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WTT Washington Kastles

Kastles Fight Back from Three Sets Down to Beat Aviators, 21-19

July 16, 2020 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


Bernarda Pera of the Washington Kastles
Bernarda Pera of the Washington Kastles
(Washington Kastles, Credit: World TeamTennis)

The Washington Kastles showed why they've won more WTT titles than any other team in the league Wednesday night!

After dropping three-straight sets to open their second match of the season, the six-time WTT champs roared back to defeat the 2016 champion San Diego Aviators, 21-19, to start 2020 undefeated and rise to #1 in the league standings.

San Diego came out strong. Aviators captain and 2016 WTT MVP Ryan Harrison staved off current world #57 Tommy Paul, who was on fire in his Kastles debut at The Greenbrier, in the first set of men's singles. Paul broke Harrison early, then held confidently to give Washington a 4-2 lead.

But Harrison fought back, holding off a critical breakpoint in his next service game and two set points on Paul's serve in the following game, besting the new Kastle with superior counter-punching in the crucial moments. From there, Harrison surged, closing out Paul in the opening tiebreak, 5-4(2).

Women's doubles followed, where a powerful performance from Grand Slam doubles champions and former Kastle Nicole Melichar and CoCo Vandeweghe against new Kastle and world #60 Bernarda Pera and Kastles Hall of Famer Arina Rodionova enabled the Aviators to consolidate the lead.

Rodionova and Pera put up a good fight. After an early break, the pair saved a valuable deciding set point at 2-4 to shrink the Aviators' overall lead, but Melichar and Vandeweghe secured the second set, 5-3, to push the Aviators ahead 10-7.

Then again in the third, Harrison and doubles world #54 and Delray Beach semifinalist Jonny O'Mara erased an early, 2-0, lead from 2020 Australian Open doubles quarterfinalist Marcelo Arevalo and former All-American at Chapel Hill Nick Monroe, who clinched the Kastles' first victory of the season on Monday against the New York Empire.

The Aviators held and broke back in the fourth game on a high-pressure, deciding point, after Washington saved three breakpoints. Sharp serving and volleying led the set to be contested in a tiebreak that saw Harrison and O'Mara close out the Kastles without losing a point, 5-4(0), to hand San Diego a 15-11 lead at half-time.

The momentum shifted when Pera took the court in the fourth set against former Kastle and former world singles #24 Christina McHale in women's singles.

Both players stayed on serve through the first seven games, but with McHale serving to stay in the set at 3-4, the Croatian southpaw converted on breakpoint when McHale's cross-court backhand landed long to gift Pera the set, 5-3, and cut the Aviators' lead to 18-16 heading into the final set of the match - mixed doubles.

The Aviators' hopes for victory rested on O'Mara and Melichar, who went up against Arevalo and Rodionova. The highly-motivated and focused Washington duo broke O'Mara in the first game. Arevalo then followed with a routine hold to level the overall match score at 18-18. Melichar held in the next game to tug back the lead, but Rodionova held to consolidate the break and tie the match again at 19-19.

New Kastle Tommy Paul yielded to Ryan Harrison in his debut match at The Greenbrier. (World TeamTennis)

With the Aviators trying desperately to stem the tide, the Kastles had all the momentum on their side. Arevalo blasted a down-the-line, backhand winner to break O'Mara for the second time and take a commanding 4-1 advantage in the final set. The key service break gave the Kastles their first lead of the match at 20-19.

Arevalo then served out the set at love to complete an impressive 21-19 comeback victory for the Kastles.

"We really support each other and that really helped today," said Rodionova after the comeback win. "We're just getting better and better every day."

Next up, the Kastles face the two-time defending WTT champion Springfield Lasers today. The Lasers, who are on a quest for a three-peat, remain winless in 2020, after their loss to the Freedoms on Tuesday.

Watch LIVE on ESPN today at 3 p.m. EST!




Images from this story

Washington Kastles Marcelo Arevalo (center) and Arina Rodionova put the finishing touch on the San Diego Aviators
Washington Kastles Marcelo Arevalo (center) and Arina Rodionova put the finishing touch on the San Diego Aviators
(World TeamTennis)		 New Washington Kastle Tommy Paul
New Washington Kastle Tommy Paul
(World TeamTennis)		 Bernarda Pera of the Washington Kastles
Bernarda Pera of the Washington Kastles
(World TeamTennis)



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