2022 World Tennis League

Tennis tournament
2022 World Tennis League
Date19–24 December 2022
Edition1st
Draw4 teams
SurfaceHard
LocationDubai, United Arab Emirates
VenueCoca-Cola Arena
Champions
Hawks
(Zverev, Rybakina, Thiem, Pavlyuchenkova)
World Tennis League · 2023 →

The 2022 World Tennis League was a non-ATP/WTA-affiliated exhibition mixed-gender team tennis tournament. It was the inaugural edition of the World Tennis League. The event was held on hard court at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 19 until 24 December 2022.[1]

Team Hawks, composed of Alexander Zverev, Elena Rybakina, Dominic Thiem and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, won the title,[2] after defeating Team Kites (Félix Auger-Aliassime, Iga Świątek, Holger Rune and Sania Mirza) in the final, 32-25.

Format

18 players were drawn into four teams (Falcons, Eagles, Kites, Hawks). The teams played each other in a round-robin format that consist of one men’s singles match, one women’s singles match and a mixed doubles match. They got one point for each game they win in a tie, plus one bonus point for a win in a third-set match tiebreak and five bonus points for winning the tie.[3] Following the round-robin phase, the top two teams faced off in the final on 24 December 2022.[4]

Teams and players

Falcons Eagles Kites Hawks
Player Rank Player Rank Player Rank Player Rank
Men #1 Serbia Novak Djokovic 5 Australia Nick Kyrgios 22 Canada Félix Auger-Aliassime 6 Germany Alexander Zverev 12
Women #1 Belarus Aryna Sabalenka 5 France Caroline Garcia 4 Poland Iga Świątek 1 Kazakhstan Elena Rybakina 21
Men #2 Bulgaria Grigor Dimitrov 28 Italy Andreas Seppi 354 Denmark Holger Rune 11 Austria Dominic Thiem 102
Women #2 Spain Paula Badosa 13 Canada Bianca Andreescu 46 India Sania Mirza Russia Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 368
Men #3 India Rohan Bopanna Austria Sebastian Ofner (Alt) 193
Women #3 Canada Eugenie Bouchard 327
  • Singles rankings as of 19 December 2022.

Results

19 December 2022: Kites def. Eagles 35–27
Event Kites Eagles Score Games Bonus Total
Mixed doubles Canada E Bouchard / Denmark H Rune Canada B Andreescu / Australia N Kyrgios 2–6, 3–6 5–12 5–12
Women's singles Poland Iga Świątek France Caroline Garcia 6–3, 6–4 12–7 17–19
Men's singles Canada Félix Auger-Aliassime Australia Nick Kyrgios 7–5, 6–3 13–8 30–27
Tie winning bonus 5–0 35–27
20 December 2022: Hawks def. Falcons 35–27
Event Hawks Falcons Score Games Bonus Total
Mixed doubles Russia A Pavlyuchenkova / Austria D Thiem Spain P Badosa / Bulgaria G Dimitrov 7–5, 3–6, [4–10] 10–12 0–1 10–13
Women's singles Kazakhstan Elena Rybakina Belarus Aryna Sabalenka 0–6, 6–1, [10–6] 7–7 1–0 18–20
Men's singles Germany Alexander Zverev Serbia Novak Djokovic 6–3, 6–4 12–7 30–27
Tie winning bonus 5–0 35–27
21 December 2022: Eagles def. Falcons 38–31
Event Eagles Falcons Score Games Bonus Total
Mixed doubles Canada B Andreescu / India R Bopanna Belarus A Sabalenka / Bulgaria G Dimitrov 6–2, 6–7(4–7), [7–10] 12–10 0–1 12–11
Women's singles France Caroline Garcia Spain Paula Badosa 6–4, 6–3 12–7 24–18
Men's singles Australia Nick Kyrgios Bulgaria Grigor Dimitrov 6–7(5–7), 3–6 9–13 33–31
Tie winning bonus 5–0 38–31
22 December 2022: Kites def. Hawks 42–31
Event Kites Hawks Score Games Bonus Total
Mixed doubles India S Mirza / Canada F Auger-Aliassime Kazakhstan E Rybakina / Germany A Zverev 5–7, 6–3, [5–10] 11–11 0–1 11–12
Women's singles Poland Iga Świątek Russia Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6–4, 6–3 12–7 23–19
Men's singles Canada Félix Auger-Aliassime Austria Dominic Thiem 7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–6) 14–12 37–31
Tie winning bonus 5–0 42–31
23 December 2022: Hawks def. Eagles 40–24
Event Hawks Eagles Score Games Bonus Total
Mixed doubles Russia A Pavlyuchenkova / Austria D Thiem Canada B Andreescu / Australia N Kyrgios 4–6, 6–4, [7–10] 10–11 0–1 10–12
Women's singles Kazakhstan Elena Rybakina France Caroline Garcia 7–5, 6–1 13–6 23–18
Men's singles Germany Alexander Zverev Italy Andreas Seppi 6–4, 6–2 12–6 35–24
Tie winning bonus 5–0 40–24
23 December 2022: Kites def. Falcons 36–26
Event Kites Falcons Score Games Bonus Total
Mixed doubles India S Mirza / Denmark H Rune Spain P Badosa / Bulgaria G Dimitrov 6–2, 4–6, [10–5] 11–8 1–0 12–8
Women's singles Poland Iga Świątek Belarus Aryna Sabalenka 6–1, 6–3 12–4 24–12
Men's singles Austria Sebastian Ofner Serbia Novak Djokovic 7–6(7–5), 0–6, [7–10] 7–13 0–1 31–26
Tie winning bonus 5–0 36–26

Standings

A team received 5 bonus points for each tie won and 1 bonus point for each third-set match tiebreak won.[3] The top two teams qualified for the final.

Rank Team Ties
win–loss
Games
won
Bonus
points
Points
total
1 Kites 3–0 97 16 113
2 Hawks 2–1 94 12 106
3 Eagles 1–2 83 6 89
4 Falcons 0–3 81 3 84

Final

24 December 2022: Hawks def. Kites 32–25
Event Hawks Kites Score Games Bonus Total
Women's singles Kazakhstan Elena Rybakina Poland Iga Świątek 6–3, 6–1 12–4 12–4
Men's singles Germany Alexander Zverev Canada Félix Auger-Aliassime 4–6, 3–6 7–12 19–16
Mixed doubles Russia A Pavlyuchenkova / Austria D Thiem India S Mirza / Denmark H Rune 7–6(7–4), 6–3 13–9 32–25

References

  1. ^ "Nick Kyrgios excited for Wimbledon final "rematch" with Novak Djokovic in World Tennis League". sportskeeda. 17 November 2022.
  2. ^ "High-flying Hawks steal the show in Dubai". Kaleej Times. 24 December 2022.
  3. ^ a b "The Kites rally to clinch victory on the opening night of World Tennis League". Gulf News. 19 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek at World Tennis League, Rafael Nadal v Casper Ruud: Who's playing which exhibition?". Eurosport. 16 November 2022.

External links

  • Official website