WTT Washington Kastles

8-0 "Kardiac Kastles" Do It Again, Beat Lasers 21-20

July 15, 2011 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


After saving five match points to defeat the New York Sportimes on Tuesday, Leander Paes and Bobby Reynolds found themselves in familiar territory against the Springfield Lasers: playing a do-or-die tiebreak to maintain Washington's perfect season.

The "Kardiac Kastles" came through once more on Thursday, defeating the Lasers 21-20 thanks to a 5-4(2) victory by Paes and Reynolds in men's doubles.

It's the third one-game victory for the 8-0 Kastles this season, and the fourth win in which Paes and Reynolds clinched the final point.

With six matches remaining in 2011, any combination of a Kastles victory and a Boston Lobsters loss this weekend will allow Washington to clinch a spot in the Eastern Conference Championship July 22 in Charleston, South Carolina. The Eastern and Western Conference champions will then meet July 24 at the same site in the WTT Finals.

At times Thursday, it appeared that the 2-6 Lasers would be the unlikely first team to knock off the Kastles in 2011.

In a meeting between the two top-ranked men's singles players of 2010, Rik De Voest of Springfield defeated Reynolds 5-3.

After holds by both players to start the match, De Voest played a phenomenal game. The South African followed three forehand winners with a backhand passing shot that clipped the net cord and skipped past Reynolds to break serve and take a 2-1 lead.

Down 2-3, Reynolds forced a 3-all deciding point to get back on serve. But De Voest snuck to the net behind a backhand approach before lunging for a drop volley that Reynolds could not retrieve.

De Voest served the set out two games later, handing Reynolds his first men's singles loss at home this season.

With the Kastles trailing 5-3, rookie Arina Rodionova came out firing against Lilia Osterloh in women's singles.

Rodionova held serve to open the set with two forehand winners, and then broke on a 3-all point when Osterloh missed a forehand of her own. After saving a break point in the third game, Rodionova broke again for 4-0 behind back-to-back forehand winners down the line.

But Osterloh rallied to win the next three games, prompting Coach Murphy Jensen to offer words of encouragement to his rookie. Whatever Coach Jensen said worked as Rodionova blasted four winners in the next game, including a scorching down-the-line backhand on set point that tied the match score at 8-8.

Arina Rodionova concentrates on a backhand against Lilia Osterloh.

Photo by Vithaya Phongsavan

The mixed doubles set that followed featured one spectacular volley after another, but it was a shot the Kastles' Paes appeared to miss that was the most memorable of all.

With Washington's Rennae Stubbs serving for a 2-1 lead, De Voest hit a lob return much too short in the court, prompting Paes' eyes to widen at the sight of an easy overhead smash. Paes took a ferocious swing at the ball, but whiffed, drawing groans from the fans so used to seeing Paes make even the most difficult volleys.

It turned out that Paes knew what he was doing because the ball landed wide, prompting Paes to smile and his teammates, opponents and fans to share a big laugh.

The Kastles broke Carly Gullickson in the very next game after Stubbs passed De Voest with a nifty inside-in forehand from near the baseline.

Springfield broke back when Stubbs served for the set at 5-2. The Aussie returned the favor one game later by putting a high volley away to clinch a 5-3 Kastles win and a 13-11 halftime lead.

A fourth consecutive 5-3 set allowed the Lasers to even the score at 16-16, with Gullickson and Osterloh defeating Stubbs and Rodionova in women's doubles. The Lasers broke Rodionova twice on a 3-all point, avenging a 5-2 women's doubles loss to the same Kastles team in Springfield on July 8th.

With the score tied to start men's doubles, the winners of that event would clinch the match for their team.

That was a tricky situation for Springfield's Jean Anderson to be in. The South African was called up late Wednesday night to join the team on Thursday after the Lasers' top doubles player, Paul Hanley, suffered a shoulder injury. Anderson has only been on the pro tour about a month, after finishing his college career at the University of Texas.

The rookie came out swinging, hitting three volley winners to tie the set at 1-1, and then breaking Paes by blasting a backhand return at Reynolds that the Kastle couldn't handle.

But Anderson could not consolidate the break, double-faulting twice to dig himself into a 1-3 hole in the fourth game. The Lasers saved the first break point by winning a spectacular rally in which both Reynolds and Paes retrieved overheads before Anderson knifed a backhand volley winner.

Reynolds, however, converted the Kastles' second break chance by hitting his return too low for Anderson to dig off the court.

From 2-2, each man held serve to force a tiebreak that would determine whether the Kastles improved to 8-0.

Reynolds hit two unreturnable serves to give Washington a 2-0 lead, and then made a solid return to set Paes up for an attacking volley, which De Voest could not control.

With Washington leading 3-1, Paes served the next two points with a chance to close out the match. On the first, he slammed home an overhead winner to earn a 4-1 lead.

On the second, Paes nailed a 117 mile-per-hour serve out wide only to watch De Voest time an inside-in forehand return perfectly for a winner down the line.

The Lasers now trailed 2-4 in the tiebreaker, with the rookie Anderson due to serve the final three points in front of a raucous Kastles' crowd of 2,250 fans.

He'd only get to serve once as Paes returned a second serve right at his feet, forcing Anderson into netting a forehand volley and extending the best start to a season in Washington Kastles franchise history.

An aerial view of the deciding men's doubles set Thursday.

Photo by Willis Bretz

TONIGHT: St. Louis Aces @ KASTLES Preview

St. Louis Aces (5-4) at Washington Kastles (8-0)

Kastles Stadium at The Wharf

Friday, July 15, 2011 at 7:00 pm

Tickets: Ticketmaster.com, Stadium Box Office

Live Scoring:

WashingtonKastles.com

Real-Time Analysis: Facebook, Twitter

The undefeated Washington Kastles host the St. Louis Aces tonight at 7 pm in a possible preview of the 2011 WTT Finals. Should Washington win, the Kastles would have defeated all eight of the other teams in the league this season.

A Kastles win and a Boston Lobsters loss in Philadelphia tonight would also allow Washington to clinch a spot in WTT Championship Weekend July 22-24 in Charleston, South Carolina. Even if the Lobsters defeat the Freedoms, the Kastles could clinch a playoff spot as early as Saturday when they meet Boston on the road.

The Aces are on pace to qualify for the playoffs out of the Western Conference. They are led by dominant doubles player Liezel Huber, who has formed a successful women's doubles partnership with USC grad Maria Sanchez.

The Kastles counter with three of the top-rated players in World TeamTennis: Bobby Reynolds, Leander Paes and Rennae Stubbs.

Hall-of-Fame player and ESPN commentator Chris Evert will be a special guest of the Kastles this evening. She will sign autographs and meet with fans at the Kastles Information booth beginning at 6:30 pm. At the conclusion of three sets between the Kastles and Aces, Evert will compete in a halftime exhibition.

Good seats are still available for tonight's match at Ticketmaster.com. Coronas will be available for $2 all night long. If you can't make it to Kastles Stadium at The Wharf, follow live scores and stats on WashingtonKastles.com.

PROJECTED MATCHUPS

Men's Singles: Bobby Reynolds (WAS) vs. Roman Borvanov (STL)

Women's Singles: Arina Rodionova (WAS) vs. Maria Sanchez (STL)

Men's Doubles: Reynolds/Leander Paes (WAS) vs. Borvanov/Jean-Julien Rojer (STL)

Women's Doubles: Rodionova/Rennae Stubbs (WAS) vs. Sanchez/Liezel Huber (STL)

Mixed Doubles: Paes/Stubbs (WAS) vs. Rojer/Huber (STL)

SET BY SET

Playing at Kastles Stadium at The Wharf, Bobby Reynolds has been a dominant force for Washington in men's singles. The American has won 18 of the 25 games he's played on the Southwest Waterfront this season. Reynolds is the heavy favorite again tonight when he meets the Aces' Roman Borvanov, a 29-year-old who has played predominantly at lower-level professional events, winning eight ITF Futures titles.

Likewise, there is a major gap in pro experience between Arina Rodionova of the Kastles and Maria Sanchez of the Aces, who will meet in women's singles. Though both are 21 years old, Rodionova has played many more matches on the WTA Tour than Sanchez. After a rough start to the WTT season, Sanchez has been playing better of late, extending Melanie Oudin of Philadelphia to a tiebreaker on Tuesday night.

The men's doubles set pits two of 2011's hottest teams. Reynolds and Leander Paes are neck-and-neck in the race to win the WTT Most Valuable Player of the Year award, leading the league in men's doubles while topping the charts in men's singles and mixed doubles as well respectively. But St. Louis' Borvanov and Jean-Julien Rojer have gelled well in this season, despite having never played together before July 5th.

Rodionova and Rennae Stubbs are also enjoying a successful start to a new partnership. They are the second-ranked women's doubles team in the league, trailing only their opponents tonight, Sanchez and Liezel Huber. The Aces are a perfect 9-0 in women's doubles on the season, while Rodionova and Stubbs have won two of four sets since joining forces on July 8th.

Stubbs ranks second in the league in mixed doubles, behind only her partner Paes. They will meet the talented Aces team of Huber and Rojer in mixed doubles. All four players are ranked inside the Top 25 in doubles on the professional circuit, with Paes at No. 8 the ATP World Tour and Huber at No. 5 on the WTA Tour. Expect rapid reflexes and crisp volleys to be on full display in mixed doubles tonight.

KEY FOR THE KASTLES - SWEEP THE SINGLES SETS

With Huber and Rojer of the Aces posing major threats in the three doubles sets, it will be important for Rodionova and Reynolds of the Kastles to clinch the two singles sets.

Their opponents tonight have never won a professional match in a setting such as Kastles Stadium at The Wharf, where loud capacity crowds have helped Washington win its first four home matches this season.



World TeamTennis Stories from July 15, 2011


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