WTT Washington Kastles

Kastles Wimbledon Preview; Win Prizes with Each Kastle Victory

Published on June 22, 2012 under World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


Five of the six Washington Kastles return to the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world next week.

It is an understatement to say that the grass courts of Wimbledon have been kind to the Kastles over the years. Members of the 2012 team have combined to win 22 titles in 30 finals at the All England Club!

This year, former champions Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Leander Paes will be joined on the lawns of London by 2003 mixed doubles finalist Anastasia Rodionova and Kastles' closer Bobby Reynolds .

For the Williams sisters, Wimbledon presents an opportunity for redemption. From 2000 to 2010, one or both of the Kastles' veterans competed in 10 of 11 Wimbledon singles finals.

Accustomed to competing on the second Saturday of the fortnight, Venus and Serena were each upset in straight sets five days prior to the 2011 final.

Those losses should serve to motivate the Williams sisters, who are also entered in the women's doubles draw. Venus and Serena are 32-2 lifetime in doubles at Wimbledon, winning titles in 2000, 2002, 2008 and 2009.

They will also be keen for confidence going into the London Olympics. The Olympic tennis event begins 20 days following Wimbledon on the same grass courts of the All England Club.

In between, Venus (July 16) and Serena (July 22) will play for the Kastles in front of capacity crowds on the Southwest Waterfront. Very few tickets to those matches remain, and each of Venus and Serena's previous Kastles' appearances have sold out. Get your tickets today at Ticketmaster.com.

The Williams sisters' Kastles' mixed doubles partner Paes will also be eager to get back on track at Wimbledon.

Scheduling differences with his Australian Open championship teammate Radek Stepanek forced Paes to play with three different partners at his last three tournaments. The Indian and Czech, who won 15 of their first 17 matches in 2012, will reunite in London for their second major as a team.

Kastle Leander Paes won his fourth Wimbledon title in 2010, capturing the mixed doubles championship with Cara Black.

No. 4 seeds Paes and Stepanek could meet seventh-seeded Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Bhupathi and Bopanni both refused to partner Paes at the upcoming Olympics in an effort to gain entry as a team.

Paes will be joined in the Wimbledon men's doubles draw by his Kastles' teammate Reynolds, who gained entry by winning a pair of qualifying matches with Old Dominion alum Izak van der Merwe.

"What's more nerve racking....sudden death point for the match as a @WashKastles or trying to close out final rd qualie match @Wimbledon - Reynolds tweeted Wednesday after he and van der Merwe defeated Colin Ebelthite and John Peers 7-6, 3-6, 11-9.

The Kastles' closer is 4-4 lifetime in the men's doubles main draw at Wimbledon, with three losses to the eventual champions and the other to the eventual runners-up. This time around, Reynolds is in a quarter of the draw with no former finalists. He and van der Merwe open against Flavio Cipolla and Fabio Fognini of Italy.

Reynolds, a two-time All-American at Vanderbilt, and van der Merwe, a three-time All-American with the Monarchs, are very familiar with one another. Though Wimbledon marks their first tournament as a duo, they played college tennis concurrently in 2002 and 2003 and have since met three times in singles and 11 times in doubles on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Rounding out Washington's presence at Wimbledon is new Kastle Anastasia Rodionova, who will be playing World No. 1 Maria Sharapova in the singles first round before partnering Andreja Klepac in women's doubles.

If it weren't for her fellow Kastle Paes, Rodionova may have a Wimbledon title of her own. She and Andy Ram fell to Paes and Martina Navratilova in the 2003 Wimbledon mixed doubles final.

Of the Kastles' eight losses in 30 Wimbledon finals, five have come at the hands of other Kastles. Serena Williams defeated sister Venus in three championship matches, and Venus defeated Serena in another.

The only Kastle not at Wimbledon is Arina Rodionova, but 'Hot Rod' has good news nevertheless. The 2011 WTT Finals MVP is recovered from her left wrist injury and will be playing at a $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Denver beginning July 2nd, one week before the Kastles' season opener at Orange County.

KASTLES' RECORDS IN WIMBLEDON FINALS

WS WD XD MD TOTAL

Venus Williams 5-3 4-0 0-1 --- 9-4

Serena Williams 4-2 4-0 1-0 --- 9-2

Leander Paes --- --- 3-1 1-0 4-1

Anastasia Rodionova --- --- 0-1 --- 0-1

TOTAL 9-5 8-0 4-3 1-0 22-8

Key

WS: Women's Singles

WD: Women's Doubles

XD: Mixed Doubles

MD: Men's Doubles

Win T-Shirts and Tickets By Retweeting the Kastles!

This shirt could be yours when you retweet the Kastles!

As you read above, the Washington Kastles will be well represented at Wimbledon. And we're giving you even more reasons to root for the two-time World TeamTennis champions throughout the fortnight!

Every time a Kastles' player wins a singles, doubles or mixed doubles match at Wimbledon, we'll give away an I LOVE DC Tennis Ball T-shirt to one of our Twitter followers!

Then, if a Kastles' player wins a title at Wimbledon, we'll up the ante with two tickets and VIP access to the July 12 Kastles' home opener against the New York Sportimes!

Here's how to win:

1.) Follow the Kastles on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/WashKastles.

2.) Visit the Kastles' Twitter page immediately after each Kastle victory at Wimbledon.

3.) Retweet the Kastles' post that details the win. Here's a sample:

Washington @Wimbledon Win! @VenusesWilliams def. @EVesnina001 6-3, 6-3. Retweet for chance to win Kastles shirt! Winner announced in 24 hrs.

4.) Return to the Kastles' Twitter page 24 hours after each Kastle victory to find out who won the shirt.

5.) If you're one of the lucky winners, wear your I LOVE DC Tennis Ball T-shirt to a Kastles' match this July. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com.

Each time a Kastles' player wins at Wimbledon, take to Twitter and retweet us!

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



World TeamTennis Stories from June 22, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central