World Tennis League 2024: Andrey Rublev thrashes Stefanos Tsitsipas but Eagles seal first win over Falcons

Saturday, 21 December 2024 at 12:24

The final tie of the Round Robin for Eagles and Falcons is complete at the 2024 World Tennis League but it is not the continued unbeaten record for the latter albeit they are more likely to reach the final than the winners.

Iga Swiatek led from the front early on seeing off Elena Rybakina technically twice in singles and doubles with the latter teaming with Caroline Garcia. Swiatek formed a tandem with Paula Badosa to win 6-3 in the singles over Rybakina and 6-2 in the doubles.

But it was then onto the order of men's doubles and Stefanos Tsitsipas unlike his singles effort led from the front. He and Alexander Shevchenko who has often deputised this week due to Tsitsipas not playing every match won over Rublev and Denis Shapovalov 6-4.

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So it was very much game over for Falcons as such from there as the men's singles proved. Rublev thrashed Tsitsipas easily 6-1 with the Russian being one of the leading lights this week but they still lost 20-15 with the early losses doing the damage. Albeit Tsitsipas in overtime did add an extra point to bring them further over the line as is the rules this year.

This brings Falcons top with 68 points from their efforts while Eagles are second with 54. But with Hawks and Kites now set to face off, the likelihood at least for Eagles to make it is basically zero to none.

With every point counting the extra win does not gleam anything extra so the shootout between the latter two teams who are one point apart and are led by Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini respectively will provide the main entertainment. Both could feasibly face off again tomorrow, but Falcons are very much in pole position now to play the winner.

Team Eagles 2️⃣0️⃣➖1️⃣5️⃣ Team Falcons

Świątek - Rybakina 6:3
Badosa/Świątek - Garcia/Rybakina 6:2
Tsitsipas/Shevchenko - Rublev/Shapovalov 6:4
Tsitsipas - Rublev 1:6
shootout: Tsitsipas - Rublev 1:0#WorldTennisLeague | #czasnatenis
— Z kortu - informacje tenisowe | Tennis news (@z_kortu) December 21, 2024

Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.

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