Sabalenka & Dimitrov win against Andreescu & Bopanna despite losing in reality
ATP & WTA
Aryna Sabalenka and Grigor Dimitrov might have won against Bianca Andreescu and Rohan Bopanna at the 2022 World Tennis League, but it wasn't a win in reality.
The Falcons and The Eagles both lost their opening tie at the 2022 World Tennis League and if they wanted to keep their chances for the final alive, they needed a victory in their second tie at the event.
Andreescu was successful in mixed doubles with Nick Kyrgios against The Kites, so she played again, but this time, she teamed up with experienced doubles player Bopanna.
On the other side of the court, Dimitrov, who also succeeded in mixed doubles against The Hawks, changed his partner too, as he teamed up with Sabalenka.
The first set was dominated by The Eagles. Andreescu and Bopanna were ruthless on break points, and that was the deciding factor. After using two out of the three they had and denying all five chances of their opponents, they won the first set 6-2.
Dimitrov and Sabalenka managed to fight back in the second set as they earned their first break of the match and led 5-3. However, they lost their advantage and they also faced a match point in the twelfth game.
This time, they managed to keep their calm and force a tie-break. The Falcons succeeded in a tie-break, and they did the same thing in the following super tie-break to win the match 2-6, 7-6(4), 10-7.
Yet, despite winning the match, The Eagles were the more successful team as they earned 12 points. On the other hand, The Falcons won only nine games but received one additional point for winning the super tie-break and another for winning the match.
However, that still brought their total only to 11 and so despite winning the match, they were the less successful team, losing 11-12 after the first match of the tie.
