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WTT New York Empire

New York Empire Drops Close Contest to the San Diego Aviators, 23-18

July 20, 2018 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
New York Empire News Release


NEW YORK - The New York Empire presented by Citi fell to the visiting San Diego Aviators, 23-18, in a tight match where no set was decided by more than two games at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Friday.

In women's singles action, the Empire's Tatjana Maria took care of the Aviator's Naomi Broady, 5-3, after a combination of the Empire's Dennis Novikov and Neal Skupski dropped the opening men's singles set to Marcus Willis, 5-3. Maria used her impressive serve and accurate groundstrokes to overcome the early deficit and leave the two teams deadlocked after two sets of play.

In an action-packed third set, the Empire's men's doubles team of Novikov and Skupski rebounded nicely after a difficult opening set but were narrowly edged by the Aviators team of Willis and Marcin Matkowski, 5-3. The Empire's Maria was joined by Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez to face San Diego's Broady and Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the women's doubles fourth set. After falling behind 3-1, Maria and Martinez Sanchez fought back valiantly to even the set at 3-3 but ran out of steam and dropped the final two games.

Facing a 18-14 deficit heading into the final set of mixed doubles, Skupski and Martinez Sanchez were unable to overturn the four-game deficit despite some inspired play. The Aviators pair of Matkowski and Groenefeld took the set 5-4 and the Aviators won the match 23-18. The Empire drop to 0-5 on the season while the Aviators improve to 3-2.

San Diego Aviators at New York Empire Box Score

MS WS MD WD MXD Total

San Diego Aviators 5 3 5 5 5 23

New York Empire 3 5 3 3 4 18

Men's Singles: Marcus Willis (SAN) def. Dennis Novikov/Neal Skupski (NYE), 5-3

Women's Singles: Tatjana Maria (NYE) def. Naomi Broady (SAN), 5-3

Men's Doubles: Willis/Marcin Matkowski (SAN) def. Novikov/Skupski (NYE), 5-3

Women's Doubles: Broad/Anna-Lena Groenefeld (SAN) def. Maria/Martinez Sanchez (NYE), 5-3

Mixed Doubles: Matkowski/Groenefeld (SAN) def. Skupski/Martinez Sanchez (NYE), 5-4

The New York Empire travel to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, July 21 to face the Kastles for the third time this season and return home to Court 17 on Monday, July 23 at 7:00 p.m. to host the Kastles for their fourth and final matchup of the season.

Group tickets and various hospitality packages are available by calling the New York Empire office at 844-5-EMPIRE (844-536-7473) or by visiting www.nyempiretennis.com .

New York Empire tickets can be purchased by visiting Ticketmaster or by calling the New York Empire office at 844-5-EMPIRE (844-536-7473). The 2018 WTT regular season will take place from July 15 - August 2 with the No. 1-seeded team hosting the championship match for the King Trophy on August 5.

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