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WTT Washington Kastles

Aviators Edge Kastles, 20-19 in Thrilling Super-Tiebreak

July 17, 2019 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


In their second match at their new rooftop stadium on Union Market in NoMa, the six-time WTT champion Washington Kastles left their hearts on the court in an epic, tug-of-war match against the 2016 King Trophy-winning San Diego Aviators. After capturing 3 of 5 sets with sensational shotmaking and gritty hustle, the Kastles yielded to the Aviators in a fifth-set, nail-biting super-tiebreak, 20-19.

Shelby Rogers goes 3 for 3!

After the Kastles loss on Monday night to the Rollers, Kastles Coach David Macpherson made some changes to the lineup and order of play. He opted to begin the evening with the biggest weapon in Washington's arsenal, DC phenom and current singles world #38 Frances Tiafoe and new Kastle Shelby Rogers in mixed doubles. The strategy paid off. The Kastles duo came back from a 1-3 deficit against Aviators star Anna-Lena Gronefeld and her new teammate John O'Mara to take the opening set in a tiebreak.

The Kastles shot ahead in the breaker at 2-all, after O'Mara missed his return and Rogers cranked an ace. Then returning up 4-2, Rogers nailed an inside-out backhand return winner to start Washington off with a promising 5-4 lead.

Don't miss Shelby and Frances tonight against the Orange County Breakers! Get the last remaining tickets only through Ticketmaster!

Rogers continued to earn for Washington in the second set. Coach Macpherson tapped the Charleston native to take on WTT star Christina McHale in women's singles. After dropping the opening two games, Rogers fought back. Down 2-3 on McHale's serve, Rogers took the lead with a pair of killer smashes, then earned the break off an error and a crackling winner that tied the set and ignited the Kastles bench and hometown crowd.

Rogers continued to up her game and eventually forced the set to a tense tiebreak. Both players sparred for the lead, but neither could make any real headway. Then returning at 3-all, Rogers smacked a baseline winner to earn a pair of breakpoints. Then after an extended baseline rally, she secured the breaker, and her second set of the night, 5-4, to push Washington ahead, 10-8, in the overall score.

But the Aviators unloaded their big gun in the next set in men's doubles: 2017 French Open men's doubles champion and 2016 WTT champ Ryan Harrison. The San Diego slugger and O'Mara, broke Tiafoe and Kastles southpaw Yoshi Nishioka with commanding returns and net play to record a 5-1 victory and capture the lead for San Diego, 13-11. Harrison served out the set with ease.

The Kastles tugged back in the fourth set, when Rogers returned to the court with Kastles teen sensation Marta Kostyuk to take on McHale and Gronefeld in women's doubles. The set began routinely enough. Gronefeld and Rogers held serve without much difficulty. Then at 1-1, the Kastles got ahead on McHale's serve. At 30-40, Rogers hit a heavy cross-court return and Kostyuk put away the point with a ferocious backhand volley winner to score the break. Kostyuk then held at love to secure the lead in the set, 3-1, and tie the overall score, 14-14.

The pair continued to steamroll from there. Rock-solid play from Rogers in the back court and wicked volleying from Kostyuk at net earned the Kastles a 5-1 set and a 16-14 lead heading into the final, feature set of the night: Tiafoe vs. Harrison.

It was a tense, first league encounter that escalated in intensity with each game. The Aviators got the upperhand in the third game, when Tiafoe inexplicably dropped his serve at love to gift the Aviators a valuable break. Harrison then held to go up 3-1 in the set and tie the overall score at 17-17, which increased the stakes of every shot for both players.

But alarm bells really went off in Kastles Stadium when Harrison earned a breakpoint by forcing a decider on Tiafoe's serve in the next game. Clearly aware of the stakes, the Kastle denied the breakpoint with his biggest serve of the night to swing the lead back in Washington's column, 18-17. But Harrison was relentless. With the early break in his pocket, he won his next two service games to comfortably notch the set, 5-3, tying the overall score 19-19, and forcing the match to a super-tiebreak.

The pressure reached its peak at 5-4 on Harrison's serve. In the point of the match, the Aviator stunned the crowd by saving a crucial mini-break off a beautiful, inside-out backhand volley from Tiafoe with an on-the-run forehand flick cross-court to the short angle past Tiafoe, who seemed in perfect winning position. That left Tiafoe with little room for error, down three match points. At 4-6, the Kastle served and put all his might into his shots, but the last one missed the baseline by a thin margin, as was San Diego's margin of victory at the end of the night, 20-19.

After Washington's loss on Monday to the Vegas Rollers, the Kastles are now 0-2 after two, very close matches, but hope to rebound against the Orange County Breakers, who have the same record. The teams square off tonight in DC in the Kastles' last match of their season opening homestand.

Don't miss Frances in his last Kastles match of the season tonight!

Get the last remaining tickets at Ticketmaster!

Kastles Face Breakers Tonight at 7 PM

DC Phenom Frances Tiafoe Plays Last Kastles Match of the Season

Tonight, the Kastles end a three-game opening homestand with a clash against the 2017 WTT champs Orange County Breakers. Both teams are looking to break ahead in the league standings. The Breakers began their season with a close loss to the Storm in Orlando, 22-19, and fell to the Freedoms, 21-15, in Philadelphia.

DC phenom and current world #38 Frances Tiafoe will play his last match the season for the Kastles against former British #2 James Ward. The Breakers rookie was a key player on the 2015 British Davis Cup champion team and has been hot in WTT singles. In his debut match, he downed Storm star and former singles world #12 Feliciano Lopez, 5-3, and edged Freedoms all-star Donald Young, 5-4, in Philly last night.

Don't miss Frances in his last Kastles match of the season!

Former doubles world #13 Andreja Klepac will also be a factor in the match. She excels in the WTT format. She was on the Breakers' 2017 champion team and won league MVP for her contributions throughout the season. She played all three events in Orlando, singles, doubles, and mixed, and went 1-2. Against Philly, she only played women's and mixed doubles, but came up short in both.

Klepac will be joined by former singles world #68 Nicole Gibbs, another WTT powerhouse, who will return for her fifth season with the Breakers. Gibbs and Klepac will team up against Marta Kostuk and Shelby Rogers, who caught fire last night against the Aviators. Women's singles will be the biggest question mark. Gibbs and Klepac traded the event to little success in Orange County's first two matches of the season. And Kastles Coach David Macpherson opted to play Rogers in singles last night, instead of Kostyuk, against the Aviators, which paid off.

Luke Bambridge will complete the Orange County roster. The British doubles world #44 beat Breakers duo Darija Jurak and Ken Skupski his first set of the season with Klepac.

VS.

SET-BY-SET PROJECTIONS:

MXD - F. Tiafoe/S. Rogers (WAS) vs. L. Bambridge/A. Klepac (OCB)

WS - S. Rogers (WAS) vs. A. Klepac (OCB)

WD - M. Kostyuk/S. Rogers (WAS) vs. A. Klepac/N. Gibbs (OCB)

MD - F. Tiafoe/Y. Nishioka (WAS) vs. J. Ward/L. Bambridge (OCB)

MS - F. Tiafoe (WAS) vs. J. Ward (OCB)

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