Sabalenka delivers victory to Team Kites on opening day of World Tennis League 2023
The Belarusian defeated Mirra Andreeva 6-2 in the final match of the tie to hand victory to the Kites on day one of the World Tennis League
Aryna Sabalenka at the 2023 US Open
Team Kites have beaten Team Eagles 27-22 in their opening tie of the 2023 World Tennis League to cap off a captivating day of tennis.
Victory for the Kites means they surge to the top of the overall table, tied on 27 points with second-placed Team Falcons, who also won their opening tie earlier in the day.
Team Hawks are close behind with 24 while the Eagles are bottom of the group on 22 points, with everything still to play for heading into day two.
Kites get off to good start with the doubles
Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka teamed up first for Team Kites, taking on Mirra Andreeva and Sofia Kenin of Team Eagles.
It was a close match, but the evident on-court chemistry between good friends Badosa and Sabalenka was a key component for the Kites. They took the only break of the contest in the eighth game before serving out to complete a 6-3 win.
Next up was the mixed doubles, with Stefanos Tsitsipas teaming up with his off-court partner Badosa for the Kites, facing Kenin and Daniil Medvedev of the Eagles.
It was another win for the Kites, with Tsitsipas and Badosa taking the second match of the tie 6-4. The Greek was particularly impressive, especially with his serve and off the forehand wing, as Kenin and Medvedev struggled to keep up with a duo who are evidently well-tuned with one another.
men’s doubles goes down to the wire, before Sabalenka powers home for the Kites
The third and final doubles match of the day pitted the all-Russian duo of Andrey Rublev and Medvedev against Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov.
In a light-hearted and good-spirited contest, it was, again, a close affair, with a deciding tiebreak required to separate the two pairs.
Tsitsipas and Dimitrov did well to fend off three break points towards the end of the set, ensuring a breaker would be needed.
But it was the Russian pair who stepped up when it mattered most, playing decisively throughout the tiebreak to take it 7-3. With it, they won the match and moved a precious point closer to their opponents.
At the end of the doubles action for the day, the Kites led the Eagles 18-14.
Rublev versus Dimitrov was next up, with the Russian continuing the fine form he showed on the doubles court, powering his way past the tiring Bulgarian 6-3.
That win for Rublev meant that the Eagles trailed the Kites by just a single point – 20 points to 21 – heading into the final match of the day, a match that saw world No 2 and Australian Open champion, Sabalenka, take on 2023’s breakout star of the year, Andreeva.
The Belarusian put her young opponent under pressure from the off, moving a break up at 2-0. Andreeva struck back, however, earning the break back to restore parity at two games apiece with some fine tennis.
From there, however, Sabalenka’s experience shone through as the world No 2 powered home to take the next four games on the spin, winning the match 6-2 to hand the Kites a 27-22 victory over the Eagles after a thoroughly entertaining opening day at the World Tennis League.
