Sports stats



WTT Washington Kastles

Kastles Defeated by Lobsters, 20-16; Last Week of Season Starts As

July 19, 2010 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


The Washington Kastles lost their fourth straight last night and fell one match behind the New York Sportimes in the Eastern Conference standings after a disappointing 20-16 loss to the Boston Lobsters.

With WTA star Victoria Azarenka making her Kastles' debut before a sellout crowd of over 2,600 passionate Kastles fans, there were high hopes that the team would end its losing skid before heading into the final three matches of the regular season. But the team fell 5-4 (5-2), 0-5, 5-3, 5-3, 1-5, muddling their chances to earn the top seed in the WTT playoffs.

Bobby Reynolds, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Sunday night, began the match against Jan-Michael Gambill, once ranked as high as 14th in the world. Reynolds started strong by holding serve with two aces and then earning an early break of serve with a backhand winner following a long rally to go up 3-0 in the set. Gambill fought back to even the match at 3-3 after converting a crucial 3-all point. The set went to a tiebreak, where Reynolds won every point on his serve, winning the set after making a great stab return and forcing Gambill to push a forehand wide to secure the breaker 5-2.

With the Kastles holding a slight 5-4 edge, it was time for the debut of Azarenka, who was ranked as high as 6th in the world in singles in late 2009 and 7th in doubles in 2008, for a doubles set with Rennae Stubbs. But it was a challenging debut, as the pair took on Raquel Kops-Jones and Coco Vandeweghe, the third-best doubles team in WTT this season.

Azarenka and Stubbs were broken early to go down 0-2 in the set, but set up a 3-all point to potentially break back. In that deciding point, however, Azarenka barely missed a topspin lob long, giving the Lobsters a 3-0 lead in the set. The Lobsters then broke Azarenka's serve and finished off the set when Vandeweghe hit a tumbling topspin forehand at Azarenka's feet.

Down 9-5, it was up to Reynolds and Leander Paes to get the Kastles back in the match as they faced Gambill and Treat Huey, a Washington, D.C. native and graduate of the University of Virginia. The Kastles won a 3-all point to hold Reynolds serve in the first game, then later went up 2-1 behind a strong service game from Paes. In the next game, Reynolds made a great lunging backhand to keep the point alive and set up a key 3-all point. But Huey passed Paes with a crisp down-the-line volley to tie the set at 2-2.

The Kastles and Lobsters traded holds of serve until 4-3, when Paes converted a break point and won the set 5-3 with an unreturnable topspin lob over Huey's head. Winning the set with the two game margin was key to keeping the Kastles in striking distance at 12-10 for the Lobsters.

Paes and Azarenka then faced Gambill and Kops-Jones in a doubles set featuring strong serving by both sides. Against Gambill's serve with set tied at 2-2, Paes gave the Kastles a small opening with great backhand lob winner to create a 2-1 points lead but Gambill responded with back-to-back overhead winners, then closed the game out with an ace.

Leander Paes (above) and Bobby Reynolds form the WTT's most lethal men's doubles team!

A game later and down 3-2 in the set, Paes and Azarenka found themselves down two break points on Leander's serve but rebounded to set up a very important 3-all point. With the overall match score at 15-13 Lobsters, and the momentum of the match hanging in the balance, Paes served an ace down the middle that the Lobsters challenged. Instant replay showed the ball barely caught the line.

The Kastles used the momentum from that game to break Kops-Jones in the next game, as Paes converted a sensational behind-the-back volley that may have been the shot of the season, to set up a winning point. Azarenka then held serve to give the Kastles the set 5-3 and tie the match at 15-15 going into the last set.

The final, winner-take-all set saw Azarenka make her Kastles' singles debut against Vandeweghe. Azarenka had a good opportunity early to seize a quick lead with the score tied 1-1 in the set and holding three break points at 3-1. But Vandeweghe responded with some hard groundstrokes to hold, and then took charge against Azarenka's serve in the next game, taking a 3-0 lead in points. Azarenka saved one break point with a service winner, but Vandeweghe secured a 3-1 lead in the set with a sharp crosscourt forehand out of Azarenka's reach to give the Lobsters an 18-16 match lead.

Azarenka then had another window of opportunity, taking a 3-1 points lead against Vandeweghe's serve. But Vandeweghe responded with a service winner and two blistering forehand winners that barely landed inside the deep corner of the court.

Down 4-1 in the set, Azarenka needed to hold her serve to keep the Kastles in the match. But she lost four of the next five points, sailing an overhead long to end the match in a 20-16 Lobster win.

2010 Playoff Scenarios; Three Matches Left

With the loss, the Kastles now find themselves down a match to the New York Sportimes for the Eastern Conference lead, who come to Washington for a third meeting Tuesday night. John McEnroe will play for the Sportimes for the first time against the Kastles this year. His last visit to Washington featured an on-the-court altercation with Kastles' Leander Paes, leading to this upcoming match being dubbed "The Rumble in the Capital Part II."

After the Sportimes visit on Tuesday, Anna Kournikova and the St. Louis Aces will come to Kastles Stadium on Wednesday for the final regular season home match in Washington. Washington closes its 2010 regular season in Boston Thursday night.

With three matches to play, the Kastles currently control their own playoff destiny and every match counts. If the team wins out, they make the playoffs and, if that happens and New York loses one more match, the Kastles would host the Eastern Conference Championship in Washington on Friday. Because the Sportimes beat the Kastles in their first two meetings, the Kastles must finish a match ahead of the Sportimes in the standings to guarantee the home playoff match.

Four of the five Eastern Conference teams find themselves still alive for the playoff spots, though with their loss last night, the Philadelphia Freedoms are on the brink of elimination. The Sportimes hold the inside track to host the Eastern Conference finals and Washington currently stands a match ahead of Boston for the second slot.

The race between the Kastles and the Lobsters is tight with Washington one match ahead. Both teams have three matches left and it could come down to the regular season finale in Boston on Thursday, July 22. If Boston were to enter that match one match behind or better and win that match, Boston would advance to the playoffs, as they would have won both head to head meetings.

The team is committed to winning their remaining matches and know there will be two more passionate packed Kastles Stadium crowds on Tuesday and Wednesday to inspire and cheer them on to victory!

• Discuss this story on the World TeamTennis message board...

World TeamTennis Stories from July 19, 2010


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