WTT Orange County Breakers

Newport Rally Past Sacramento 20-18

July 7, 2010 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Orange County Breakers News Release


The Newport Beach Breakers sent their fans into seventh heaven in their home opener and improved to 2-0 in the 2010 World TeamTennis (WTT) Pro League presented by GEICO as Lester Cook won the match's final set in men's singles to complete a 20-18 comeback victory over their chief rival, the Sacramento Capitals, at The Tennis Club Newport Beach.

The win was the Breakers' seventh consecutive over Sacramento (0-2), dating back to 2008, and came as Orange County resident and American tennis great Michael Chang watched from the grandstands.

"We have played really well over the first two nights," said fourth-year Breakers coach Trevor Kronemann, whose squad opened the WTT season Monday with a 24-16 victory at Sacramento. "We've got the upper hand for the moment. Sacramento's had great success and this is where you want to be right now. We're 2-0 and there's great team camaraderie already happening."

That the Breakers have Sacramento's number is all the more impressive considering the Capitals are WTT's winningest franchise with six King Trophies and have made the WTT playoffs in 18 of their 25 seasons, including a streak of seven consecutive playoff years that was broken last year. Sacramento finished 6-8 last year - only the team's second losing season in WTT history - with the Breakers handing the Capitals half of those defeats after sweeping the teams' four-match series in 2009.

Trailing 16-15 heading into the final set, Breakers newcomer and Marina del Rey resident Lester Cook captured a service break on Dusan Vemic's double fault at deuce (WTT plays no-ad scoring) and served out the match for a 5-2 win in the decisive men's singles set. Cook played to the crowd in each game, fed off of their energy and brought the fans to their feet as he fist pumped with both arms and raised them to the fans upon closing out the match.

"I like being an entertainer. Sometimes it's my downfall," Cook joked. "I knew I needed to win the set. This is why we play, for this moment. This is like our buzzer-beater in basketball. I like this team."

Added Kronemann: "Lester, he's been nice and relaxed. He's very fluid and he doesn't appear to be bothered by the pressure."

The Breakers stacked up their doubles teams to play the first three sets and led 12-11 with only the women's and men's singles sets left to play. For the second consecutive night, Julie Ditty and Marie-Eve Pelletier beat Sacramento's Riza Zalameda and Vania King 5-1 in women's doubles.

King, a Long Beach resident and the 2009 WTT Female MVP while playing for Springfield, missed the teams' season-opening matchup on Monday at Sacramento. She was flying back from London following her women's doubles championship at Wimbledon on Saturday. Yet, she wasn't too jet-lagged to give Sacramento a 16-15 lead heading into the final set after downing Ditty 5-3 in women's singles.



World TeamTennis Stories from July 7, 2010


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