Team Hawks’ Aryna Sabalenka nearly blew a massive lead in her opening match at the World Tennis League but ultimately managed to fend off Elena Rybakina of Team Falcons.
Through the opening five games, the Belarusian tennis star held a comfortable 5-0 lead and appeared to be heading toward a dominant victory in Abu Dhabi.
But then, the three-time Grand Slam champion missed out on multiple match points across five games and allowed the Kazakh to get back into the match.
While Rybakina managed to force a tie-break, Sabalenka also stepped up in those moments to complete a 7-6 (3) win after realizing her 10th match point.
The clash lasted 44 minutes.
How the Sabalenka – Rybakina match exactly went?
The match started started with the world No. 1 claiming back-to-back breaks in the second and fourth games. Not only that the Belarusian opened a 5-0 lead but she also didn’t allow the 2022 Wimbledon champion to have a single game or break point in those five games.
After being absolutely crushed in the first couple of games, Rybakina managed to finally hold to one of her service games and avoid a bagel.
Then in the next four games, the world No. 6 saved a total of eight match points as Sabalenka failed to convert two match points in the seventh…
