Paula Badosa, Aryna Sabalenka, Grigor Dimitrov, and Stefanos Tsitsipas pose together in Abu Dhabi ahead of World Tennis League

Team Kites beat Team Eagles on the opening day of the World Tennis League.

Paula Badosa, Aryna Sabalenka, Grigor Dimitrov, and Stefanos Tsitsipas pose together in Abu Dhabi ahead of World Tennis League

Team Kite posing from left: Aryna Sabalenka, Grigor Dimitrov, Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas (Source: @Badosa/Instagram)

The World Tennis League kicked off on December 21, 2023, at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena. It is a non-ATP/WTA-affiliated tennis tournament that features mixed-gender team matches and started last year. Back in 2022, Team Hawks, comprised of Alexander Zverev, Elena Rybakina, Dominic Thiem and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, won the title. 

This year too, there are a total of four teams in the tournament with four players each. Thus, there are a total of 16 participants. The first team is led by Daniil Medvedev and has Andrey Rublev, Mirra Andreeva, and Sofia Kenin. It is named the Team Eagles.

Team Falcons have Taylor Fritz, Elena Rybakina, Leylah Fernandez and Sumit Nagal. Iga Swiatek leads Team Hawks and has Hubert Hurkacz, Casper Ruud and Caroline Garcia. The last team, i.e., Team Kites, comprises Aryna Sabalenka, Paula Badosa, Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas. 

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Recently, Paula Badosa, one of the members of Team Kites, posted a picture of the four team members together on her Instagram story with the caption “Best Team”. Team Kites is one of the stronger teams in the tournament, as it features World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka. Grigor Dimitrov has also been in good form lately. Badosa, on the other hand, is making her comeback after a few months in this tournament. 

The fact that she is present in the team alongside Tsitsipas adds to the chemistry of this team; the two of them are currently the power couple in the tennis world. Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas have been dating for quite some time now and are pretty open about their relationship. 

Aryna Sabalenka led Team Kites defeat Team Eagles on the opening day of World Tennis League 

Aryna Sabalenka’s Team Kites easily defeated Daniil Medvedev’s Team Eagles in the first faceoff of the tournament. A total of four matches were played – Women’s doubles, men’s doubles, men’s singles, and women’s singles. Two of these were won by Team Kites and two were won by Team Eagles. 

Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka (Source: Flash score)

The duo of Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa took on Mirra Andreeva and Sofia Kenin in the women’s doubles match. Sabalenka steered the match and won it 6-3 for his side pretty convincingly. The men’s doubles match between Tsitsipas-Dimitrov and Medvedev-Rublev was won by Team Eagles (7-6) but it was a pretty close one. 

In the singles matches, Andrey Rublev beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 while Sabalenka beat Andreeva 6-2. Thus, Team Kites beat Team Eagles 27-22, which gave them a massive boost in the tournament. 

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