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WTT Washington Kastles

Kastles Inaugural Home Opener

July 9, 2008 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


The inaugural home opener of Washington Kastles tennis was a star studded event as Serena Williams helped kick off the team's first match in the District of Columbia. Billy Jean King and Mayor Adrian Fenty helped owner Mark Ein kicked off the festivities at Kastles Stadium at CityCenterDC to a resounding cheer. Williams made her debut fresh off winning the doubles title at Wimbledon and being a singles finalist.Serena

On the court, the Kastles struggled against their opponents, the Boston Lobsters, in the early sets but Serena Williams nearly led the team to a comeback winning five-straight games in the fifth set and overtime. However, Marie-Eve Pelletier was able to hold serve in the third game of overtime giving the Lobsters a 22-19 victory.

The Kastles entered the fifth set trailing 19-12, and with the game tied at 2-2, Serena went on a roll. With blistering serves, forehand and backhand winners, she won three straight games over Pelletier, winning the set 5-2 and forcing Overtime. In OT, Serena won the first game 4-2 for her fourth straight game-won. In game two of OT, she won all four points to bring the score to 21-19. But in the third game of OT, Pelletier was able hit several winners and close out the match.

In the first set, Justin Gimelstob and Scott Oudsema struggled against the pairing of Amir Hadad and Jan-Michael Gambill. The Kastles were able to break through in the fifth game when Oudsema held serve with a perfect 4-0 game. The Lobsters eventually took the set 5-1.

Serena joined Justin on the court during the second set for mixed doubles. The paring battled against Racquel Kops-Jones and Hadad but were unable to find any momentum. The Lobsters would take the set 5-2.

In his Kastles singles debut, Justin Gimelstob built a 4-1 lead over Jan-Michael Gambill during the third set. However, Gambill was able to recover and eventually forcing a tiebreaker. Gimelstob battled Gambill but was ended up losing the tiebreaker.

In the fourth set Mashona Washington and Williams were able to down Kops-Jones and Pelletier in a dramatic 4-4 tiebreaker. With the games tied at four, the Kastles and Lobsters played a five-set tiebreaker to decide the set. Tied at four apiece in the tiebreak, Mashona Washington hit a stunning cross court shot which could not be returned for the tiebreak win.

All night, the action kept fans on the edge of their seats and everyone left the stadium expressing how much fun they had. While not a victory on the court, the night was a huge success and Kastle's fans are fired up for six more great home matches of WTT action.

The Kastles will be on the road Wednesday and Thursday when they travel to NY to face both the Sportimes and the Buzz. The team returns home on Friday when they will face the NY Buzz at 7 PM. The squad will be joined US Olympian and former US Open semi-finalist Robby Ginepri who will be substituting for Justin Gimelestob for the match.



World TeamTennis Stories from July 9, 2008


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