WTT Washington Kastles

King of the Kastles

Published on June 8, 2013 under World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


As new Kastle Martina Hingis was being interviewed at the Sony Open in Miami, a longtime rival sprinted her way, screaming her name, and showing no regard for the rolling camera. An awkward tension would have surely followed were the intruder almost anyone in the world.

But Hingis smiled from ear to ear at the first sight of Murphy Jensen .

"Coach Murphy," she exclaimed before hugging her new coach. "I can't wait for your great tips!"

Hingis' reaction was anything but surprising. Jensen has been bringing joy to his job since becoming the Kastles coach in 2009.

Seventeen different players have represented the Kastles during Jensen's tenure, but the results have stayed the same. Breeding a culture of teamwork and togetherness, Jensen has led Washington to three of the last four World TeamTennis championships and a historic 32-match winning streak.

Jensen's impact goes far beyond the Kastles bench. In 2013 alone, he's led tennis clinics at more than 20 clubs throughout the Mid-Atlantic, sharing his love of the game with over 500 local players of all ages and skill levels.

By reaching out to the DC community before the season, Jensen builds the buzz that brings the city together each July at Kastles Stadium at The Wharf.

"There's nothing not to love about Washington, DC, and the Kastles fans," said Jensen. "They support the Kastles team better than any other World TeamTennis franchise. It helps to win, but the atmosphere is created by those fans and the players feed off of that."

Though he's quick to credit the crowd, Jensen's part is pivotal in generating energy among Kastles players and fans.

As an ATP pro, the 6-foot-4 lefty teamed with his ambidextrous brother Luke Jensen to form one of the brashest doubles teams in history.

Long-haired Luke and bald-headed Murphy played "rock-and-roll tennis," as they called it. Never afraid to interact with fans in the middle of a match, their stage presence at times overshadowed their court presence.

The Jensens partied especially hard at the 1993 French Open, when they entered Paris as unseeded rebels and exited as Grand Slam champions.

The passion with which they played has allowed Luke and Murphy to make their marks as coaches. Luke just finished his fifth straight winning season at the helm of the Syracuse University women's tennis team, highlighted by a 20-3 mark in 2010.

As for Murphy, the two-time WTT Coach of the Year has the Kastles one win from matching the longest winning streak in major U.S. pro sports history.

"It's unbelievable that the Washington Kastles are in the position that they are in," said Jensen. "To be in the conversation on ESPN SportsCenter, where people are comparing us to sports like the NBA and the Lakers of '71-'72 -- it's hard to believe."

Hingis is the lone newcomer on Jensen's 2013 Kastles squad, joining Leander Paes (5th season), Bobby Reynolds (4th), Venus Williams (4th) and Anastasia Rodionova (2nd).

When asked how the Kastles have kept their core roster together, Jensen says that his players don't want to play for another franchise.

But the truth is that they don't want to play for another coach.

Jensen stands by his players through good shots and bad. Over the course of the Kastles' 32-match winning streak, he has not made a single in-match substitution.

By comparison, Hingis was replaced twice while playing for the Sportimes in 2012, a season in which she earned WTT Female MVP honors.

"I tell the guys every day: 'If we play for one another, leave it all out there and don't beat ourselves, we'll be successful,' said Jensen. "They might beat one of us, they might beat two of us, but to beat all five of us -- to win all five events and get enough games to take us down -- that's a tough task."

Jensen says that he and his players share a trust with one another on and off the tennis court. For three weeks each summer, they become a family.

That means 'Kastles Karaoke' sing-alongs on rides to the stadium, dinners as a team after every match and overcoming unexpected adversity.

On a ride around town in 2011, Jensen and Paes ran out of gas near the National Mall only hours before a home match. Somehow, they made it to the Southwest Waterfront in time for -- what else -- a Kastles victory.

"One day, we're not going to be playing this game," said Jensen. "We'll be 100 years old, but I'll be able to call Leander Paes and rehash some of these experiences. That's what it's all about."

When he's not coaching the Kastles, Jensen is Director of Tennis at the five-star Sea Island resort, home of the Murphy Jensen Tennis Academy.

He was a national champion as a junior player, an All-American in college and a Grand Slam winner as a pro. After competing on six continents, Jensen continued criss-crossing the globe as a TV show host for Tennis Channel.

He even played and acted in Wimbledon -- taking on the role of Ivan Dragomir in the 2004 film starring Kirsten Dunst.

From Hong Kong to Hollywood, rock-and-roll tennis to the silver screen, there is one item on Jensen's unique tennis resume that he refuses to take off.

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