make it 24-26 for his team and force an Over Time (OT). Under the unique format of the WTL, if the trailing team claims the fourth set, the overall match extends into Over Time (OT) as a continuation of the final set.
Rublev won two consecutive games, setting the stage for the season's first Super Shootout. Riding on his momentum, Rublev outplayed Thompson 10-6 in the Super Shootout, securing the bonus points for his team.
The women’s world No. 1 Sabalenka said: “I feel like it’s really cool to play in Abu Dhabi and promote our sport in this region to bring a young generation to tennis. It was so much fun in the match. It’s really sad to see that you win three sets out of four and you still lose the match. But it was fun. It was going back and forth.”
Kites Soar Over Eagles
In the mixed doubles of the late game, it was Eagles who put the first foot forward when Alexander Shevchenko and Paula Badosa secured an early break in the fourth game. However, Jasmine Paolini and Casper Ruud, after taking some time to find their rhythm, turned things around to win the set 6-4 for the Kites.
Ruud then took the men’s singles as he cruised to a comfortable 6-4 victory and extended the Kites' lead to 12-8. Iga Swiatek and Paula Badosa came out strong for the HonorFX Eagles in a star-studded women's doubles clash. They raced to an early 3-0 lead, narrowing the overall gap to 12-11.
However, Simona Halep and Jasmine Paolini of the Kites showcased incredible resilience, mounting an impressive comeback as they took the set from trailing 2-5 to level the score at 5-5. The duo built on their resurgence to clinch the set 7-5, giving the Kites a commanding 19-13 lead in the overall match.
The final set, the women's singles between Swiatek and Paolini, began evenly. Paolini broke Swiatek’s serve in the sixth game to secure a 4-2 lead and held her serve to make it 5-2. Swiatek, however, responded emphatically, winning five consecutive games to take the set and cut the overall deficit to 20-24, pushing the match into Over Time.
In OT, Paolini held her nerve to win the decisive game, as Kites celebrated the healthy margin in the 25-20 victory.
"We started well,” Ruud said, “Jasmine and I played a good mixed doubles set, we won that 6-4, and then I played a good single set. I'm happy with my level, with my performance, and looking forward to coming out there again tomorrow."
