WTT Orange County Breakers

Breakers Take On Serena Williams

Published on July 14, 2008 under World TeamTennis (WTT)
Orange County Breakers News Release


NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., July 13, 2008 - Prepared to duel against marquee players in four of their last five home matches of the season entering Sunday, the Newport Beach Breakers put up a brave fight before being edged by World No. 5 and eight-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams and the Washington Kastles, 18-16, at Breakers Stadium at Newport Beach Country Club.

Just over a week removed from Centre Court at Wimbledon, Williams, the Compton, Calif. native, made her only appearance at Newport Beach Country Club. She won the first set (mixed doubles) and the fourth set (women's singles) but was upended in women's doubles by the Breakers' duo of Michaela Pastikova and Lilia Osterloh, who made her Breakers debut Sunday and will play for the Breakers at home on Monday against Sacramento and Wednesday against St. Louis.

"Any time you put someone out there that puts up a plus-6 (in games), that's big. Serena was too good in the singles. We all know what kind of player she is," said Breakers coach Trevor Kronemann, who was impressed with his team's 5-3 women's doubles victory over Williams and Mashona Washington. "Definitely, that was the best set Michaela's played this season. Probably in her two seasons here. I like Lilia. She has a lot of spice and a lot of pizazz. She's great to watch."

The Breakers Stadium crowd received instant gratification as Williams took the court for the opening set, partnering with Kevin Kim in mixed doubles. Williams, arguably the hardest hitting, most physical presence on the WTA Tour, had Breakers' rookie Kaes Van't Hof breathing a sigh of relief as she smoked a swinging volley past him in the third game. The Kastles (4-3) went on to win the set over Van't Hof and Osterloh, 5-2. Williams' 5-0 set victory in women's singles, the fourth set of the night, put the Kastles up 13-12 heading into the decisive set.

The Breakers (2-5) displayed their fighting spirit in the second set as Osterloh and Pastikova raised their level and played attacking, sharp tennis to beat the Wimbledon doubles champion and take the second set, 5-3.

Breakers ace Ramon Delgado entered the match for the first time, in the third set, and continued to reap the rewards of a new-found, successful doubles chemistry alongside Van't Hof, the 2008 NCAA Division I doubles national champion. The pair had dropped their first five doubles sets of the season, but matched the level of their female counterparts in the previous set to rout Washington, 5-0, win their second men's doubles set in as many nights and give the Breakers a 12-8 lead in the match. (more) 2-2-2 SERENA WILLIAMS-LED WASHINGTON DEFEATS NEWPORT BEACH BREAKERS, 18-16

Williams answered with a 5-0 singles victory, leaving the match up to Delgado, the World TeamTennis Pro League leader in games won percentage in men's singles (31-of-47 games won entering Sunday). However, Delgado dropped his first singles set of the season, 5-4 (5-2 tiebreak) to Kim. Delgado led 4-1 in the set before Kim caught fire from the baseline.

"Ramon's been the closer here for years and Kevin Kim came out and played a little bit better than Ramon," Kronemann said. "It's probably the best men's singles set I've seen (in WTT) in a long, long time. We're getting right to that point where we're there to put the match away. The wins will come."

Added Delgado: "We played good tennis, a very good level. I should have won it and I had many chances to win it. We have seven more matches. We can still turn things around."

Results: Mixed Doubles - Serena Williams/Kevin Kim (W) def. Lilia Osterloh/Kaes Van't Hof (NB), 5-2 Women's Doubles - Michaela Pastikova/Osterloh (NB) def. Mashona Washington/Williams (W), 5-3 Men's Doubles - Ramon Delgado/Van't Hof (NB) def. Scott Oudsema/Kim (W), 5-0 Women's Singles - Williams (W) def. Osterloh (NB), 5-0 Men's Singles - Kim (W) def. Delgado (NB), 5-4 (5-2 tiebreak) Final: Washington Kastles 18, Newport Beach Breakers 16

The Breakers return to the Breakers Stadium at Newport Beach Country Club court Monday against the reigning WTT Pro League champion Sacramento Capitals at 7 p.m. The match coincides with the second-annual Women's Tennis Night featuring International Tennis Hall of Famer and former World No. 1 Tracy Austin. General admission tickets are available and can be purchased for $15. All women with a ticket to Monday's match are invited to participate in Austin's tennis clinic at 5 p.m. inside Breakers Stadium. Austin specializes in cardio tennis clinics, which makes a great way for females of all ages to learn the fundamentals of tennis and enjoy the exercise that comes along with it.

Austin, 47, was born in Palos Verdes and currently lives in Rolling Hills. She won the U.S. Open singles title in 1979 and 1981 and the mixed doubles championship at Wimbledon in 1980. Her career was cut short by injury, but she came back to play World TeamTennis for the New Jersey Stars and the Raleigh Edge in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Tickets, sponsorship and more information on the Newport Beach Breakers are readily available by calling 714-352-6301 or visiting www.NewportBeachBreakers.com, where fans can purchase tickets and choose their own seats from an online seating chart that takes real-time inventory. Individual general admission match tickets range from $15-$45. Also available is the Lefty Legends Package, for matches July 21 vs. Boston and July 22 vs. New York, for $70.

The Breakers are owned by WTT founder Billie Jean King. Hoag Hospital Foundation has been granted the rights to manage the Breakers through 2009 by WTT with profits from the team's operations for the season benefiting Hoag Hospital.

The World TeamTennis Pro League presented by Advanta is set to begin its 33rd season. Each WTT team is comprised of two men, two women and a coach. Team matches consist of five events - one set each of men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles. The first team to reach five games wins each set. A nine-point tiebreaker is played if a set reaches four-all. One point is awarded for each game won. If necessary, overtime and a supertiebreaker are played to determine the outright winner of the match.

About Newport Beach Breakers The Newport Beach Breakers are one of 11 nationwide teams that make up World TeamTennis (WTT). Co-owned by WTT founder Billie Jean King, Hoag Hospital Foundation has been granted the rights to manage the Breakers through 2009 by the WTT, with profits from the team's operations for the season benefiting Hoag Hospital. Hoag's expert involvement with professional sports also extends to its organization of the PGA Champions Tour's Toshiba Classic, held annually in March.

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