Explained: What is the format of World Tennis League?

Top seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek are the star attractions at World Tennis League 2024.

The World Tennis League is a non-ATP/WTA-affiliated exhibition mixed-gender team tennis tournament. The 2024 tournament will be the third edition of the World Tennis League. The event is held on hard court at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The exhibition-based event is all set to start on December 19 and will conclude on 22 December.

Several high profile and exciting players are set to battle on the hard courts of UAE as they look to be in shape ahead of the highly anticipated Australian Open 2025. The swashbuckling lineup includes the likes of Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios.

The season began with a clash between Game Changers Falcons, featuring top guns like Elena Rybakina and Andrey Rublev, and TSL Hawks, led by the Women’s World. No. #1 Aryna Sabalenka and India’s Sumit Nagal. It was a first singles meeting for Rybakina and Swiatek since their Stuttgart final which was won by the Kazakh.

Also Read: World Tennis League 2024: Updated schedule, fixtures, results, live streaming details

As things stand currently, Falcons are in pole position to qualify for the final and desperately need to get some wins on the board to seal their spot, with Hawks and Kites set to face off in a crunch clash shortly. In the women’s doubles, it was victory for the pairing of Paula Badosa and Iga Swiatek.

They eased past Rybakina again as well as Caroline Garcia 6-2 to put themselves into a lead going into the men’s portion. Falcons lead with two consecutive wins over the past couple of days and are the only unbeaten team thus far in the UAE.

What is the format of World Tennis League?

The competition will be played in a round-robin format, with each tie consisting of four sets. These sets include men’s singles, women’s singles, and two doubles matches.

The doubles matches can feature men’s, women’s or mixed pairs, with the pairing decided by a coin toss. One point is earned for every game won during a tie.

If the team trailing after the third set wins the fourth set, the match enters an “overtime” phase. In this phase, the leading team needs to win just one game to clinch the tie.

However, if the tie score becomes equal during overtime, the competition proceeds to a first-to-10 super shootout tiebreak. The winner of this tiebreak earns one point along with two additional bonus points.

Post the conclusion of the round-robin stage, the top two teams on the points table advance through to the finale of the 2024 World Tennis League on December 22.

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