Sports stats

WTT Washington Kastles

Kastles Beat Explorers in OT Thriller, Face Freedoms Tonight

July 6, 2011 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


With an energetic, capacity crowd on hand for the historic home opener at Kastles Stadium at The Wharf, the Washington Kastles jumped all over the Kansas City Explorers early, and then withstood a late rally to earn a 21-18 win in overtime on Tuesday.

It was a memorable night at Kastles Stadium that was witnessed by celebrities and notables from a wide range of fields, including basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, Chief of Staff to the First Lady Tina Tchen, DC United Coach Ben Olsen, AOL founder Steve Case, Mayor Vincent Grey, Council Chair Kwame Brown, all of the local sports anchors, and ambassadors from a wide range of countries including Sweden, Chile and Indonesia.

The Kastles swept the first three sets to take a 15-8 lead going into halftime. But an inspired effort by Kansas City substitute Christina McHale nearly brought the Explorers' back. After edging Venus Williams 5-4(4) in women's singles, McHale teamed with Madison Brengle in women's doubles, and won the first four games against Venus and Rennae Stubbs.

With the Kastles' lead down to 19-17, Venus saved four straight set points on her serve to secure a crucial game. Though McHale served out the set in the next game, Stubbs held at love in overtime to clinch the win for Washington.

In the night's opening set, Leander Paes and Bobby Reynolds of the Kastles shook off a slow start to defeat Alex Kuznetsov and Ricardo Mello 5-4(1). The teams exchanged breaks in the first two games, and then held serve all the way to the tiebreak.

That's when the Kastles took over. Paes followed two big serves by Reynolds with a pair of volley winners to give Washington a 2-0 lead. On the next point, Paes dipped a return at Kuznetsov's feet, allowing Reynolds an opportunity to smash an overhead winner past the Explorers.

Paes proceeded to poach for a volley winner, giving the Kastles a 4-0 lead. Though Kansas City saved one set point, Paes finished the Explorers off with a service winner.

Mixed doubles followed, with Paes and Venus meeting the unlikely Kansas City duo of Kuznetsov and McHale. The world No. 86 Mello was expected to play three sets for the Explorers, but after rolling his right ankle during practice early Tuesday, he was unable to extend himself after the men's doubles set.

At 3-3 in the set, the Kastles broke McHale. Serving on deciding point in the next game, Venus Williams blasted a big first serve down the tee to set Paes up for an easy overhead winner, giving the Kastles a 10-7 lead overall.

Mello's injury proved especially crucial in men's singles, as Kuznetsov was forced to play three straight sets on short notice. His opponent from the Kastles didn't help matters much.

Reynolds was relentless in his attack, winning all 12 of his points on serve. He broke for 2-0 with a beautiful backhand lob, and then captured a second break with a big backhand return to take the set 5-1.

By routing Kuznetsov, Reynolds gave Washington a seven-game advantage heading into halftime, which would prove insurmountable.

The women's singles set between the 34th-ranked Williams and 66th-ranked McHale pitted the No. 2 American against the No. 3 American. McHale was a late substitution for Kveta Peschke, who won the Wimbledon women's doubles title on Saturday, and was still in the process of traveling to the U.S.

The 19-year-old American appeared anything but intimidated at the occasion, retrieving Venus' sharpest angles en route to a 3-1 lead.

But the Kastle did not go away quietly, breaking back for 3-3 with a punishing inside-out forehand winner. Venus hit two aces in the next game to move ahead 4-3, but McHale responded with a service hold of her own to force a tiebreak.

Even at 4-4 in the tiebreak, the players found themselves in a winner-take-all point. The ball was in McHale's hands, and the youngest woman in the Top 100 hit a service winner to clinch Kansas City's first set of the night.

Despite the finish to the women's singles set, Washington led 19-13 going into women's doubles. But a remarkable start by McHale and Brengle shocked Venus and Stubbs, who have combined to win 16 women's doubles Grand Slam titles.

With Venus serving down 0-4, McHale and Brengle held a 0-3 advantage in the game, giving them four set points with the chance to go to overtime down just 19-18 in the team score.

Though they hadn't played their best tennis, Venus and Stubbs rallied for the hold, giving Washington a 20-17 lead. McHale cut it to 20-18 with a hold of her own, but Stubbs found her best serves of the night in overtime, and Venus put away the final volley to give Washington a memorable opening night victory.

TONIGHT: KASTLES @ Philadelphia Freedoms Preview

Washington Kastles (1-0) at Philadelphia Freedoms (0-1)

Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 7:00 pm

TV: Tennis Channel, Comcast SportsNet

Live Streaming & Scoring: WashingtonKastles.com

Real-Time Analysis: Facebook, Twitter

The Washington Kastles and Philadelphia Freedoms meet in each team's first Eastern Conference match of the season on Wednesday night, and you don't have to take the train to Philly to catch all the action!

Both Tennis Channel and Comcast SportsNet will broadcast tonight's road match at 7 pm, and live streaming and scoring will be available on WashingtonKastles.com.

Venus Williams will head the Kastles' roster for the second consecutive night, while the Freedoms feature local favorite Beatrice Capra of Ellicott City, Maryland. Capra will be hoping to relive the magic that helped her reach the third round at last year's US Open.

The Kastles defeated the Freedoms twice in three meetings last season, including a thrilling 21-20 road win in a Supertiebreaker.

Thus far in 2011, Washington defeated Kansas City 21-18 on Tuesday and Philadelphia fell to Springfield 24-13 on Monday.

PROJECTED MATCHUPS

Women's Singles: Venus Williams (WAS) vs. Beatrice Capra (PHL)

Men's Singles: Bobby Reynolds (WAS) vs. Brendan Evans (PHL)

Women's Doubles: V. Williams/Rennae Stubbs (WAS) vs. Capra/Lisa Raymond (PHL)

Men's Doubles: Reynolds/Leander Paes (WAS) vs. Evans/Nathan Healey (PHL)

Mixed Doubles: V. Williams/Paes (WAS) vs. Raymond/Healey (PHL)

SET BY SET

For the second straight night, Venus Williams will meet a 19-year-old rising American. After playing world No. 66 Christina McHale on Tuesday, Venus faces Philadelphia's Beatrice Capra, who will begin competing for Duke University in the fall. Capra has struggled since reaching the third round of the 2010 US Open, while Venus went 5-2 on the grass last month after recovering from injuries. In their first WTT matches of the season, Venus fell 5-4(4) to McHale, while Capra lost 5-3 to Lilia Osterloh of Springfield.

Men's singles is also likely to be an All-American affair, with Bobby Reynolds of Washington playing Brendan Evans of Philadelphia. Reynolds and Evans are very familiar with each other, having met four times on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2007. The Kastle won all four of those matches without dropping a set. In Tuesday's match between Washington and Kansas City, Reynolds dominated Alex Kuznetsov 5-1. Evans was the lone Freedom to win a set on Monday, defeating Raven Klaasen of Springfield 5-4.

Longtime partners Rennae Stubbs and Lisa Raymond are scheduled to square off in women's doubles. Together, Stubbs and Raymond have won 33 WTA Tour doubles titles, highlighted by the Australian Open in 2000 and Wimbledon and the US Open in 2001. On Wednesday night, Stubbs is likely to team with Venus, a 12-time Grand Slam women's doubles champion. Raymond will partner Capra, who has yet to play doubles at a major. Expect the Kastles to target the young American early and often.

In men's doubles, Reynolds and Leander Paes will have the luxury of having played together throughout the 2010 WTT season. That's not the case for Evans and Nathan Healey of Philadelphia, who are playing their first season for the Freedoms, losing their debut on Monday 5-2. Healey does have three ATP World Tour doubles titles to his credit.

Mixed doubles proved to be the deciding set in last year's Supertiebreaker thriller between the Kastles and Freedoms. Paes and Venus let four match points slip away against Prakash Amritraj and Courtney Nagle, before defeating the Freedoms 7-3 in the Supertiebreaker. Neither Amritraj, nor Nagle, is back for Philadelphia this season. The Freedoms are expected to field the team of Healey and Raymond to challenge Paes and Venus.

KEY FOR THE KASTLES - DON'T TAKE FREEDOMS LIGHTLY

Philadelphia forced a Supertiebreaker against Washington last season when the unheralded mixed doubles team of Amritraj and Nagle pushed former world No. 1s Paes and Venus to the limit.

In tonight's match, the Kastles are favored on paper in every set. But anything can happen when a team is playing on the road in World TeamTennis.

Tonight marks the first of seven conference matches for the Kastles this season, and the importance is not lost on Coach Murphy Jensen and his players. If they can keep their composure away from home, the Kastles should return to DC victoriously.

Now Showing at Arena Stage: Oklahoma!

Did you enjoy the national anthem at last night's Kastles' match' It was sung by Eleasha Gamble, who stars as Laurey in Arena Stage's production of Oklahoma!, showing through October 2nd.

A winner of four Helen Hayes Awards, this is not your mother's Oklahoma!. Inspired by the toughness of the prairie, Artistic Director Molly Smith sets her production in the robust world of territory life filled with a dynamic cast as rich and complex as the great tapestry of America itself.

With Rodgers and Hammerstein's timeless music, Oklahoma! celebrates the vigor of America's pioneering spirit with athletic dance and boot-stomping energy. Chock full of classic tunes such as "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," and "People will Say We're in Love," this muscular production will thrill audiences young and old.

Oklahoma! runs approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission. For more information, or to purchase tickets, please visit ArenaStage.org.

The 2011 Kastles Season runs through July 21st, and tickets are going fast.



World TeamTennis Stories from July 6, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central