After a trio of doubles matches, the Kites and Eagles sent out their top guns. Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov were up for the first singles match.
The Kites had a four-point lead after the doubles. This meant Rublev had his work cut out for him against Dimitrov, a tricky player. Dimitrov had a strong 2023, arguably his best in years. The hope is he’ll bring the same energy this season.
Dimitrov started strong, looking comfortable. The pressure was on Rublev, who needed to win. Dimitrov could afford a loss, as long as it wasn’t by much, to keep his team in the lead.
The tournament’s format is unique. Players are paired in teams of four, and each tie is played in five separate matches. Each match is a single set, three are doubles, and the rest are singles.
Each game won in a match counts as a point. The team with the most points at the end of each tie wins. If a team wins three out of the five matches, they’re likely to win the tie. That is, unless the other team manages to win dominantly 6-0 or 6-1 in their two victorious matches.
Rublev got the memo. He took a break midway through the first set 4-1. He held that lead until the end of the match, with the final score being 6-3.
This win brought his team within one point before the final singles match. Like the first tie of the day, this one’s going down to the wire. Stay tuned to find out whether the Kites or the Eagles win this one.
Takeaways
‣ The Kites and Eagles sent out Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov for the first singles match after three doubles matches.
‣ The tournament is played in a unique format where players are paired up in teams of four, with every tie being played in five separate matches. Each match features only one set, and three of the five are doubles, with the remaining being singles.
‣ Each game won in each match counts as one point, which matters most. At the end of each tie, the winning team is the one that has the most points. The team that wins three out of the five matches likely wins the tie unless the other team manages to win dominantly 6-0 or 6-1 in their two victorious matches.