Simona Halep / Jasmine Paolini vs Mirra Andreeva / Aryna Sabalenka - WTL 2024 Day 3

Tomorrow's showpiece final and it's the woman's dubs to get us underway. Two-time major champion is Simona Halep that of course has struggled with injury, been out of the game for a while. She's spoken about her physical woes but each match is going to help get her in better and better shape, find out where her game is and I look forward to seeing her on the doubles court tonight. She's had a couple of tough years, Simona Halep trying to find her way back to the top of the game. What a talent she's been, Grand Slam singles champion. Someone who's feisty, used to fight really hard and she's trying to do just that now. It's the world number one to get us underway. Last of the round robin matches. One of the shots that we've all enjoyed seeing in the last couple of days is the forehand cross court of Jasmine Paolini. She rips that thing. She absolutely pounds that run, especially the one on the run. I mean she gets so much power from that little pocket rocket. So I'm just going to take your attention to the bottom of the screen and you will see that our will rotate the names with the teams. Just always to help you identify that Paolini and Halep are playing for the Kites and Andreeva and Zabalenka are part of the Hawks team. There we go, just rotates about every 30 seconds. Very nice. Tell you what, people are so clever these days what they can do. Oh redirecting that so well. You know Robbie, she's got a pretty big swing on that and very extreme grip on that forehand as well. A little bit like eager but she look at the way she redirects this ball on the back foot. Such a hard shot to hit, keeping one eye on Mira Andreeva. Little beauty. Those were reflexes in the Sanya Mirza mold. She did well there. She held her ground. She was under attack. Halep could have done a little bit better with those short balls. Maybe didn't want to hit her. It was a big point that one. Would have given them three break points. Solid hold in the end from Zabalenka with a little bit of help from Mira Andreeva. The Hawks go up one love in this opening set. That was right at the back of the head. She looks okay, Simona. Smiling it off. Yeah, it's one of those ones that's high, it's away from you, you can't control it. Yeah, that can hurt. Never show your back to the net. You're right. She's still feeling guilty. Yeah, that's obviously not a... Now, if she hit Paolini on the back of the head, there's a lot of bun there. A lot of cushion. Might have got away with it, not a sore. Combining well here, Mira Andreeva and Zabalenka. They've had a few matches under their belt and seem so much more in tandem with each the Hawks, in order to qualify, together with the Kites, before the start of this match, one needs 22. Hawks need 22 points, the Kites need 23. So there is a possibility, if both teams accumulate a lot of points, can qualify. It's not out of the question. The Hawks are off to a flyer here. Yeah, 68 points, so 47 for the Hawks. You add 22 to that, they go past. You add 23 to the Kites, they also go past the Falcons. So a three-lap start is ideal for one team, not so much for the other. I like that shot. I like that shot right hard at the net player. See a bit of taping on Halep's knee? Yeah. That's new. Well, do you think you've got a big forehand or anything like that? Yeah, that kind of taping is what you call the McConnell taping method. It's for the patella. You can see that the kneecap, if it is giving you issues, try and restrict the movement of it. And that's what the taping method is called. I know because it takes one to know one. I've had plenty of knee problems. I've tried everything. She can't do a thing wrong at the moment. I think that volley was off the throat of the racket. The Hawks are well on their way. They've been quite a formidable team, have Zabalenka and Hendreeva. That, of course, is Arena's practice Velisveski has been traveling with Arena for a number of seasons now. What do you think Paolini and Halep need to do here, Robbie? It's one-way traffic so far. It's just a lot of power coming off Zabalenka and Hendreeva's racket at the moment. Yeah, it's tough. Change it up a bit. Throw in a few lobs. Come in. They're not going to out-hit them. I prefer to hit that. I prefer rather than lobbing there to Hendreeva, just ripping it out of her. I would say most players don't have the sort of hands that you have these days. So this one right here, straight at Mira. But you're right, as soon as they get a ball a little bit short, I feel like they should just rip it at the person at the net. Make them volley. Yes. Ask the question. Yeah, because they're so good at ground-stroking. Every time they have a second serve, just rip it up the line. Not even around them, just on net player. So hard to be in a static position and make volleys off a quality ball. Hands are busy. Yeah, five lob has been a double-edged sword for Zabalenka this week. Got a chance to get there now. Another one. Three faults in a row. There you go. Simple as that. It wasn't even a good return. It was just in the vicinity and it's a missed volley. Hawks still lead 4-1. Oh, she's getting into the spirit of things. Well, I'll tell you what, that little kid has got the right team. He's supporting the right team. Top of the log. Yeah, young and old alike, I was just about to say that she's hit that ball so well. She's outside, off. Look at that. She's just outside of the ball. Close. Marina thought it was close. Oh, it was. It's what three millimetres looks like. Yeah, it's in her head. That's what she's saying after hitting Halep in the head a little earlier on. She was feeling guilty. Oh, she missed the ball a bit. She misjudged it. Jumped too early almost. Okay, who's going to take the break point, the deciding point? It's going to be Zabalenka this time. We saw Andreeva take it a couple of occasions. They haven't lost a double set yet. No panic there from Mira. Mira Andreeva can do no wrong in this first double set. Tomo liked it. Don't you pick on my player. Got a standing ovation for that one. Lucky. That's four set points for the Hawks. Finding the lines on those occasions. Arina Zabalenka looking to help her partner, looking to take the middle, just leaving the corridor just a little too open. There it is. First set to the Hawks. They have absolutely brought the best on this last day of the round robins. Six one for Arina Zabalenka and Mira Andreeva. How good was that? They are undefeated in the women's doubles. And the Hawks off to a flying start. See what I did there? Yeah, I did, I did. You're all about the words, Robbie. Couldn't have played a better set to start this match. And I tell you who's loving that score line as well are the Falcons. Anytime there is a big discrepancy in the score, it's going to play into their hands. Well, six one to Zabalenka and Andreeva. They were really, really good from start to finish. Well, I think Tanvi's down courtside with them. Let's see what they have to say and what they think of their performance. And I'm here with team Hawks now, Arina. Three out of three wins for you. What is it about your team and the combination that really makes it work? I think we're just having fun and it's pretty chill, the atmosphere in the team and just so much fun for us. We relax and we just enjoy our game. Now, Mira, the winner of this match goes straight into the finals. Does that change your strategy coming in today? You better don't put too much pressure on me. But no, we're just I think we're all here to just have fun. So, well, me personally, I'm just going to enjoy my time. I'm going to play my first singles match this year. So, well, I'm going to go and try my best. You got this. You're good. Well, Zabalenka, I feel like everyone that's been dedicating a song has been doing well. Which song do you want the DJ to play for you to hype you up? Oh, wow. I don't know. Okay. What's the song that you're listening to right now before you come out and play? I don't know. Anything energetic. All right. The DJ is listening to you. So it's going to be something energetic. You've been pretty well so far. So I'm enjoying the song. So just keep doing what you're doing. All right. Team Hawks, no pressure. Good luck for the next one. Congrats to this one. What was that? Good luck in winning this one and congrats on the next one. Thanks. So we are one set into the final round Robin match and this is how the standings are looking. The Eagles are pretty close to already being surpassed by the Hawks who have got off to the perfect start. A 6-1 win and of course that makes it tougher for the Kites now because by my calculation it's the Hawks who need 22 games.