World No. 16 Mirra Andreeva also ended on the victorious side against fourth-ranked Jasmine Paolini in singles as Team Hawks now leads Team Kites with a comfortable 12-5 scoreline at the World Tennis League.
In the opening match, the rising Russian star and Aryna Sabalenka crushed the Italian and Simona Halep 6-1.
Shortly after the doubles match ended, Andreeva also started delivering the goods in singles and overcame Paolini 6-4 in 34 minutes of play.
For the 17-year-old, this was her first singles appearance at this year’s World Tennis League. In the past two days, she only played in doubles with Sabalenka while the world No. 1 also took part in two singles matches.
Aryna Sabalenka and Mirra Andreeva© World Tennis League/X – Fair Use
One of the biggest reasons behind the Russian’s singles win was the fact that she was able to save 4-of-4 break point she faced.
How Andreeva defeated Paolini at the World Tennis League?
Through the first part of the set, there were break point opportunities on either side – the Italian won a deciding point on her serve in the opening game before the Russian did the same in the following game.
In the third game, the 17-year-old had a much better chance at getting a break but she missed out on three consecutive break point chances.
However, Andreeva kept pressing and ultimately managed to finally take Paolini’s serve in the fifth game and open a 3-2 lead.
Instantly, this year’s French Open and Wimbledon runner-up had a chance to get the break but she lost a deciding point in the sixth game as the Russian went 4-2 up.
Two games later, the world No. 4 had another shot to fully get back into the match but failed to convert any of her two break point opportunities.
In the end, Paolini ended up paying the ultimate price for her missed chances as Andreeva had no issues closing out the match on her serve in the 10th game.
Tennis World USA