WTT Washington Kastles

Hingis Falls in US Open Final; Kastles Top All WTT Teams with 27 US Open Victories

September 9, 2014 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


Martina Hingis' magical run through three seeded opponents and into the US Open women's doubles final ended one set shy of a 16th Grand Slam championship.

Hingis and Flavia Pennetta led by a set and a break before falling to No. 4 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday. A replay of the final airs Wednesday at 8 pm on Tennis Channel and TennisChannel.com.

"It was an incredible journey," Hingis told the crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. "Thanks to Flavia. We teamed up in the middle of the season and two months later we are here, in the final of the US Open. I could only dream of that when we started playing together."

Despite the loss, Hingis rose from No. 45 to No. 20 in the latest WTA doubles rankings -- her first appearance in the Top 20 since she was No. 19 in singles on Nov. 12, 2007.

It had been even longer since Hingis' last Grand Slam final, when the Kastles star and Mahesh Bhupathi won the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles title.

Makarova and Vesnina, on the other hand, reached the Australian Open final earlier this season and won the French Open title in 2013.

But the Russians showed early nerves as Makarova double-faulted twice in the opening game to drop serve.

With Hingis' touch and Pennetta's power, the unseeded Swiss and Italian cruised through the first set. They earned an insurance break and took a 5-2 lead when Hingis hit a strong forehand return off of Vesnina's frame. Serving for the set, Hingis saved a break point with an unreturnable serve and held when Vesnina netted a backhand.

All four players held to start the second set before Vesnina hit two double faults to concede her serve and gift Hingis and Pennetta a 3-2 advantage.

Only three games from the title, Pennetta was unable to consolidate the break, dropping serve when she left a ball too short and Makarova poached for a volley winner. Though the second set was tied at 3-3, momentum had shifted entirely.

Makarova, a semifinalist in singles, saved a break point to give the Russians a 4-3 lead. They broke for 5-3 when Vesnina's down-the-line pass bounced off Pennetta's frame at the net, then served out the set when Makarova put away an overhead.

In the third set, the Russians won 39 points and Hingis and Pennetta won 31. The eight-point difference loomed large: Hingis and Pennetta went 0-for-6 on break chances while Makarova and Vesnina converted two break points.

Pennetta missed back-to-back groundstrokes to drop serve in the first game, then Vesnina rallied from 30-40 down with three straight service winners for 2-0.

After Hingis held for 1-2, she and Pennetta had two break points on Makarova's serve. The lefty saved one with a service winner and Pennetta lost the other with a volley error.

Despite those missed opportunities, Hingis and Pennetta had three more chances to tie the third set when Vesnina served at 3-2. For a few seconds, it looked like they evened the score when Pennetta hit a backhand volley winner.

But Makarova and Vesnina challenged the call and Hawk-Eye showed the shot landed less than an inch wide of the sideline. Given new life, Vesnina finished the game with a service winner, an ace and a 4-2 lead that proved insurmountable.

Vesnina hit a forehand volley winner to break Hingis' serve for 5-2, then Makarova ripped a forehand past Pennetta on match point to seal the Russians' second Grand Slam title.

Kastles Top All WTT Teams with 27 US Open Wins

WTT Players Hingis, Bryan Brothers, Spears Reach Doubles Finals

Coach Murphy Jensen practiced with Martina Hingis on Sept. 3 after reuniting with Kastles owner Mark Ein and team captain Leander Paes.

Less than two months after capturing the King Trophy for the fifth time, the Washington Kastles solidified their stance as the elite franchise in Mylan World TeamTennis at the US Open.

Members of the 2014 Kastles won 27 matches in New York City, more than any of the other six WTT teams. They also took him more $653,156 in prize money, representing 25.2% of the total earnings by WTT players.

The league was well-represented at the US Open with 39 men and women who competed during the 2014 WTT season. Kastles coach Murphy Jensen and owner Mark Ein were on hand to witness several strong performances by their players.

* WTT Finals MVP Martina Hingis teamed with Flavia Pennetta to defeat three seeded teams and reach the women's doubles final. Hingis and Pennetta won 11 straight sets before falling to No. 4 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

* Anastasia Rodionova led all WTT players with seven wins and rose to a career-high doubles ranking of No. 15 on Sept. 8. Rodionova was one of only three players in the entire US Open field to win main draw matches in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

* Leander Paes advanced to the 73rd Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career by winning two matches in mixed doubles with Cara Black. The Kastles captain reached his first major quarterfinal 21 years ago in men's doubles at the 1993 US Open.

* Kevin Anderson equaled his best US Open result with a third-round showing. The 6-foot-8 Kastle did something that Top 10 seeds Tomas Berdych, Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori couldn't do by taking a set off surprise US Open champion Marin Cilic.

* Kastles substitute Jarmila Gajdosova pulled off the biggest upset of the women's doubles event. Gajdosova and Ajla Tomljanovic knocked out No. 1 seeds and 2012 US Open champions Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the second round.

* Kastles substitute Shelby Rogers earned her first US Open main draw win and rose to a career-high singles ranking of No. 79. Vote for Rogers as a WTA Rising Star and she could be playing in an invitational tournament during the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Hingis helped ensure that all three tournament doubles finals featured WTT players, proving that it pays to prepare for the US Open by playing team tennis.

Bob and Mike Bryan of the San Diego Aviators captured their 16th Grand Slam championship and 100th title overall by winning the men's doubles final 6-3, 6-4 over No. 11 seeds Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez.

In the third round, the French Open finalists Granollers and Lopez defeated the defending US Open champions Paes and Radek Stepanek 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.

Abigail Spears of the Springfield Lasers and Santiago Gonzalez saved five championship points before falling to No. 1 seeds Sania Mirza and Bruno Soares in the mixed doubles final.

Spears and Gonzalez barely got by a pair of Kastles players en route to the final, edging Rodionova and Robert Farah 5-7, 6-3, [11-9] in the second round, then beating Paes and Black 6-4, 4-6, [10-8] in the quarterfinals.

WTT Male MVP Marcelo Melo (Philadelphia Freedoms) and Scott Lipsky (Boston Lobsters) reached the men's doubles semifinals, while Taylor Townsend (Philadelphia Freedoms) and Ross Hutchins (Springfield Lasers) fell in the mixed doubles semifinals.

2014 US Open Results by Mylan WTT Franchise

Team Wins Prize Money Top Player

Kastles 27 $653,156.00 M. Hingis: Doubles Final

Aviators 22 $666,218.50 Bryan Bros: Doubles Champions

Lobsters 13 $355,050.50 S. Lipsky: Doubles Semifinal

Freedoms 11 $525,670.50 M. Melo: Doubles Semifinal

Lasers 9 $136,316.50 A. Spears: Mixed Doubles Final

Wild 8 $122,033.00 T. Smyczek: Doubles 3rd Round

Aces 3 $133,047.50 V. Lepchenko: Singles 3rd Round

TOTAL 93 $2,591,492.50 Bryan Bros: Doubles Champions



World TeamTennis Stories from September 9, 2014


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