Hawks come out on top in inaugural World Tennis League

The Hawks celebrated Christmas Eve in Dubai by becoming the inaugural winners of the World Tennis League, overcoming an adventurous challenge from The Kites by 32 games to 25.

World number one Iga Swiatek had been the one to beat all week, and up until the final she had not lost a set.

But Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina rose magnificently to the challenge to claim a convincing 6-3 6-1 victory to put The Hawks into a commanding lead. 

The Kites recovered ground when Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Alexander Zverev 6-4 6-3 in a keenly contested battle.

The outcome then, at the end of six days of scintillating competition, came down to the mixed doubles, with Holger Rune and Sania Mirza (Kites) playing Dominic Thiem and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Hawks) for the title.

Both Mirza and Pavlyuchenkova surrendered their first two services games in the first set before The Hawks edged the tiebreak 7-4, and just one break against Mirza in the fourth game decided the second set and confirmed The Hawks as champions.

The trophy presentation was attended by Nasser Aman Alrahma, Assistant Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council, Nasser Al Marzouqi, Secretary General of UAE Tennis Federation and Dr. Aman Puri, Consulate General of India.

Also present were WTL founders Rajesh Banga and Amit Sharma, Hawks team owner Sanjay Bector and Kites team owners Nishant Pittie and Rikant Pittie.