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WTT Washington Kastles

Kastles Dominate Sacramento 25-14, Improve to 11-0

July 19, 2011 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


Rookie Arina Rodionova routed world No. 90 Vania King 5-0 in women's singles to give the Washington Kastles an insurmountable lead on their way to a 25-14 victory over the Sacramento Capitals Monday night in front of another sellout crowd at Kastles Stadium at The Wharf.

The 11-0 Kastles are now just three victories from joining the 1994 Newport Beach Dukes as the only franchise in World TeamTennis history to complete a perfect regular season.

The Kastles will meet the New York Sportimes in road matches on Tuesday and Wednesday before returning home to Kastles Stadium at The Wharf for the regular season finale against the Philadelphia Freedoms Thursday at 7 pm.

With its win Monday, Washington ensured that it will finish with the league's best record, which makes the Kastles the No. 1 overall seed at WTT Championship Weekend in Charleston, South Carolina. The Kastles will meet either New York or Boston for the Eastern Conference Championship Friday at 7 pm.

After one-game wins in its previous three home matches, Washington swept all five sets against Sacramento.

Rodionova was especially impressive, blasting forehand winners from every position on the court to shutout King, who won doubles titles at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2010.

"Hot Rod" had to wait her turn, however, because the match began with a mixed doubles set featuring four Grand Slam doubles champions. With a timely return in a tiebreak, the WTT's No. 1 mixed doubles team of Rennae Stubbs and Leander Paes won their sixth straight set together with a 5-4(3) victory over King and Mark Knowles.

While King and Knowles cruised on their serves in the event, Paes overcame two 3-all points on his serve, holding for 1-0 with a solid forehand and 3-2 with a service winner.

The teams continued to trade holds in the tiebreak until King served with the Kastles holding a set point at 3-4. Knowles took a step toward the center of the court too soon, allowing Stubbs an opening to crush a down-the-line backhand return that the Capital could not handle.

The service holds continued in second set, with no breaks through six games of the women's doubles event between Stubbs and Rodionova of the Kastles and King and Yasmin Schnack of the Capitals.

In the fifth game, King showed off the reflexes that helped her win two Grand Slam doubles titles last season. Her two-handed backhand volley allowed her to withstand the strongest of body shots that Stubbs and Rodionova hit her way. King poached for a pair of winners to give Sacramento a 3-2 lead.

Stubbs responded with a nifty half-volley of her own before holding for 3-3 with a service winner.

The Kastles rallied from 2-0 down in the following game to earn two break points thanks to a Rodionova backhand return winner, a Stubbs volley that handcuffed Schnack, and an unforced error from King.

The Capitals saved the first break point when Schnack put a volley away, but on the second, King tossed her racquet toward an on-court trash can in frustration after she hung a ball too high and Stubbs pegged Schnack in the leg with a volley, giving the Kastles the break and a 4-3 advantage.

Washington closed out the set 5-3 and took a 10-7 match lead when Stubbs hit two volley winners, and Rodionova landed two unreturnable serves.

Rennae Stubbs shares a secret with Arina Rodionova in doubles.

Photo by Andrew Riddle

From the women to the men, the Kastles kept rolling as Paes and Bobby Reynolds picked up their second win of the season over Knowles and Dusan Vemic.

Three of the four players held with ease, but Knowles, a former world No. 1 in doubles, made only 46 percent of his first serves in the set.

The Kastles nearly broke Knowles in the fourth game, but Paes made an uncharacteristic unforced error on a high volley, allowing the Capitals to hold for 2-2.

"I'm sorry; that was my bad," Paes told his partner on the court.

When Knowles served again down 3-4, Paes wouldn't make the same mistake. At 2-2 in the game, Paes took a sitter volley and nailed Vemic to bring up a set point. When Reynolds hit a dipping pass between both Vemic and Knowles, the Kastles clinched the set 5-3 and the halftime lead 15-10.

Service breaks were few and far between in the first half, but that all changed when the rookie that Kastles fans refer to as "Hot Rod" played King in women's singles.

Looking on from the Kastles bench was Anastasia Rodionova, Arina's older sister and the 21st-ranked doubles player in the world. The younger Rodionova put on a performance her whole family would have been proud of.

She broke King on her first chance, and never looked back. After holding for 2-0, "Hot Rod" hit two scorching down-the-line forehand winners for 3-0, a deep forehand that drew an error for 4-0 and a perfectly placed overhead off her back foot for the 5-0 victory.

Rodionova converted all three of her break points in the 19-minute set, blanking the WTT's second-ranked women's singles player to give Washington an insurmountable 20-10 lead. The Kastles' rookie was rewarded afterward when Paes shined her tennis shoes with a towel, much to the delight of the sold-out crowd on the Southwest Waterfront.

The final event featured Reynolds of Washington and Vemic of Sacramento. With both players serving big from start to finish, the men's singles set seemed destined for a tiebreak.

But Vemic had to work hard to force a tiebreak, saving the last five break points he faced in the set with three service winners, an ace, and a lob volley winner after Reynolds somehow returned a 131 mile-per-hour serve.

In the tiebreak, however, Reynolds pulled away. He opened with a 118 mph ace, and then won an entertaining rally in which he retreated from the net to the baseline before approaching a second time and putting away a crosscourt backhand.

Down 0-2, Vemic served-and-volleyed on his two service points, winning the first before getting passed by another well-timed crosscourt backhand by Reynolds.

Now serving two more times with a 3-1 lead, the 2010 Rookie of the Year closed out the set -- and the comprehensive Kastles victory -- with a 120 mph service winner followed by a 121 mph ace.

After road matches in New York on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Kastles will return to DC to perhaps play for a perfect regular season when they host the Philadelphia Freedoms on Thursday at 7 pm. Tickets cost $15-25, but seats are very limited for what will surely be another sell-out. Get yours today at Ticketmaster.com.

TONIGHT: KASTLES @ New York Sportimes Preview

Washington Kastles (11-0) at New York Sportimes (7-5)

Tuesday, July 18, 2011 at 7:30 pm

Live Scoring:

WashingtonKastles.com

Real-Time Analysis: Facebook, Twitter

Serena Williams returns to the Kastles tonight for the first of two away matches against Martina Hingis and the New York Sportimes. Both matches could feature three events pitting the former world No. 1s against one another.

Serena has won five of six sets that she's played for the Kastles this season, leading Washington to a 25-10 win over Boston on July 7th and a 21-16 win over Sacramento on July 9th.

Though the Kastles have already wrapped up the No. 1 overall seed in the WTT Championship Weekend, they can still make a major impact on the playoff race by sweeping the Sportimes.

The Boston Lobsters are competing with New York for the right to meet the Kastles in the Eastern Conference Championship match Friday at 7 pm in Charleston, South Carolina. Boston trails New York by two matches with only two matches remaining for each team, but there is still a mathematical chance for Boston to qualify if New York loses to Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Follow live scores and stats from Albany starting at 7:30 pm on WashingtonKastles.com, or get instant analysis on the Kastles' Facebook and Twitter pages.

PROJECTED MATCHUPS

Women's Singles: Serena Williams (WAS) vs. Martina Hingis (NYS)

Men's Singles: Bobby Reynolds (WAS) vs. Jesse Witten (NYS)

Women's Doubles: S. Williams/Rennae Stubbs (WAS) vs. Hingis/O'Brien (NYS)

Men's Doubles: Reynolds/Leander Paes (WAS) vs. Witten/Travis Parrott (NYS)

Mixed Doubles: S. Williams/Paes (WAS) vs. Hingis/Parrott (NYS)

SET BY SET

For the first time in nearly 10 years, Serena Williams and Martina Hingis will meet at a professional tennis event. Serena leads Hingis 7-6 in their head-to-head matches on the WTA Tour, defeating the Swiss star 6-4, 6-0 at the 2002 Sony Ericsson Open in their most recent contest. This season, Hingis is the WTT league leader in women's singles play, while Serena defeated CoCo Vandeweghe of Boston 5-4 and Yasmin Schnack of Sacramento 5-0.

Bobby Reynolds and Jesse Witten will meet in the only rematch of the night, having played in the first set of Washington's dramatic 20-19 win over New York on July 12th. Reynolds defeated Witten 5-2 that night. The Kastle's play has only risen since then, highlighted by three straight wins. Witten, on the other hand, has fallen from second to sixth in the WTT men's singles standings since losing to Reynolds.

After losing their first three sets together, Hingis and Katie O'Brien have won four of their last five for the Sportimes, including a 5-4 victory over the Kastles' Rennae Stubbs and Arina Rodionova one week ago. Head Coach Murphy Jensen is likely to pair Stubbs and Serena tonight. In their first two matches this season, Stubbs and Serena defeated the Lobsters 5-2 and the Capitals 5-4.

Washington saved five match points in men's doubles in its first meeting with New York, and that was with volley-whiz John McEnroe playing for the Sportimes. The 28-year-old Witten will step in for McEnroe tonight, which is a major doubles downgrade for the Sportimes. Expect the WTT's second-ranked team of Reynolds and Leander Paes to target the baseliner Witten early and often.

Travis Parrott held his own at the net during last week's men's doubles epic between the Sportimes and Kastles. Tonight he will be called upon for double duty in doubles, teaming with Martina Hingis against Paes and Serena in mixed. Paes is the No. 1 mixed doubles player in the league, but one of his two losses this season came with Serena by his side. Paes and Serena beat Boston 5-1 before falling to Sacramento 5-2.

KEY FOR THE KASTLES - KEEP THE CHEMISTRY

The Kastles and Sportimes have played one memorable match after another in the four-year history of the Washington franchise. With Serena and Hingis on opposite sides of the court, tonight's match in Albany should be no different.

Serena will undeniably pose problems for Hingis, who won her women's singles and doubles sets against the Kastles on July 12th.

But Serena's return comes at a time when Rodionova is playing her best tennis of the season. After winning both her sets against Sacramento on Monday, the Russian is ranked in the WTT's Top 5 in singles and doubles.

With Serena returning for two nights only, a perfect season on the line and the playoffs beginning on Friday, Head Coach Murphy Jensen can't afford for "Hot Rod" to cool down. Don't be shocked to see her play a set or two in New York.

After Kastles Season, Enjoy the Citi Open and Legg Mason Tournaments

Three-time Legg Mason Tennis Classic champion Andy Roddick returns to DC. Citi Open

Professional women's tennis returns to the DC metro area July 23 - 31 at The Tennis Center at College Park with the inaugural 2011 Citi Open. This international level WTA event is one of only three of its kind in the United States, attracting some of the best female tennis players from around the world, including Top 25-ranked Shahar Peer of Israel, 2009 US Open quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin, six-time WTA singles titlist Jelena Dokic, Sania Mirza, Nadia Petrova, and up-and-coming Florida native Sloane Stephens. A variety of special events is planned throughout the tournament, including a Family Day on Saturday, July 23 and USTA Member Appreciation Day on Monday, July 25.

For ticket packages and information, please call (202) 721-9500. For single session tickets, visit www.ticketmaster.com. Please visit www.citiopentennis.com for more information on player announcements, ticket information and special events.

Legg Mason Tennis Classic presented by GEICO

Come out for a thrilling night under the stars at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park from July 30 - August 7 to watch some of the world's best tennis players at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic presented by GEICO!

An integral part of sports and entertainment in Washington, DC, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic returns to the nation's capital for its 43rd consecutive year. This year's tournament will feature three of the World's Top 10 players: Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish and Gael Monfils, in addition to other world-class tennis stars such as Fernando Verdasco, Jurgen Melzer, Marcos Baghdatis, John Isner, Fernando Gonzalez, Nikolay Davydenko, David Nalbandian and James Blake.

Special events include National Parks Recreation Family Day, Military Appreciation Day, Corona Alumni Night at the Net presented by Lexus, Chef Challenge - Experience the Flavor of Puerto Rico hosted by Rums of Puerto Rico and Robert Mondavi Wine Tasting presented by Lexus!

For ticket packages and information, please call (202) 721-9500. For single session tickets, visit www.ticketmaster.com. Please visit www.leggmasontennisclassic.com for more information on player announcements, ticket information and special events!

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