World Tennis League 2023 Results: Andrey Rublev-inspired Eagles win exhibition event in Abu Dhabi
Team Eagles defeated Team Kites 29-26 in the final to win the second edition of the World Tennis League in Abu Dhabi. The Eagles consisted of Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Mirra Andreeva, and Sofia Kenin.
The Eagles were off to a slow start as they were only able to collect 22 points on the first day and found themselves at the bottom of the table.
Things picked up for them when they managed to defeat the Hawks in the super shoot-out tiebreak, with Medvedev defeating Hurkacz 10-4 to win the match 31-28. This win placed them third in the table above the Hawks with 53 points.
On Day 3, the Eagles won against the Falcons 22-18 to jump ahead of them in the table, placing them in second and setting up a clash against the Kites in the finals. Though the Eagles and Falcons were tied in points (75), the winning game percentage of the Eagles was 50%, higher than the Falcons' 48.7%.
The finals began with a mixed doubles match between Andreeva/Medvedev vs Badosa/Tsitsipas, which the latter won 6(5)-7. The women's doubles match followed, with the Eagles' Andreeva/Kenin beating the Kites' Badosa/Sabalenka 7-5. The third match was played between Medvedev/Rublev and Dimitrov/Harris, again won by the Eagles, 6-3. The pair of Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev did not lose a single men's doubles match during the tournament.
Next up was women's singles, where Sofia Kenin went up against World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and came out the winner 6-4. This placed the Eagles in a comfortable position at 25-19.
The final match was the men's singles clash between Rublev and Dimitrov, which was won by the Bulgarian 3-6. This took the final to overtime, where both players tied 1-1, rounding the final score to 29-26 in the Eagles' favour to make them the champions.
World Tennis League 2023: Complete set of results
Round-Robin
DAY 1
Falcons def. Hawks 27-24
Taylor Fritz/Sumit Nagal def. Casper Ruud/Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(6)
Sorana Cirstea/Taylor Fritz def. Caroline Garcia/Hurbert Hurkacz 6-2
Sorana Cirstea/Elene Rybakina def. Caroline Garcia/Iga Swiatek 6-4
Casper Ruud def. Taylor Fritz 6-1
Iga Swiatek def. Elene Rybakina 6-4
Elene Rybakina def. Iga Swiatek 1-0(8) [Super shoot-out]
Kites def. Eagles 27-22
Paula Badosa/Aryna Sabalenka def. Mirra Andreeva/Sofia Kenin 6-3
Paula Badosa/Stefanos Tsitsipas def. Sofia Kenin/Daniil Medvedev 6-4
Daniil Medvedev/Andrey Rublev def. Grigor Dimitrov/Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(3)
Andrey Rublev def. Grigor Dimitrov 6-3
Aryna Sabalenka def. Mirra Andreeva 6-2
DAY 2
Kites def. Falcons 33-30
Sorana Cirstea/Elena Rybakina def. Paula Badosa/Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(5)
Taylor Fritz/Sumit Nagal def. Grigor Dimitrov/Llyod Harris 7-6(5)
Sorana Cirstea/Taylor Fritz def. Paula Badosa/Lloyd Harris 7-5
Grigor Dimitrov def. Taylor Fritz 6-3
Aryna Sabalenka def. Elene Rybakina 7-6(2)
Aryna Sabalenka def. Elena Rybakina 1-0(6) [Super shoot-out]
Eagles def. Hawks 31-28
Hubert Hurkacz/Iga Swiatek def. Mirra Andreeva/Andrey Rublev 6-2
Mirra Andreeva/Sofia Kenin def. Caroline Garcia/Iga Swiatek 6-4
Daniil Medvedev/Andrey Rublev def. Hubert Hurkacz/Casper Ruud 7-6(1)
Sofia Kenin def. Caroline Garcia 7-5
Hubert Hurkacz def. Daniil Medvedev 7-6(4)
Daniil Medvedev def. Hubert Hurkacz 1-0(4) [Super shoot-out]
DAY 3
Kites vs Eagles 22-18
Mirra Andreeva/Andrey Rublev vs Vera Zvonareva/Taylor Fritz CANCELLED
Mirra Andreeva/Sofia Kenin def. Sorana Cirstea/Vera Zvonareva 6-4
Daniil Medvedev/Andrey Rubelv def. Taylor Fritz/Sumit Nagal 6-4
Sofia Kenin def. Sorana Cirstea 6-4
Taylor Fritz def. Daniil Medvedev 6-3
Daniil Medvedev vs Taylor Fritz 1-0 [Overtime]
Hawks def. Kites 20-19
Grigor Dimitrov/Llyod Harris def. Hubert Hurkacz/Casper Ruud 6-4
Caroline Garcia/Hubert Hurkacz vs Paula Badosa/Llyod Harris CANCELLED
Caroline Garcia/Iga Swiatek def Paula Badosa/Aryna Sabalenka 6-3
Aryna Sabalenka def. Iga Swiatek 6-4
Casper Ruud def. Grigor Dimitrov 6-4
FINALS
DAY 4
Eagles def. Kites 29-26
Paula Badosa/Sefanos Tsitsipas def. Mirra Andreeva/Daniil Medvedev 7-6(5)
Mirra Andreeva/Sofia Kenin def. Paula Badosa/Aryna Sabalenka 7-5
Daniil Medvedev/Andrey Rublev def. Grigor Dimitrov/Llyod Harris 6-3
Sofia Kenin def. Aryna Sabalenka 6-4
Grigor Dimitrov def. Andrey Rublev 6-3
Andrey Rublev vs Grigor Dimitrov 1-1 [Overtime]