Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov played the final match of the 2023 World Tennis League, and the Russian confirmed the Eagles' win over the Kites.
Before this match, the Eagles had a pretty big lead over the Kites making it pretty impossible for Rublev to mess it up. They were up 25-19 so the Russian needed any kind of win to basically wrap up the tie for his team.
It was an interesting final that sort of changed dramatically when Sabalenka and Badosa lost a 5-2 lead in their doubles match to lose the match 5-7. That completely turned around the tie overall and from there the Eagles cruised.
Regarding this match, Rublev came out on fire taking the first two games behind pretty great shot-making. He did lose his serve in the 3rd game of the match, which was good for the match. Dimitrov was quite keen on exploiting the somewhat weaker second serve of Rublev and it worked in that game.
It was something that continued to work for Dimitrov as the match went on as he would break Rublev once more to take a 5-3 lead. Then he would break him once more to finish the match off and then it was showtime.
Due to the unique format, Dimitrov winning the final match actually gave his team a chance to turn it around. Per the rules, the match continued until a team won 29 points, for Rublev that meant one game in the second set, while for Dimitrov it meant four games.
Dimitrov won the first game in the second set, but Rublev would then win his first service game in the second set, ending the match on the spot. A good effort from Dimitrov but ultimately not enough. The Eagles are the 2023 World Tennis League champions.
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