“From December 19 to 22, the World Tennis League takes place”, — write: sport.ua
Format: four teams play each other in a round-robin format. Each match consists of four matches: one men’s singles, one women’s singles and two doubles matches, which can be men’s doubles, women’s doubles or mixed doubles, depending on which team wins the draw.
Each match consists of one set, but there are nuances. The team receives one point for each game won in any of the matches. If the team leading the match wins the fourth set, the match ends.
All the highlights of the match are available in Live mode Telegram Sport.ua
If the trailing team wins the fourth set, the match goes into overtime. Those tennis players who played the fourth set take part in the so-called extra time.
If the team that won the confrontation before the end of the fourth set wins at least one game in extra time, then the confrontation ends.
If the team that made a comeback and sent the game to extra time makes the total score equal without losing a point (remember, a point is counted for each game won), then the confrontation goes into a super tie-break between the same participants who played the fourth set and extra time. The winner of the super tiebreaker gives their team a victory in the face-off, which is awarded one point, and one point is awarded for each “+2 points difference”.
After the round-robin tournament, the top two teams will meet in the final on December 22, 2024.
It is quite difficult to understand the format of confrontations if you do not see a clear example. Fortunately, on the very first day of play in each of the two confrontations, something happened that raises questions when reading the rules.
Let’s start with team composition:
- Eagles: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Shevchenko, Iga Svyontek, Paula Badosa
- Falcons: Andrei Rublev, Denis Shapovalov, Yelena Rybakina, Karolin Garcia
- Hawks: Jordan Thompson, Sumit Nagal, Arina Sobolenko, Mirra Andreeva
- Kites: Casper Ruud, Nick Kyrgios, Jasmine Paolini, Simona Halep
On December 19, Falcons and Hawks played each other, as well as Eagles and Kites. The Falcons defeated the Hawks 29:26, and the Shuliks beat the Eagles 25:20.
Results of the first game day
Falcons – Hawks – 29:26:
- Karolin Garcia / Yelena Rybakina – Mirra Andreeva / Arina Sobolenko – 6:7 (5:7)
- Yelena Rybakina – Arina Sobolenko – 6:7 (3:7)
- Andrei Rublev / Denis Shapovalov – Jordan Thompson / Sumit Nagal – 5:7
- Andrei Rublev – Jordan Thompson – 7:5, 2:0 (10:6)
Eagles – Kites – 20:25:
- Alexander Shevchenko / Paula Badosa – Casper Ruud / Jasmine Paolini – 4:6
- Paula Badosa / Iga Sveontek – Jasmine Paolini / Simona Halep – 5:7
- Alexander Shevchenko – Casper Ruud – 4:6
- Iga Sveontek – Jasmine Paolini – 7:5, 0:1
Now let’s try to understand the results of the confrontations, in particular, how the Falcons made a comeback against the Hawks.
The Falcons trailed the Hawks 17:21. Rublev and Thompson entered the court. Rublev won the set 7:5 and made the total score 24:26. With the Falcons trailing in the match and their last player winning the set, the match went into overtime. All Thompson needed was to win at least one game. However, Rublev managed to equalize the overall score, taking 2 games – 26:26.
Since the score was equal, Rublev and Thompson began to play a decisive super tie-break, which remained for Andrey – 10:6. This gave the Falcons a 27-26 overall victory, plus bonus points for a four-point margin of +2 points.
A similar comeback could be made by Iga Svyontek, who in the last match between the Eagles and Kites won against Jasmin Paolini 7:5. After the end of the set, the Eagles trailed the Shuliks 20:24. Iza needed to win 4 games in a row to take the match into a super tiebreaker, but Paolini took the first game and gave her team a 25-20 overall victory.
By the way, it is worth noting separately the doubles meeting between the tandems of Bados / Svyontek and Paolini / Halep. Most recently, Simona harshly criticized Svyontek after the polka doping scandal.
On December 20, the World Tennis League will continue. The Eagles will take on the Hawks, while the Falcons will host the Kites.
Photo gallery of the first game day of the World Tennis League
— World Tennis League (@TennisWorl76726) December 19, 2024