Stefanos Tsitsipas is counting the days before he joins forces with his girlfriend and WTA star Paula Badosa at the 2023 World Tennis League.
At long last the much-anticipated doubles union between tennis' most powerful couple on tour right now is set to take shape in just eight days in the United Arab Emirates, and both of them have been taking part in fun tennis-related activities.
The second edition of the non-ATP/WTA-affiliated mixed-gender tennis tournament exhibition will take place inside the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. It will serve as a preseason warmup tournament for both players.
The event will be played across four days, beginning December 21st until Christmas Eve. There are 16 players in the competition pooled into four teams, each containing four players. Tsitsipas and Badosa are part of Team Kites with Grigor Dimitrov and Aryna Sabalenka.
The four teams will play each other in a round-robin format consisting of one singles men's and women's match and a mixed doubles match. The top two teams from the round-robin phase will meet each other in the final on December 24, 2023.
Tennis fans have been looking forward to seeing Tsitsipas team up with Badosa since the pairings were announced last month. Both players had ignited this proposition after they publicly confirmed their dating status. They were expected to do so for the first time at Wimbledon.
However, a back injury forced Badosa's Wimbledon journey to a premature end. She retired from her singles match and, together with Tsitsipas, withdrew from their scheduled mixed doubles appearance. Badosa has recovered from that devastating injury that kept her out of the game for six months.
Last month, she was selected to represent Spain at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals but did not play a single match, presumably due to fitness concerns. But an exhibition match will be a great way to ease herself into the competition.
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