ABU DHABI: Game Changers Falcons clinched the World Tennis League season three title with a hard-fought 20-16 victory over the TSL Hawks at the Etihad Arena on Sunday.
Despite losing the first two sets — women’s doubles and singles — Game Changers Falcons staged a remarkable comeback, dominating the men’s doubles and singles to claim the title.
In a rematch of the season opener, Game Changers Falcons’ Elena Rybakina and Caroline Garcia began strongly, breaking the opening serve of the match against the TSL Hawks’ Aryna Sabalenka and Mirra Andreeva.
Despite their stellar performances in the league stage, Sabalenka and Andreeva looked unsettled early on. However, they mounted an impressive comeback as they recovered from a 0-5 deficit to level the score at 5-5.
Rybakina and Garcia then managed to break serve again to regain the lead, but a series of unforced errors allowed their opponents to force a tie-break.
In the tie-break, Sabalenka and Andreeva found themselves trailing once again but displayed remarkable composure to turn the tables and clinch the women’s doubles set 7-6.
Teenage sensation Andreeva carried her remarkable form into the women’s singles against Rybakina. She broke Rybakina’s second and third serves to gain the upper hand and comfortably close out the set 6-2, extending the TSL Hawks’ overall lead to 13-8 in the match.
In the men’s doubles, Game Changers Falcons’ Andrey Rublev and Denis Shapovalov dominated the entire set against the TSL Hawks’ Sumit Nagal and Jordan Thompson. They broke Nagal’s serve twice to maintain the lead and sealed the set 6-2. This win narrowed the overall game tally to 14-15, setting the stage for a thrilling men’s singles.
Rublev held his opening serve to level the overall game tally at 15-15 before winning three consecutive games to take an 18-15 lead. While Nagal managed to pull a game back, Rublev closed the men’s singles set 6-1 to help his team clinch the title 20-16.
“I’ve done team events for a while, and I’ve been very fortunate over the years to have really good people on the team,” Game Changers Falcons coach and captain, John-Laffnie de Jager, said at the post-match press conference.
“They get along well, they’re professional, they show up and at the end of the day, they perform. First time when we played against the Hawks, we were behind, we came back from that point to win it and the same happened tonight.
“So, the format is great, because you are never out and always have a chance to win it. It was an awesome campaign for us, and everybody enjoyed it.”
Game Changers Falcons’ Garcia said: “In tennis it’s not very often you have an opportunity to play in a team setup, and I really enjoyed it. I had a great time knowing a bit more about everyone in the team and looking forward for more fun next year.”
