"With the one and only" - Iga Swiatek, Wonder Woman plushie in hand, bumps into compatriot Hubert Hurkacz in Abu Dhabi ahead of WTL

Poland's Iga Swiatek recently crossed paths with compatriot Hubert Hurkacz in Abu Dhabi, ahead of the 2023 World Tennis League (WTL).

Swiatek and Hurkacz will team up with Caroline Garcia and Casper Ruud for Team Hawks to compete against Team Eagles, Team Falcons and Team Kites in the second edition of the tournament.

Team Eagles will be represented by Mirra Andreeva, Sofia Kenin, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev. Elena Rybakina, Sorana Cirstea, Taylor Fritz and Sumit Nagal form the Team Falcons quartet, while Kites features Aryna Sabalenka, Paula Badosa, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov.

The event will be held inside the Etihad Arena, Yas Island, from December 21 to December 24.

Both Swiatek and Hurkacz have already landed in Abu Dhabi, and they bumped into each other while strolling through a local fair. Swiatek took to X (formerly Twitter) to post a picture in which she can be spotted side-hugging the World No. 9 while holding a Wonder Woman plushie.

"Right before the start of @WTL_WORLD with the one and only @HubertHurkacz," Swiatek wrote.

Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz will be in action on the first day of the event as Team Hawks take on Team Falcons on Thursday, December 21.

The teams will play each other in a round-robin format, with each match consisting of women's singles, men's singles and mixed doubles ties. The top two teams after the conclusion of the group stage will play for the trophy in the final on Sunday, December 24.

Team Hawks triumphed in the inaugural edition of the WTL in 2022.

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Coach Tomasz Wiktorowski says Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz are prioritizing mixed-doubles at 2024 Olympics

Tomasz Wiktorowski (L) with Iga Swiatek

Iga Swiatek's head coach Tomasz Wiktorowski recently suggested that the World No. 1 will soon start preparing for her mixed-doubles campaign with Hubert Hurkacz at the 2024 Olympics.

"The Games are our priority and we start preparing for them in January or even in December. Thinking not only about singles, but also about mixed doubles with Hubert Hurkacz, and this is a completely different discipline that we don't really have the opportunity to try during the year," Wiktorowski told Rzeczpospolita.

This will be Iga Swiatek's second appearance at the Games. Her 2021 Tokyo Olympics stint brought her disappointment, as she crashed out of the singles draw in the second round with a loss to Paula Badosa.

In the mixed doubles, the four-time Grand Slam champion failed to go any further than the quarterfinals with compatriot Lukasz Kubot.