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Vegas Rollers

Vegas Rollers Stay Alive in WTT Playoff Hunt, Defeat Orlando Storm

July 31, 2019 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Vegas Rollers News Release


It was opening night in Orlando, where he squandered two match points and dropped a Supertiebreak that allowed the host Storm to eke out a 21-20 victory in a battle between World TeamTennis' two newest franchises.

Tuesday night Song got redemption.

His 5-2 victory over Orlando's Evan King in Men's Singles set the tone and built momentum for the playoff-berth seeking Vegas Rollers, who went on to defeat the Storm, 22-18, at Orleans Arena.

"The two things we wanted (were) energy and focus, and I felt like I got the team going, at least early on, to head in that direction," Song said. "I wanted to redeem myself. I was thinking about that (match) and once I had the 40-15 (lead) I said, 'there's no way I'm losing this.' It was extra motivation tonight because Evan is one of my best friends and we've battled a bunch on the tour and he's got the better of me, so I wanted to get this one at home."

While the Philadelphia Freedoms, Springfield Lasers and San Diego Aviators locked into the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively, there's now a logjam from fourth through sixth place. The top four seeds make the playoffs, which will be Friday and Saturday in Las Vegas.

"We dug ourselves a hole early and I wrote up the comeback early, thought if we went 5-2 after starting 2-5, we could make the playoffs," Vegas coach Tim Blenkiron said. "That's really been the focus since the halfway point."

The Storm didn't make things easy on Vegas, however, as Darija Jurak and Whitney Osuigwe answered Song's victory over King with a 5-3 win over Asia Muhammad and Jovana Jaksic in Women's Doubles. Jurak was dominant in landing all 12 of her first serves, while the duo registered points on 71 percent of Osuigwe's first serve. Then it was King and Ken Skupski topping Song and Matt Reid in Men's Doubles, 5-4, after taking the tiebreaker (5-4).

Next, it was Muhammad, the 234th ranked Women's Singles player in the world, and Osuigwe, ranked 110th, in an intense set. Muhammad won the first three games after breaking Osuigwe's serve twice, but the former No. 1 junior in the world quickly returned the favor by winning the next three games to knot the set. Muhammad was able to break Osuigwe in the seventh game and held serve in the eighth to pull out a 5-3 win and put Vegas on top, 17-15.

"This has been an amazing experience for Asia," Blenkiron said. "She was able to step into the singles role, and it's hard to playing in front of your home crowd, I don't care who it is. Every match she's played she's gotten better and she's gotten looser and playing more of the tennis she is capable of. She was the difference tonight. She played beautiful tennis."

Muhammad and Reid closed things out with a 5-3 win in Mixed Doubles after opening the set against Jurak and King, who was eventually replaced by Skupski. With the set tied 2-2, Reid served the Rollers to a momentum-building 3-2 lead behind three consecutive aces, the last one clocked at 139 miles per hour. After Orlando won the next game, Muhammad held serve at love to ice the match for the Rollers.

"You play to win every match and we were close to winning; the sets are short, and one point can change everything," Orlando coach Scott Lipsky said. "Vegas has a great team. They brought in some great players to play some of their big matches. Asia played great today, she played three sets and did a great job. Evan played a great set of singles and Matt's a great doubles player. They've got a lot of good players and they can definitely do well in the playoffs if they get there."

NOTEBOOK

Osuigwe won the girls' Junior French Open in 2017, made it as far as the quarterfinals at Wimbledon two months later, and then finished the year ranked as the No. 1 junior in the world before turning pro.

Yet with all she's accomplished, she'd never enjoyed an In-N-Out burger. That was, until Tuesday, when she touched down in Las Vegas.

"We don't have that in Florida," the 17-year-old Bradenton-native said laughingly.

Currently ranked 110th in singles, Osuigwe has played in nine of the Storm's 13 matches during her first year in World TeamTennis.

"It's definitely been a lot of fun, that's for sure," said Osuigwe. "It's a fun environment ... it's not as serious as a regular tournament. My team has wowed me. Overall, I would do it again, it's been really fun."

She admitted the rigorous demands in World TeamTennis has disrupted her daily tennis and nutrition routine, but also believes it will benefit her career.

"It's definitely gonna make going to a tournament seem a little easier," Osuigwe said. "You don't have to fly that morning and play a match that night. Stuff like this teaches you how to start from the very beginning, and not let down, because you're playing first to five and you never know what can happen. I think this has made us stronger."

One of the most exciting moments for her was Monday's battle in Orange County, where the Storm trailed the Breakers 14-8 heading into the final two sets, battled back to tie the match and lost in a super tiebreak.

"That was definitely exciting, and you don't usually get to see stuff like that in tennis," she said. "We lost, but it was still a thrill."

IN THE CROWD

The tennis players have certainly been the stars during Rollers home matches, but for the athletes, the real MVPs have been Conrad Corona and Lew De Leon from House of Tennis, a premier tennis pro shop in Las Vegas that has been courtside to string racquets for all seven home matches.

Corona and De Leon not only have strung players' racquets, but have also customized the strings with each player's sponsors using stencil ink

"It's pretty exciting, the interaction with all the players you see on TV, they come out here to play the WTT circuit," said Corona, the manager for House of Tennis. "The whole vibe, the whole WTT, the whole environment, it's exciting. It's just a fun atmosphere. Not just good tennis, but it's just fun for everybody."

Corona has been to hundreds of events, both big and small, and said World TeamTennis has been the best event he's attended.

"It's more fun, it's more relaxed, it's a great atmosphere for everybody," he said. "Even the kids, the adults, just to see some good quality tennis out there. You can't beat it. The music, the excitement, the dancing, all the entertainment that goes with that, it's pretty entertaining for everybody. I've really enjoyed it."

WHAT'S NEXT

The Rollers conclude their inaugural season visiting the defending champion Springfield Lasers at Cooper Tennis Complex on Wednesday. The match begins at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. It will be televised on ESPN-plus and on WTT.tv.

The Storm, who are also in their first season, finish the campaign in San Diego, where they'll play the Aviators on Wednesday night at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa at 10 pm ET/7 pm PT. The match will be televised on ESPN+.

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