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WTT Washington Kastles

Kastles Bring Core Team Back to Defend WTT Championship

March 13, 2012 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


The core Kastles from the 2011 team that went 16-0 and captured a second World TeamTennis title are returning this summer to the Southwest Waterfront!

During the WTT Draft Tuesday, Kastles' owner Mark Ein protected the rights to two-time Male MVP Leander Paes, reigning Female Rookie of the Year Arina Rodionova, and the league's second-rated singles player Bobby Reynolds.

The Kastles also added world No. 22 doubles player and No. 101 singles player Anastasia Rodionova, Arina's older sister, to fill the void left by five-time WTT champion Rennae Stubbs, who played her final pro match at the 2011 US Open.

The 2012 Kastles' season will be a family affair as the Rodionova sisters join Venus and Serena Williams, who were re-signed by the team in February.

Anastasia Rodionova

Anastasia is expected to make an immediate impact for the Kastles, with the talent to play women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.

The 29-year-old veteran has singles victories over two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2011 US Open winner Samantha Stosur and former world No. 2 Vera Zvonareva. Anastasia has reached the third round of a major five times in singles, most recently at the 2011 French Open.

The Russian-born Australian is also the highest-ranked women's doubles player competing this season in WTT. She has reached the quarterfinals or better at four of the last six Grand Slams, and in February, teamed with Sania Mirza for her fourth WTA doubles title (Pattaya City).

Anastasia was also a mixed doubles finalist at Wimbledon in 2003. She and Andy Ram lost to Martina Navratilova and none other than her new Kastles' teammate Leander Paes.

Leander Paes

Entering his fourth year as a Kastle, the 13-time Grand Slam champion Paes has emerged as the most dominant player in the league. He earned WTT Male MVP honors in 2009 and 2011, leading the Kastles to the King Trophy on both occasions.

Paes finished as the league's highest-rated men's and mixed doubles player last season, winning 12 of the 16 sets he played in both events.

Already in 2012, the Indian living legend completed a career Grand Slam in men's doubles by capturing the Australian Open title with Radek Stepanek. Paes could accomplish the same feat in mixed doubles at the upcoming French Open, having won mixed titles at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open during his illustrious career.

Paes is one of three Kastles who are likely to qualify for the Olympic Games in London beginning July 28, joining Anastasia Rodionova and Serena Williams. If selected in June, Paes would be participating in the Olympics for a sixth time -- more than any other Asian athlete in history.

Bobby Reynolds

For 30 consecutive Kastles matches, Paes has played men's doubles with only one partner: Bobby Reynolds. In two memorable meetings with the New York Sportimes last season, the Kastles' dynamic duo saved six match points to preserve the team's historic perfect season.

Reynolds' reputation in 2011 was that of the Kastles' closer. Playing either men's singles or doubles, the American clinched 11 of Washington's 16 victories in the fifth and final set.

He's off to a great start on the ATP World Tour this season, qualifying at three tournaments and defeating current world No. 11 John Isner of the Boston Lobsters to reach the Sydney quarterfinals.

Before making his WTT debut in 2010, Reynolds reached the third round at Wimbledon in 2008 and the Australian Open in 2005.

His success playing team tennis should come as no surprise. In 2003, Reynolds capped a tremendous three-year collegiate career by leading Vanderbilt to the NCAA championship match, helping him finish the season as the No. 1 player in the nation.

Arina Rodionova

After Reynolds earned 2010 WTT Male Rookie of the Year honors, Arina Rodionova followed suit with the female award in 2011.

Kastles' fans quickly grew fond of the charismatic 22-year-old, dubbing her 'Hot Rod' and taking to Twitter to request her return to DC this summer.

Team owner Mark Ein and Coach Murphy Jensen heeded their calls, re-signing the player who earned WTT Finals MVP honors after a 5-4 singles win over Wimbledon quarterfinalist Tamira Paszek.

Arina also won her final five women's doubles sets of the season with Rennae Stubbs, sweeping Paszek and world No. 1 Liezel Huber 5-0 during the WTT Finals.

This season, the Kastles will field a ready-made women's doubles team in the Rodionova sisters, who are both ranked inside the world Top 100 (Arina is No. 94) and reached the final of the Kuala Lumpur WTA event in 2010.

Big sister Anastasia was on the Kastles' bench last July 18 when Arina routed 2009 WTT Female MVP and current world No. 58 Vania King 5-0. That performance, along with the electric atmosphere at Kastles Stadium at The Wharf, spurred Anastasia to sign with the Kastles this season.

The elder Rodionova previously played WTT for the Sacramento Capitals in 2004 and the Orange County Breakers in 2005 and 2006.

Though individual match tickets to see the world champion Washington Kastles don't go on sale until late-April/early-May, season tickets to see the 16-0 Kastles play for their third WTT title in four years are now available.

For as little as $150, you get the first choice of seats to all seven Kastles home matches in 2012, along with a package of perks exclusive for season ticket holders. Among those benefits are a season ticket holder clinic with Coach Murphy at Kastles Stadium at The Wharf and invitations to Kastles' social events.

A very small supply of our four-seat Premier Courtside Boxes and water-view Kastles' Boxes are also on sale, providing fans with VIP hospitality and the best seats in the house. The Kastles' immensely popular VIP dinner tables are sold out, though interested fans can have their name added to a waiting list.

Most matches sell out each season, so purchasing season tickets is the best way to make sure you don't miss any of the action. Visit WashingtonKastles.com or call the Kastles at 202-4-TENNIS (483-6647) for more information and to place your season ticket order today!

Savvy Veterans, Talented Rookies Top Other Picks

Pan American Games gold medalist Irina Falconi returns to Boston.

Joining the Kastles' trio of Leander Paes, Bobby Reynolds and Arina Rodionova as the top players returning to World TeamTennis are the Boston Lobsters' Irina Falconi and the Sacramento Capitals' Mark Knowles and Jean-Julien Rojer. But it's a brand new face that may pose the biggest threat to the Kastles this season.

Washington's Paes will be challenged in men's and mixed doubles by Kansas City Explorers' draft pick Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan. Qureshi is currently ranked No. 11 in the world in doubles, capturing the 2011 Paris Masters 1000 title and reaching the 2010 US Open final with Paes' countryman Rohan Bopanna.

The 21-year-old Falconi enjoyed a breakout season on in 2011, when she represented the Lobsters against the Kastles in the Eastern Conference Championship. Falconi went on to reach the third round of the US Open before winning the gold medal for the United States at the Pan American Games.

The longtime Capital Knowles, a former world No. 1 in doubles, has won four Grand Slam doubles championships and at least one tour-level title in 19 of the last 20 seasons. He's joined on Sacramento's roster this season by the 2011 WTT Male Rookie of the Year Rojer, himself a talented doubles player with five career ATP World Tour titles.

Among the new names playing WTT in 2012 is the woman who partnered Knowles to the 2009 Wimbledon mixed doubles championship: Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany. Groenefeld, selected by the Orange County Breakers, has been ranked as high as No. 7 in doubles and No. 14 in singles in the WTA world rankings.

Hungary's Timea Babos joins the Springfield Lasers on the heels of her first career WTA title, which she won last month on the hard courts of Monterrey, Mexico. Now ranked a career-high No. 68 in singles, the 18-year-old Babos is making a smooth transition to the pro tour after winning Grand Slam junior doubles titles at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in 2010.

Three talented 19-year-old women's players are entering the league for the first time. Czech twins Karolina and Kristyna Pliskova, both former Grand Slam junior champions, were selected by the Philadelphia Freedoms, while fast-rising South African Chanel Simmonds was picked in the first round by the Explorers.

The men's rookie class features a pair of recent collegiate standouts in John-Patrick Smith of the Breakers and Devin Britton of the Lasers. Smith earned All-American honors in singles and doubles during each of his four seasons at the University of Tennessee, while Britton captured the 2009 NCAA singles championship as a freshman at Ole Miss.

The Kastles' biggest rivals, the New York Sportimes, welcome back veterans Robert Kendrick, Jesse Witten and Ashley Harkleroad to join marquee players John McEnroe and Martina Hingis.

Kendrick returns to the league after a one-year hiatus, having made headlines in 2009 when he and Paes nailed each other with shots during a heated Kastles vs. Sportimes men's doubles set.

2012 World TeamTennis Full Lineups

Serena Williams

Venus Williams

Leander Paes

Bobby Reynolds

Anastasia Rodionova

Arina Rodionova

John Isner

Jan-Michael Gambill

Eric Butorac

Irina Falconi

Carly Gullickson

John McEnroe

Martina Hingis

Robert Kendrick

Jesse Witten

Ashley Harkleroad

James Blake

Mark Philippoussis

Luka Gregorc

Jordan Kerr

Karolina Pliskova

Kristyna Pliskova

Bob Bryan

Mike Bryan

Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi

Nicholas Monroe

Chanel Simmonds

Tetiana Luzhanska

Lindsay Davenport

John-Patrick Smith

Travis Parrott

Anna-Lena Groenefeld

Mardy Fish

Mark Knowles

Jean-Julien Rojer

Asia Muhammad

Yasmin Schnack

Amir Weintraub

Devin Britton

Timea Babos

Maria Sanchez



World TeamTennis Stories from March 13, 2012


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