Boston Lobsters clamp claws on NY Buzz
July 17, 2006 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Boston Lobsters News Release
The Boston Lobsters avenged an early season loss and earned their second win of the season tonight against the New York Buzz with a commanding victory in Schenectedy. The Lobsters sunk their claws into the Buzz with a vengeance and never let go, winning the match 24-14. With their win tonight and marquee players Todd Martin and Martina Navratilova scheduled to join the Lobsters for the finall three home contests this Wednesday, Saturday and next Monday, Boston now finds themselves back in the WTT playoff race.
Amir Hadad started things off for the Lobsters with a 5-2 win in only nine minutes over Buzz Scott Lipsky. Next up was women's doubles with Nicole Pratt and Kristin Schlukebir taking on Julie Ditty and Viktoriya Kutuzova. Pratt rejoined the Lobsters this evening after a five-match absence due to her selection to compete for her native Australia in Fed Cup competition against Switzerland this week (during which she won her key singles matches).
The Lady Lobsters rocketed ahead to a 4-0 lead before closing out a 5-1 win against New York to give Boston a 10-3 lead. Pratt and Kutuzova then took opposite sides of the net to prepare for the women's singles. Just arriving back in the Stats from her Fed Cup match in Switzerland, Pratt showed no signs of travel fatigue as she quickly dispatched her opponent 5-2 in just over 10 minutes and put the Lobsters up 15-5.
Mixed doubles was next on the Lobsters' plate pairing Haddad and Pratt against Ditty and KC Corkery where the pairs traded service holds until 4-all with the Buzz scoring their first set of the night in a tie-breaker to win 5-4.
With the Lobsters leading 19-10 going into the final set, all eyes turned to Hadad and Thomas Blake to close out the win for Boston. Corkery and Lipsky went out to a 4-3 lead, giving the Buzz a chance to extend the match into overtime. The Lobstermen fought back to set up a tie-breaker, winning the final point for a 5-4(4) victory and a final team score of 24-14.
Nicole Pratt, who played a key role by winning her singles and womens' doubles matches added, "I was really excited to play and to get back to the Lobsters after Fed Cup. I was happy that I could contribute to our win tonight." Lobsters' Coach Anne Smith was pleased with her team's performance this evening. "We needed to keep our energy and intensity up. This was a great win for us tonite. It will jump start us for the rest of the season."
The Lobsters will finish off their road trip against Hartford tomorrow night in Avon, CT. On Wednesday night, Todd martin will be in action for this first of three matches as a Lobster, when Boston returns home to Bright Arena at Harvard for a shootout with the Houston Wranglers.
Pre-match festivities (including a live performance by Universal recording artist Kristine Hendricks of QED)begin at 5:30pm and the match begins at 7:20pm.
World TeamTennis Stories from July 17, 2006
- Boston Lobsters clamp claws on NY Buzz - Boston Lobsters
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