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San Diego Aviators

Springfield Edges Aviators, 21-19

August 2, 2019 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
San Diego Aviators News Release


LAS VEGAS - Springfield's super subs saved the day for the reigning World TeamTennis champion and earned the Lasers an opportunity to retain WTT's King Trophy in Saturday's WTT Final after a tense and dramatic 21-19 victory over the San Diego Aviators in the league's first semifinal at Orleans Arena on Friday.

Springfield will play for a WTT title repeat against the Philadelphia Freedoms or New York Empire - Friday's second semifinal which began at 7 p.m. local (PT) time.

"For Springfield, it's amazing," said Abigail Spears, the only member of the current Lasers team who played on last year's title team. "We have really loyal supporters and they follow us. It's really special to play there."

Leading 16-15 entering the match's fifth and final set, Springfield's Olga Govortsova fended off a match point while down 3-4 (with the overall match tied, 19-19) in women's singles to San Diego's Arina Rodionova, broke her serve at deuce point (no-ad scoring in World TeamTennis) to send the set into a nine-point tiebreaker. Govortsova would eventually win the tiebreake, 5-3, when Rodionova mishit a forehand long. The set began with five consecutive service breaks.

"It was crazy. At 4-2 down, I said 'I need to relax.' I was just, like, 'fight, fight, fight,' and when I realized the match was over and I won, it was a great relief," Govortsova said.

Added San Diego coach John Lloyd, whose team carried a five-match win streak into the WTT Playoffs: "We had the in-form team coming in and we had a match point. What else can you say? It was a great match. We didn't play as well in the big points early on. (Arina's) devastated but to see someone fight like that ... She gave 110-percent. The first thing you think about is making the playoffs. We did that, and then you want to go on and win it all."

Three of the four players taking the court for the Lasers (10-5) joined the team in the last week and did not play in either of the two regular season meetings with San Diego (9-6). Govortsova and Robert Lindstedt made their season debuts for the Lasers on July 28 and played in the team's final four regular season matches.

Las Vegas native Evan Song joined the team about 24 hours prior to the semifinal after Springfield learned Enrique Lopez Perez, its regular singles specialist who led WTT in men's singles games won this season, sustained a hand injury on Thursday and would miss the WTT Playoffs.

Lindstedt teamed with Song to win the match's opening men's doubles set, 5-3, over the Aviators' James Ward and Jonny O'Mara. After San Diego's women's doubles duo of Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Rodionova evened the match with a 5-3 win over the Lasers' Spears and Govortsova, the Lasers responded with a pivotal 5-2 third-set victory in mixed doubles through Robert Lindstedt, a 2014 Australian Open champion and three-time Wimbledon finalist (2010-12) in men's doubles, and Spears, a 2017 Australian Open champion and 2013 and 2014 U.S. Open finalist in mixed doubles.

The fourth set of men's singles featured a pair of WTT rookies in San Diego's James Ward and Springfield's Song. The singles set remained on serve until the eighth game, when Ward broke Song with a forehand winner down the line to win the set, 5-3, and pull the trailing Aviators within 16-15 entering the decisive, final set.

Ward is 4-0 in men's singles and 2-2 (with Jonny O'Mara) in men's doubles in four matches with the Aviators and was named WTT's Male Rookie of the Year on Saturday. The Aviators acquired Ward from the Orange County Breakers on July 28.

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