Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: India’s Dhakshineswar Suresh, playing for the Aussie Mavericks Kites, delivered the knockout blow as he defeated World No, 5 Daniil Medvedev, the Grand Slam champion, 6-4 in the last set to take his team to summit clash of the World Tennis League in Bengaluru.
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.
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.