Alexander Zverev upsets Novak Djokovic to help Team Hawks take a come-back win over the Falcons at the World Tennis League

Alexander Zverev beat Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-4 in the World Tennis League in Dubai helping Team Hawks to take a come-back win over the Falcons on the second day of the World Tennis League in Dubai. 

Grigor Dimitrov and Paula Badosa, representing the Falcons, beat Dominic Thiem and Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova representing the Hawks 5-7 6-3 10-4 

Both teams earned two break points at the start of the first set. The match went on serve until the third round of serves when both Dimitrov and Thiem were broken. 

Thiem and Pavlyuchenkova earned another break to clinch the first set 7-5. Dimitrov and Badosa fought back winning the second set 6-3 to force the match to the decisive super tie-break.

Dimitrov and Badosa won the first five points en route to clinching the super tie-break 10-4. 

This year’s Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina representing the Hawks came back from losing the first set by a bagel to beat Aryna Sabalenka 0-6 6-1 10-6. Rybakina narrowed the Falcons’ lead to 20-18 before the final match. 

Sabalenka converted three of her four break points to take a bagel win in the first set after 20 minutes. The Belarusian player dropped just four points on her serve. 

Rybakina came back by winning the second set 6-1 forcing the match to a decisive match tie-break. The Kazakh player hit four aces and won 90% of her first serve points. Rybakina broke serve twice to win the second set 6-1 forcing the match to the super tie-break. 

Sabalenka earned an early mini-break to take a 2-0 lead, but Rybakina won five consecutive points to take a 5-2 lead. Sabalenka reeled off three points in a row to draw level to 5-5, but Rybakina won five of the final six points to win the super tie-break 10-6. 

Alexander Zverev beat Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-4 in the men’s singles match. Djokovic earned an early break in the first game of the opening set. Zverev broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. The German player broke for the second time in the eighth game to win the first set 6-3.

Both players traded breaks in the first two games of the second set. Zverev broke for the second time in the fifth game and held his next service games to seal the second set 6-4 after 1 hour and 8 minutes helping the Hawks take a 30-27 win over the Falcons after coming back from a big deficit. 

Djokovic will face Nick Kyrgios tomorrow when the Falcons clashes against the Eagles. Then Djokovic will face Felix Auger Aliassime, who represents the Kites at the World Tennis League. 

Djokovic will travel to Adelaide for the ATP 250 Tournament in Adelaide in the build-up to the Australian Open next January.