Abu Dhabi, Dec 19 (IANS): The highly-anticipated Season 3 of the World Tennis League kickstarted with electrifying action as the Game Changers Falcons staged a dramatic 29-26 comeback victory over the TSL Hawks in the opening match at the Etihad Arena here on Thursday. The opener delivered edge-of-the-seat excitement, featuring closely-contested battles in both doubles and singles categories, culminating in the first Super Shootout of the season.
In the women’s doubles, Aryna Sabalenka and Mirra Andreeva gave TSL Hawks a strong start, racing to a 2-0 lead. However, Elena Rybakina and Caroline Garcia led a remarkable comeback for Game Changers Falcons, levelling the game 2-2. The Falcons then surged ahead, leading 4-2, but the Hawks fought back by breaking the Falcons in the seventh game.
Saving three set points, the Hawks equalised at 5-5, eventually pushing the set to a tie-break after a 6-6 stalemate. In a thrilling finish, the Hawks clinched the set 7-6, marking an exhilarating start to the season opener. In the women's singles, Sabalenka started on a dominant note and surged to a 5-0 lead. However, Rybakina, after a slow start, staged a solid comeback, winning five consecutive games to level at 5-5. During this, she saved three set points across three consecutive games.
Although Sabalenka briefly regained her momentum to edge ahead, Rybakina's resilience forced the set into a tiebreak. Ultimately, Sabalenka prevailed, taking the set 7-6 and giving the Hawks a 14-12 lead.
In the men's doubles, Sumit Nagal and Jordan Thompson established a commanding 4-1 lead for the Hawks. However, Andrey Rublev and Denis Shapovalov fought back for the Falcons, equalled at 4-4, and led the set by a game. Despite the shift in momentum, Nagal and Thompson regained control to clinch the tie 7-5, while also extending the Hawks' overall lead to 21-17.
Rublev came out firing on all cylinders for the Falcons in the men's singles, winning the fourth set, making the overall score 24-26 for his team, and took the match into Over Time. Under the unique format of the WTL, if the trailing team claims the fourth set, the overall match extends into overtime (OT) as a continuation of the final set.
In the OT, Rublev then managed to win two back-to-back games, making the overall score identical to 26-26, pushing it to the first Super Shootout of the season. Rublev then rode on a phenomenal momentum and defeated Thompson 10-6 in the Super Shootout, eventually helping his team earn the bonus points.
Reflecting on what was a closely fought contest, 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 won three sets out of four and you still lost the match. But it was fun. It was going back and forth. The most important thing about the World Tennis League is to have no pressure at all.”