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WTT Washington Kastles

Kastles' Season Ends in Boston as Team Loses to Lobsters, 24-15

July 23, 2010 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


The Washington Kastles' effort to repeat as World TeamTennis Champions fell short last night, as they dropped a 24-15 decision in overtime to the Boston Lobsters in the final match of the regular season.

Entering the match needing a win to clinch a playoff berth, the Kastles fought hard early but were outplayed in the next three sets and fell to the Lobsters for the second time this season. The final tally was 4-5 (4-5), 5-3, 5-0, 5-1, 4-5 (4-5), OT 1-1 as the Lobsters tied the Kastles for second place in the Eastern Conference at 8-6 but earned a place in the Eastern Conference Championship game tonight against the New York Sportimes by virtue of winning the head-to-head series 2-0.

Things looked promising early for the Kastles, as midseason acquisition Vika Azarenka and top doubles specialist Leander Paes took on Raquel Kops-Jones and Eric Butorac. Facing a big 3-all point at 0-1 in the set, Paes hit a service winner to tie the score, turning to his teammates on the bench with fire in his eyes. The teams exchanged holds of serve until 2-3, when Paes' serve let him down, as he double faulted to give the Lobsters a 4-2 edge. But the Kastles broke back Kops-Jones in the next game, cutting the deficit to 3-4 on a great volley winner by Paes and then held Azarenka's serve to force a tiebreaker.

To start the tiebreaker, both teams stayed on serve to get to 2-2 when Paes gave the Kastles a minibreak by converting a screaming down-the-line return past Butorac. On the decisive 4-4 winner-take-all point, the Kastles won the set after Kops-Jones tried to tee off on an Azarenka's second serve but drove the return into the middle of the net.

Angie Haynes and Rennae Stubbs took the 5-4 match lead into their set against Raquel Kops-Jones and Cooo Vandeweghe. The Lobsters jumped out to an early 2-0 lead by winning the first eight points, but the Kastles got one back with a great serving game by Stubbs. The Kastles had a chance to even the set with a break point after Haynes converted a volley winner, but the Lobsters served well to win the next two points and go up 3-1 in the set. The rest of the set was characterized by strong serving, as each team held until the Lobsters won the set 5-3 on an ace by Vandeweghe.

At that point, the Lobsters led 10-9 and it was up to Paes and Bobby Reynolds to get the lead and momentum back against Butorac and Jan-Michael Gambill. The Kastles nearly broke serve in the first game behind crisp volleying by Paes, but the Lobsters won a crucial 3-all point to win the game. The Lobsters rode the momentum of saving that first service game to immediately and easily break Paes' serve to lead 2-0 and then hold Gambill's serve to 3-0. With the Lobsters leading the match 12-8, Reynolds aimed to hold serve and keep the Kastles in the match. Leading 3-2 in the game, Reynolds double faulted twice, giving the Lobsters a massive 4-0 lead. The Lobsters then held serve to win the set 5-0 and take a commanding 14-8 lead with just two sets remaining.

Knowing that they had rebounded from a six-game deficit against the Aces on Wednesday night, the Kastles were aware that a comeback was possible as Azarenka took on Vandeweghe. On paper, the set was a mismatch as Azarenka is a top 10 player and the young and up-and-coming Vandeweghe's highest world ranking is 200. For Azarenka, it was also a chance to seek revenge for a 5-1 singles loss to Vandeweghe in Washington on Sunday. But once again, Vandeweghe proved to be the more consistent player, as she gained a lot of confidence from a service break in the first game and continued to hit aggressively from the baseline to force Azarenka into a series of unforced errors. Vandeweghe won the set 5-1 to give the Lobsters a seemingly insurmountable 19-9 overall lead heading into the fifth and final set.

Reynolds, who has had an outstanding rookie season, has been one of the best singles players in the WTT this year. He held the Kastles' fate in his hands as he tried to dig out of a massive hole against Gambill. Things looked daunting, but there was a glimmer of hope in knowing that under WTT rules, the match would not be over until the leading team won the final game.

Playing the last set of both teams' last regular season match, the two men played inspired tennis trading huge ground strokes and displaying spectacular shot making that brought the crowd to its feet on several occasions. Reynolds eventually broke Gambill's serve to take a 3-2 lead, but Gambill broke right back and then held to go up 4-3. Facing elimination, Reynolds held to tie the set a 4-4 and force a tiebreaker. Under WTT rules, a win by Reynolds in the tiebreaker would force overtime, allowing the Kastles to stay in the match as long as they did not allow the Lobsters to win another game. Reynolds went on to win the tiebreaker 5-4 as Gambill appeared to get tight.

Despite the last set win, Reynolds would now need to win nine straight games in overtime just to tie the match and set up a winner-take-all supertiebreaker. As his bench got excited by his momentum and superb play, Reynolds smiled as he turned to his teammates saying, "I still have a long way to go!"

Reynolds won the first game in overtime and jumped to a quick lead on Gambill's serve as the pressure of closing out the season was visibly getting to the Lobsters' star. On a key point at 1-1 in the second game, the foes pulled out every shot in their arsenals trading sharp angles in a point won by Gambill on a forehand that barely caught the line. He seemed to regain his confidence and held his serve to end the match at 24-15 and eliminating the Kastles from the playoffs, and their chances of repeating as WTT Champions.

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