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Djokovic loses to Zverev in World Tennis League

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Rosy Mina

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Novak Djokovic at the World Tennis League. Photo courtesy of WTL" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/sports/12/21/20221221-novak-djokovic.jpg"/><figcaption>Novak Djokovic at the World Tennis League. Photo courtesy of WTL</figcaption></figure></div>DUBAI – Former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia fell to No. 12 Alexander Zverev of Germany, 3-6, 4-6, at the first World Tennis League (WTL) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.“I knew I had to play the best tennis I played the last seven months, which is not that difficult,” said Zverev on Tuesday at the Coca-Cola Arena. “I’m happy to get my first win in a long time. I’m doing okay from the looks of it. I’m just trying to get healthy and better every day,” he added, referring to the ankle injury he suffered during the Roland Garros semifinal against eventual champion Rafael Nadal of Spain. Zverev suffered an early break, with 21-time grand slam champion Djokovic taking a 2-0 lead in the opening set. Tokyo Olympics singles gold medalist Zverev leveled, and in the eighth game, he broke serve to reach 5-3 by accidentally hitting Djokovic with a forehand running shot. The players joked about it, hugged, and proceeded to the next game, which Zverev won with a love service hold, 6-3.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/12/07/22/djokovic-to-begin-australian-open-campaign-at-adelaide-international">READ: Djokovic to begin Australian Open campaign at Adelaide International</a></li></ul>The second set opened with an exchange of breaks, and Zverev broke again in the fifth game, 3-2, with a forehand winner.An ace down the T widened the German’s lead to 5-3, and the Serbian stayed in the match via a love service hold to trail at 4-5.As Zverev was serving for the match at 40-30, a long forehand from Djokovic sealed the win for the German, 6-4.The WTL round robin exhibition event, which runs from December 19 to 24, features three matches per team clash: mixed doubles, women’s singles, and men’s singles.Teams get one point for every game they clinch, with the winning squad of the day gaining five bonus points. The top two teams with the most number of points will face off in the final on Saturday.Reigning Wimbledon champion Djokovic headlines the Falcons along with World No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 13 Paula Badosa of Spain, and No. 28 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.As for the Hawks, Zverev’s teammates are 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, 2020 US Open winner Dominic Thiem of Austria, and 2021 Roland Garros runner-up Anastacia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/13/22/tennis-zverev-out-of-davis-cup-with-extreme-pain">READ: Zverev out of Davis Cup with &#x27;extreme pain&#x27;, likely to miss &#x27;months</a></li></ul>Day 2 of WTL kicked off with Badosa and Dimitrov beating Thiem and Pavlyuchenkova, 5-7, 6-3, 10-4.A forehand error from Dimitrov allowed Thiem and Pavlyuchenkova to take the first set, while a Badosa forehand volley winner closed out the second set to force a decider.Dimitrov and Badosa enjoyed a comfortable 5-0 lead, and a Dimitrov backhand volley winner at 9-4 gave the Falcons their first victory of the day, 10-4.Rybakina leveled up with a win for the Hawks, 0-6, 6-1, 10-6, against Sabalenka.A netted backhand completed Sabalenka’s 6-0 romp, while a forehand down-the-line winner sealed the second set in favor of Rybakina, 6-1.Sabalenka caught up in the 10-point match break from 2-5 to 5-5, but a series of errors and a double fault handed over the win to Rybakina, 10-6. After losing to the Hawks, 27-35, the Falcons will face the Eagles on Wednesday, with the highlight being the Wimbledon final rematch between Djokovic and No. 22 Nick Kyrgios of Australia.Together with Kyrgios in the Eagles squad are 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada, No. 4 Carolina Garcia of France, former doubles No. 3 Rohan Bopanna of India, and former No. 18 Andreas Seppi of Italy.The Kites, meanwhile, is composed of WTA World No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, No. 11 Holger Rune of Denmark, 2014 Wimbledon finalist Bouchard, and former doubles World No. 1 Sania Mirza of India.As “The Greatest Show on Court,” WTL showcases an international musical act every day after the tennis action: Tiësto, Wizkid, Ne-Yo, deadmau5, Mohamed Ramadan, and Armin van Buuren.<div>RELATED VIDEO: </div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aRB_iV-gNzU?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Novak Djokovic of Serbia fell to Alexander Zverev of Germany, 3-6, 4-6, at the first World Tennis League (WTL) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.