Sabalenka beats Rybakina in thrilling shoot-out to clinch victory for the Kites
The Kites went into the singles matches having lost all three of their doubles encounters with the Falcons and trailing their opponents by four points
Zuma/Panoramic
Team Kites have won their second tie in as many days at the 2023 World Tennis League in Abu Dhabi, defeating Team Falcons by 33 points to 30 to surge to the top of the table.
Once again, the Kites had to rely on the strength of their singles players to overturn a four-point deficit after the doubles and clinch victory by the tightest of margins.
Grigor Dimitrov put on a superb performance to comfortably beat Taylor Fritz 6-3 and reduce the deficit between the Kites and the Falcons to just a single point, but it was the deciding women’s doubles match that stole the show.
rybakina and sabalenka put on dazzling display of big-hitting tennis
The score was 24-23 to the Falcons heading into the final match of the tie, which saw the world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka take on Elena Rybakina.
The big-hitting pair put on an exhibition of powerful shot-making as the fate of their teams hung in the balance.
They exchanged breaks in the first two games of the set before a Rybakina moved 3-1 ahead with a second break.
The match then went on serve until the ninth game. With Rybakina serving for the match and the tie at 5-3, Sabalenka stepped up her aggression, hitting strongly off both wings as she punctured the Kazakh’s defences to break serve at the most crucial of junctures.
A tiebreak was then required, which the Belarusian powered through 7-2 to take the match and send tie into a deciding super shoot-out with the scores locked at 30 points apiece.
It was Sabalenka who now had all the momentum, however, and she continued her superb late-match surge to take the shoot-out 10-6 and earn a hard-fought victory for Team Kites.
“We’ve played a lot of times against each other. It’s always a tough match and a tough battle,” Sabalenka said following her win.
“It’s all about my team. They did it. They were helping me to stay positive and that’s why I was able to fight for every point.”
The Kites are currently sitting at the top of the table with 60 points. Today’s opponents the Falcons are just behind them in second place with 57 points.
The Eagles take on the Hawks in the day’s second tie, with everything still to play for in this entertaining exhibition event.
