WTT Washington Kastles

Kastles Honored at Us Open

August 31, 2011 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


The Kastles were honored last night for their perfect championship season at the US Open on Arthur Ashe Stadium Court. The ceremony included a video tribute played on the stadium scoreboard and an on-court presentation of the trophy by Billie Jean King and WTT Commissioner Ilana Kloss. Kastles teammate Serena Williams played the match immediately following the presentation and joined the team in the hallway after the ceremony. Accepting the trophy for the Kastles was owner Mark Ein, Coach Murphy Jensen, Co-Captains Rennae Stubbs and Leander Paes, Bobby Reynolds and Arina Rodionova. The Kastles are the only World TeamTennis championship team that has been recognized twice in an on-court ceremony at the US Open, once before in 2009. The ceremony capped off a summer to remember for all Kastles fans!

"The 2011 season was filled with so amny indelible memories and having out franchise and players honored at night at the US Open on Arthur Ashe Stadium Court adds another incredible one to the books," said Kastles owner Mark Ein. "The team has been in constant touch since the season ended and having the chance to reunite with everyone in person makes it that much sweeter."

Day Two Complete: Serena Williams and Leander Peas Advance to the Second Round

Day two at the Open was filled with the kind of drama and world-class tennis that Kastles' fans became accustomed to during the team's never-a-dull moment perfect season. Kastles stalwart Bobby Reynolds very nearly upset David Nalbandian, the former world #3, in a spirited match that was played late in the afternoon in a festive, Davis-Cup-like atmosphere on court 17, Flushing Meadows' newest show court.

Reynolds capitalized on an early break opportunity in the first set and used his powerful serve to win the first set, 6-4 in thirty-five minutes. Nalbandian stepped up his game in the second set, breaking Reynolds at 3-2, and pounding forehands and serves to stave off Reynolds' many break opportunities at 1-1, 4-2, and 5-3, to capture the set 6-3.

With the match tied at one set all, the fans began dueling chants, with Latin fans singing, "OLE, OLE,OLE, DAH-VIHD," and Americans countering with chants of "BOBBY REH-NOLDS!" The match was dead even until Nalbandian broke the former Vanderbilt star at 3-3. Reynolds had three break point opportunities as Nalbandian served for the set at 5-4, but couldn't convert any of them, as the Argentine closed out the 3rd set, 6-4.

Nalbandian broke Reynolds to start the 4th, and given the fact that Reynolds hasn't played a match of more than 3 sets in several years, it would have been easy for him to throw up the white flag. But Reynolds dug deep and fought on, valiantly, challenging Nalbandian in several of his service games before finally succumbing after three hours, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. The match came down to just a few key points- Reynolds had 11 break points but converted just one of them, while Nalbandian won four of 13 break points.

Despite the loss, Reynolds will leave the Open singles draw with his head held high after a riveting performance that demonstrated not only his strong game but also his big heart.He now looks forward to the doubles where he is partnering with Travis Parrott who was on the court, as an opponent with the New York Sportimes, when Bobby served and saved all 6 of the match points the team faced during its undefeated season.

While Reynolds was battling Nalbandian on court 17, over on court 4, Kastles' doubles wizard, Leander Paes and his partner Mahesh Bhupathi beat Alexander Dolgopolov, and his partner, Albert Ramos, 7-6, (10-8), 6-4 in a tough first round encounter. In a match dominated by big serving, there were only four break points in the entire match, two for each team, and Paes and Bhupathi captured the only one they'd need in the second set to win the match.

Paes and Bhupathi will face the winner of Thursday's Gael Monfils/Marc Gicquel- Florian Mayer/Rogier Wassen match. Monfils is obviously a hugely talented singles player, but Leander is one of the world's best doubles players. Prior to the tournament, John McEnroe told reporters that Paes was "always a showman and fun to watch," and the Tennis Channel's Justin Gimelstob said that Paes "made the ball dance." With 23 major doubles and mixed titles under their belt already, Paes and Bhupathi are poised to go deep into the tournament draw this year.

Kastles' star Serena Williams promised to appear at Tuesday's night sessions "dripping with diamonds," and she did just that, taking the court after the ceremony with her game face on at 10.30, looking resplendent in a shimmery blue tennis outfit and stunning diamond earrings. Serena barely broke a sweat, handing the 19-year-old Serb a pair of 6-1 "breadsticks" in a dominating performance that took just 55 minutes. Williams was firing on all cylinders and showed no ill effects of the toe injury that forced her to withdraw from the Western & Southern Open two weeks ago.

Serena is an incredible 44-0 in first round matches at the majors, and has never lost to a player outside the top 10 or before the third round at the Open. And she wasn't about to let the young Serb change any of those daunting statistics on Tuesday night.

After the match, Serena told Pam Shriver that as recently as February she "wasn't even thinking about playing tennis, so every match out here is such an honor." She said she was a little nervous early on in the match and played "tight." When asked to grade her play, she said, "maybe a b, I think I could have played better. I was kind of just out there, but my opponent was really good."

If that was Serena playing "tight," "b-tennis" the rest of the field should be very scared. In the second round she'll face Michaella Krajicek, a 22-year-old from the Netherlands who is the half-sister of former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek. Despite the pedigree, Krajicek is likely to provide little more than token resistance for a resurgent Serena.

Day 3 at the Open will feature more Kastles' players and some intriguing matchups. Venus Williams will take on the #22 seed Sabine Sabine Lisicki in the 3rd afternoon match on Arthur Ashe; Leander Paes will team up with mixed doubles partner Elena Vesnina against Jamie Murray, Andy's brother, and Nadia Petrova in the final match of the afternoon on court 10; and Rennae Stubbs will team up with doubles partner Casey Dellacqua against Sorana Cirstea and Ayumi Morita.

Sign Up For 2012 Washington Kastles Season Tickets Today!

Thank you for your incredible support all season long. 2011 presented a season that none of us will ever forget.

We want to provide our season ticket holders with an exclusive offer only good through September 23rd. Renew or purchase 2012 season tickets today to lock in 2011 prices! Be sure to secure your seat in Kastles Stadium at the Wharf for the 2012 season today! Call Brittany Vanderpool at 202-654-7026 to reserve your seats!

Every season, the Washington Kastles have sold out all of the premier boxes and dream seat dinner tables and there was only one of the newly added owner's club dinner tables not spoken for. We make all newly available seats accessible to patrons on a first come, first serve basis, so be sure to join our waiting list today! Coming off another Championship season and the first undefeated season in league history, Kastles tickets are sure to be the hottest ticket of the summer in 2012, so secure your seat in Kastles Stadium today.



World TeamTennis Stories from August 31, 2011


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