The “Russian team” won the match on the third day of the WTL! But there may be no end

The “Russian team” won the match on the third day of the WTL! But there may be no end

Alexander Nasonov December 23, 2023, 17:15 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.

Daniil Medvedev lost the match alone, but went to extra time. And the best was Sofia Kenin, who won both matches.

On Saturday, December 23, the matches of the third and final day of the group stage of the second season of the World Tennis League (WTL) will be played in Abu Dhabi (UAE). After the first two days, the Knights were leading the team exhibition tournament with Stefanos Tsitsipas, Grigor Dimitrov, Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa, as well as Tsitsipas’ replacement, Lloyd Harris. In two days, the Kites scored 60 points.

The Falcons (Taylor Fritz, Sumit Nagal, Elena Rybakina and Sorana Cirstea) came in second with 57 points. Rounding out the table were the Eagles (Daniil Medvedev, Andrei Rublev, Sofia Kenin and Mirra Andreeva), who scored 53 points, and the Hawks (Hubert Hurkacz, Kasper Ruud, Iga Swiatek and Caroline García), who scored 52 points.

Read about all the events of the first two days in separate “Championship” materials:

On day three, our Eagles faced the Falcons. And there was a change in the “Falcons”: instead of Rybakina, Vera Zvonareva began to defend the team’s colors, who appeared in both doubles matches (women’s and mixed). The day of play began with the women’s “pair”, in which Andreeva and Kenin faced Zvonareva and Kirsta. In the fifth game, the Russians and Americans took the decisive point and did not allow their opponents to break. But in the seventh game, the Russians and Romanians did not miss “exactly” and went ahead 4:3 with a break.

Despite this, Mirra and Sophia immediately reacted with a reverse break (4:4). After that, Andreeva and Kenin put pressure on their opponents: they took their game from 30:40, and then at the second attempt they converted a match point on the reception: 6:4 in 41 minutes.

In the men’s doubles match, Rublev and Medvedev faced Fritz and Nagal. In the third game, the Russians took the other’s serve and took the decisive point. But the Americans and Indians immediately responded with a counterattack, also at the decisive point: 2:2. In the seventh game, Andrei and Daniil achieved the second and decisive break 4:3. And at 5:4, Rublev and Medvedev successfully took the match, taking advantage of the third match point, 6:4 in 32 minutes.

Kenin and Kirstya faced each other in the women’s singles match. This match began with a parade of breaks that ended only after 2-2. Then, on the contrary, both tennis players began to take only their serves, without allowing themselves to break points. And in the tenth game, the American took advantage of the second match point in the reception and won 6:4 in 35 minutes.

And the “single” men’s team consisted of Medvedev and Fritz. The personal match score was 2-1 in favor of the American. In addition, he obtained both victories over the Russian in exhibition tournaments (Ultimate Tennis Showdown in May 2021 and Riyadh last December), and Daniil defeated Taylor in the only official match, in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters in 2022.

Medvedev started this match by breaking his opponent’s serve. But after that, the Russian lost four games in a row and Fritz took his serves to zero. Thus the score was 4-1 in their favor. Daniel never got out of this situation. At 5:3, Taylor successfully served for the match, taking advantage of the third match point: 6:3.

As the trailing team won the fourth set, Medvedev and Fritz had to play what is called overtime: these are the rules of the third day. Daniil beat it to zero with his own serve: 3: 6, 1: 0 in 25 minutes. And the Eagles beat the Falcons 22-18.

Eagles – Falcons – 22:18

Andreeva/Kenin – Zvonareva/Kirstya – 6:4. Rublev/Medvedev – Fritz/Nagal – 6:4. Kenin – Kirstya – 6:4. Medvedev – Fritz – 3:6, 1:0.

Thus, the Águilas finished the group stage with 75 points. The Falcons also scored 75 points. Whether the “Russian team” will reach the final will be known a little later, when the “Falcons” and the “Comets” play their match.

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