Abu Dhabi (The Uttam Hindu): TSL Hawks emerged victorious in a closely-contested last league stage encounter, as they defeated Kites 20-17 in the World Tennis League Season 3 at the iconic Etihad Arena on Saturday and stormed into the final. With this win, TSL Hawks secured second place in the standings with 67 points and will face the table toppers Game Changers Falcons, who finished the league stage with 68 points. Game Changers Falcons advanced to the final despite a loss earlier in the day, thanks to their consistent performance throughout the campaign. Meanwhile, Kites finished third with 63 points, while HonorFX Eagles, who registered their first win earlier on Saturday, ended the season in fourth place with 54 points. Interestingly, Game Changers Falcons and TSL Hawks also faced each other in the first match of this season. In the match on Saturday, TSL Hawks' Aryna Sabalenka and Mirra Andreeva extended their impressive form with a commanding start in the women’s doubles, racing to a 4-0 lead.
While the Kites' duo of Simona Halep and Jasmine Paolini managed to break serve and pull a game back, Sabalenka and Andreeva quickly regained control and sealed the set 6-1 in dominant fashion for TSL Hawks. Teenager Andreeva then built on the momentum with a remarkable performance against Paolini in the women’s singles. Andreeva broke Paolini's third serve to take a 3-2 lead and held her next serve to create a two-game cushion before comfortably closing out the set 6-4. In the men's doubles, Nick Kyrgios and Casper Ruud broke Sumit Nagal and Jordan Thompson to love, taking an early 2-1 lead. Nagal and Thompson did equalise immediately with a break, but their opponents regained the advantage and went on to close the set 6-4, narrowing the overall deficit to 11-16. In the men's singles, Casper Ruud broke Nagal's second serve to gain an advantage, leading the set 4-1. While the Indian star showed resilience, he trailed throughout as Ruud closed the set 6-3, taking the game to Over Time with an overall score of 17-19 for the Kites. In Over Time, Nagal held his serve to help his team not only secure a 20-17 win over Kites but also a place in the Finals of the competition. Speaking after the game, Nagal said, "Any final is good, doesn’t matter what type of format you are playing. I think everyone’s playing well, everyone’s happy with the way we have been performing. Tomorrow, it will be just another day, another set.” His teammate, Thompson added, “We are here to win. We have got a great team, it’s been an incredible campaign so far, and we would like to continue the momentum.”