Bengaluru, Dec 19 (IANS) India’s Dhakshineswar Suresh, playing for the Aussie Mavericks Kites, delivered the knockout blow as he defeated Daniil Medvedev, the Grand Slam champion, 6-4 in the last set to take his team to Saturday’s summit clash of the World Tennis League.

The Kites, who had started the day at the bottom of the leaderboard, made a sensational comeback as they defeated the Falcons 24-19 to grab the second spot with 58 points. Facing them in the finals will be AOS Eagles, who defeated VB Realty Hawks 22-12 to finish at the top of the standings with 65 points.

India’s Grand Slam champion Rohan Bopanna also bid an emotional farewell on home turf. Playing for the Falcons, he teamed up with Medvedev for a high-profile men’s doubles showdown against Nick Kyrgios and Suresh. In a dramatic contest, Medvedev and Bopanna edged to a 7-6 win.

In its debut season in India, the World Tennis League has brought some of the game’s biggest names to Bengaluru. But it was the Indian players like Sumit Nagal, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty and Dhakshineswar Suresh who stole the show on the third day of competition at the SM Krishna Stadium, Bengaluru.

Tennis’ power couple, Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina, opened the show on Friday. However, this time, Monfils and Svitolina stood at the opposite sides of the court in the mixed doubles contest. In an entertaining faceoff, Svitolina and Yuki Bhambri, playing for the Hawks, edged Monfils-Shrivalli 6-4.

But India’s leading singles player, Nagal, grounded the Hawks with a dominant performance in the men’s singles. The 28-year-old came out swinging against former Wimbledon finalist Denis Shapovalov, winning 6-1 to hand his team the momentum.

While Shrivalli cheered her team on from the dug-out on the first two days, she stepped into the spotlight effortlessly. After a competent performance in the mixed doubles, the 24-year-old locked horns against teen sensation Maaya, who trains at the Rafael Nadal Academy. Shrivalli quickly found her range, and wowed the Bengaluru crowd with her clean hitting as she beat the 16-year-old 6-2.

Shrivalli then teamed up with Paula Badosa to beat the Svitolina-Maaya combine 6-3. After the match, Badosa was all praise for her young partner.

“India, you have a future star here,” Badosa, a semi-finalist at this year’s Australian Open, told the crowd. “She carried the team today. Since the first day I hit with her, I have been impressed with her serve and aggressive game.”

In the second match of the day, Marta Kostyuk gave the Kites a winning start as she beat Magda Linette 6-4. The Kites won three of the four sets on Friday to pip the Falcons and Hawks for a spot in the final.

After a round-robin stage, where each team faced each other in four set matches, AOS Eagles and Aussie Mavericks Kites came out on top, setting up the final encounter of WTL’s India debut tomorrow.

–IANS

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