Two deserving teams – the Kites and the Hawks have made it to the finals of the inaugural World Tennis League. The final will be played on December 24.
Format
Each team will have a maximum of four players competing in a match. The mixed-gender exhibition tournament that is being held in the Middle East in Dubai will see each match being decided after the result of best-of-three contests involving one singles men’s match, one singles women’s match, and one mixed doubles match. There will be a 10-point tiebreak for the third set.
Teams
| Kites | Hawks |
| Iga Swiatek | Alexander Zverev |
| Felix Auger-Aliassime/Sebastian Offner | Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova |
| Holger Rune | Elena Rybakina |
| Sania Mirza | Dominic Thiem |
| Eugenie Bouchard | – |
Kites
Yes, it’s just an exhibition tournament but try telling that to Iga Swiatek. The world No. 1 has pulverized and tormented her opponents thus far in the tournament. She has won all three of her matches so far in the competition in straight sets. In their important final group-stage clash against Falcons, Swiatek made light won of former world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka as she defeated the Belarusian player in straight sets 6-1, 6-3. Swiatek will be the player to watch out for and whether Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or Elena Rybakina comes her way, they will need to bring their A-game and then some to topple the Polish sensation.
Felix Auger-Aliassime has also been a vital cog in the Kites setup. He has defeated Nick Kyrgios and Dominic Thiem in singles matches at the event so far. The Canadian youngster had a fabulous end to the season and has continued in the same vein in Dubai as well. He did not play in the Kites’ final group match against the Falcons. He was supposed to face Novak Djokovic. However, Sebastian Offner replaced him in the end and produced a great fight against the in-form Serbian.
Holger Rune has played well so far in the doubles department. He has teamed with both Eugenie Bouchard and Sania Mirza and impressed with his reflexes and speed across the court.
Either Eugenie Bouchard or Sania Mirza will partner Holger Rune in the doubles encounter. Considering the fact that Mirza and Rune won their previous encounter against Paula Badosa and Grigor Dimitrov, it doesn’t seem like Kites will break the winning combination.
Hawks
Alexander Zverev has been on fire in the tournament thus far. After making a return from injury at the Diriyah Tennis Cup, the German star has not taken too much time to get back into the groove. Zverev defeated the mighty Novak Djokovic in the competition. He also got the better of the experienced Andreas Seppi in his most recent encounter.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is another player who has made a comeback to tennis after a few months out of action. She just played in three tournaments in 2022. The Russian player replaced Annet Kontaveit at the last moment. So far she has proved her worth and also gave Iga Swiatek a good run for her money in their previous meeting in the group stages.
Elena Rybakina might not have had great results to show on the tour following her miraculous Wimbledon triumph, but the Kazakhstani No. 1 has managed to pull off some fine results so far at the World Tennis League. Rybakina has managed to defeat both the finalists of the 2022 WTA Finals at the exhibition tournament – Caroline Garcia and Aryna Sabalenka. She will take a lot of confidence from the wins.
Dominic Thiem is also on his road to resurgence. The Austrian star lost his singles encounter against Felix Auger-Aliassime. He teamed up with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a match against Bianca Andreescu and Nick Kyrgios and lost. The 2020 US Open champion is almost certain to play the mixed doubles rubber and will hope to deliver at the big stage of the finals.
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