The highly-anticipated World Tennis League (WTL) Season 3 kicked off with electrifying action as the Game Changers Falcons staged a dramatic 29-26 comeback victory over the TSL Hawks in the season opener at the iconic Etihad Arena on Thursday.
The opener delivered edge-of-the-seat excitement, featuring closely contested battles in both doubles and singles categories, culminating in the first Super Shootout of the season.
In the women’s doubles, Aryna Sabalenka and Mirra Andreeva gave the TSL Hawks a strong start, racing to a 2-0 lead. However, Elena Rybakina and Caroline Garcia spearheaded a remarkable comeback for the Game Changers Falcons, leveling the game at 2-2. The Falcons then surged ahead, leading 4-2, but the Hawks fought back by breaking the Falcons in the seventh game. Saving three set points, the Hawks equalized at 5-5 and eventually pushed the set to a tie-break after a 6-6 stalemate. In a thrilling finish, the Hawks clinched the set 7-6, marking an exhilarating start to the season.
In the women’s singles, Sabalenka started on a dominant note, surging to a 5-0 lead. However, Rybakina, after a slow start, staged a solid comeback, winning five consecutive games to level the score at 5-5. During this stretch, she saved three set points across three consecutive games. Although Sabalenka briefly regained her momentum to edge ahead, Rybakina’s resilience forced the set into a tie-break. Ultimately, Sabalenka prevailed, taking the set 7-6 and giving the Hawks a 14-12 lead.
In the men’s doubles, Sumit Nagal and Jordan Thompson established a commanding 4-1 lead for the Hawks. However, Andrey Rublev and Denis Shapovalov fought back for the Falcons, leveling the score at 4-4 and eventually taking the lead. Despite the shift in momentum, Nagal and Thompson regained control to clinch the set 7-5, extending the Hawks’ overall lead to 21-17.
Rublev came out firing on all cylinders for the Falcons in the men’s singles, winning the fourth set and narrowing the overall score to 24-26. This forced the match into Over Time under the unique WTL format, where the trailing team can extend the match if it wins the fourth set.
In Over Time, Rublev managed to win two consecutive games, tying the overall score at 26-26 and pushing the contest into the first Super Shootout of the season.
Rublev then rode his phenomenal momentum to defeat Thompson 10-6 in the Super Shootout, helping the Falcons secure bonus points and complete their dramatic comeback victory.
Reflecting on the closely fought contest, Women’s World No. 1 Sabalenka said, “I feel like it’s really cool to play in Abu Dhabi and promote our sport in this region to bring a young generation to tennis. It was so much fun in the match. It’s really sad to see that you won three sets out of four and still lost the match. But it was fun. It was going back and forth. The most important thing about the World Tennis League is to have no pressure at all.
