Nick Kyrgios (US Open Tennis - Twitter)
The exciting action of the inaugural World Tennis League is underway and the Falcons will take on the Eagles on Day 3 of the tournament on December 21.
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.
| Eagles | Falcons |
| Nick Kyrgios | Novak Djokovic |
| Caroline Garcia | Aryna Sabalenka |
| Bianca Andreescu | Paula Badosa |
| Rohan Bopanna | Grigor Dimitrov |
| Andreas Seppi | – |
While Grigor Dimitrov is teaming with Paula Badosa in their opening match versus the Hawks, on day 3 of the competition, the Bulgarian veteran will partner with two-time Grand Slam winner Aryna Sabalenka. Dimitrov and Sabalenka will be a team to look out for owing to their experience.
The Belarusian star has not played doubles tennis too often in recent times. In fact, prior to the World Tennis League, her last doubles match was at the Madrid Open earlier this year. She teamed with Paula Badosa and lost to the American duo of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the round of 32.
Dimitrov might not have won a doubles title on the tour so far in his career, but he reached a career-high ranking of world No. 66 on August 26, 2013. He also hasn’t played much doubles tennis as of late. His last doubles match on the tour came in the 2022 Western & Southern Open in August.
Bianca Andreescu is a US Open champion in singles and she won the title in 2019. In the same year, in the same tournament, she entered the main draw in the doubles event for the first time in her doubles career in Grand Slams. Her last doubles match on the tour was at the semifinals of the Berlin Open, where she teamed with Sabine Lisicki and lost to Storm Sanders and Katerina Siniakova.
The 38-year-old Andreas Seppi played his last doubles match at a Challenger event in Ilkley in June alongside Vasek Pospisil. They lost to top seeds Fabrice Martin and Hugo Nys in the round of 16. Seppi has played mixed doubles tennis without much success. He was ousted in the second round at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. He also lost in the first round at the 2012 Olympics.
On form alone, Aryna Sabalenka vs Caroline Garcia would have been a match that fans would have loved to see. However, let’s not forget that Paula Badosa is a former world No. 2 and has all the ingredients to become a multi-time Grand Slam champion.
This year, Badosa played 54 matches and won 32 of them while having lost 22. She also win a title this season and finished the year with a ranking of 13.
As for Caroline Garcia, the Frenchwoman had a blistering finish to the season. She was only behind Iga Swiatek in terms of female players with the most titles won in 2022. Garcia won four titles during the year, including a win at the WTA Finals.
This is going to be a rematch of the 2022 Wimbledon final. The Serbian veteran defeated Kyrgios for the first time in that match and won his 21st Grand Slam title.
Novak Djokovic has played only in 11 tournaments this year. He was forced to miss several tournaments owing to his unvaccinated status. Still, Djokovic managed to win five titles, including the Wimbledon and the ATP Finals.
Nick Kyrgios also had the best season of his career. He won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open when he won the doubles event. He also made it to his first singles final in a major at Wimbledon.
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