WASHINGTON—After a starting line up introduction of WWE proportions—complete with cheerleaders, pyrotechnics, and no less than three mascots (a medieval knight in full armor and a giant tennis ball of each gender)—the Washington Kastles and Newport Beach Breakers were set to battle in front of a sell-out crowd of over three thousand in Kastles Stadium, the venue for World Team Tennis in downtown DC. There was little doubt whom the throngs had come to see: Serena Williams, fresh off her eleventh Grand Slam Singles title just ten days ago at Wimbledon. Though Serena Williams is the marquee player on Washington’s lineup, she plays only one of her four World Team Tennis matches in Washington, as the league makes an effort to get the fan favorite to as many of their locations as possible.
Though Serena is the main attraction, the fans will have to wait for her to take the court until the second half of the competition, with men’s doubles and singles serving as her opening acts.
Men’s Doubles: Kaes Van’t Hof/Ramon Delgado (NBB) vs. Scott Oudsema/Leander Paes (WAS)
The Kastles got off to a quick start in the first event of the evening, with the home team taking the first six points of the match on the back of the dominant play of the best doubles player on the court—Leander Paes. The momentum soon ran out though, with Newport Beach coming back with a six point streak of their own to gain complete control of the match-up.
Newport Beach won the event 5-2, with the Kastles only winning the games on Oudsema’s serve (as much due to Paes’ presence at net as Oudsema’s tough serving). Serena Williams and Olga Puchkova coped with the defeat as they coped with most everything else during the evening—by giggly chit-chat. Newport Beach Breakers lead 5-2.
Everybody on each team comes on the court to warm-up, as the crowd applauds the introduction of Redskins QB Jason Campbell, who, like almost everyone else, is here to watch Serena.
Men’s Singles: Ramon Delgado (NBB) vs. Scott Oudsema (WAS)
Based on their relative forms in the doubles, Delgado seems primed to take the singles rubber. But Oudsema gets off to the better start, breaking the Paraguayan in the third game for 1-2.
Oudsema’s demeanor on court is a strange cocktail of listless and fired up; he lackadaisically gives up on several points after hitting poor approach shots, yet shows an incredible amount of emotion after every big point won.
The instability of both players’ emotions makes for some pretty ugly tennis. Both are content to moonball back and forth, waiting for the other to change things up and inevitably make a mistake. With neither player having any success flattening out the loopy shots, it’s a style that pays dividends, however unattractive it is to see enacted.
The event goes to a tiebreak, with Oudsema jumping out to a 4-1 win and holding on for a 5-4 win, which makes the partisan crowd and Washington Kastles Coach Murphy Jensen extremely happy. Newport Beach Breakers lead 9-7.
With the men’s tennis out of the way, it’s time for Serena to take center stage.
Mixed Doubles: Kaes Van’t Hof/Julie Ditty (NBB) vs. Leander Paes/Serena Williams (WAS)
On paper, the mixed doubles is a mismatch of epic proportions. Leander Paes and Serena Williams have won a combined twenty grand slam doubles titles, which compares rather favorably with Van’t Hof and Ditty’s combined total of zero.
Not surprisingly, the matchup isn’t much closer on court than it looked on paper. Though Serena doesn’t even touch a ball for the first seven points of the match, the Kastles win them all. A few crowd-pleasingly grunted Serena Williams volleys later, the Kastles close out the event 5-0, and take the lead in the match. Washington Kastles lead 12-7.
Women’s Doubles: Marie-eve Pelletier/Julie Ditty (NBB) vs. Rennae Stubbs/Serena Williams (WAS)
This match-up doesn’t look much closer on paper than the mixed. Rennae Stubbs and Serena Williams have won a combined seventeen grand slam doubles title, and Pelletier doesn’t bring any more to the Breakers’ table than Van’t Hof did, leaving the Newport Beach total at zero.
Williams makes it seven games in a row for herself before Pelletier and Ditty take a game thanks to some nice touch from the front of the court. Williams and Stubbs are unfazed, and stay strong to win the event 5-1. Washington Kastles lead 17-8.
Rough day at the office for Julie Ditty, who won exactly one of her eleven games.
World Team Tennis founder and civil rights icon Billie Jean King comes on to the court to say a few words to the crowd, who show their respect for all that she’s done for tennis with the loudest applause of the evening.
Women’s Singles: Marie-eve Pelletier (NBB) vs. Serena Williams (WAS)
Though she made things look easy in her first two doubles events, Serena Williams hardly looks to be playing effortless tennis in her singles match vs. Quebecoise Marie-eve Pelletier. Williams labors to hold for 2-1, but then gets a relatively soft break to go up 3-1. But she digs herself a 1-3 hole in her next serve game, needing to lean on her big serve more than before to get to 4-1.
With Pelletier serving at 1-4, Serena jumps out to an 0-3 lead, giving herself four match points. But she manages to lose all four, spraying shots wide when trying to end the evening with an exclamation point. Pelletier is taking the ball early and taking advantage of Serena’s often slow first step, as she moves to 0-3 on Williams’ serve. But Serena holds on for the 5-2 with four big serves, carrying the Kastles to the “W” on the strength of her 15-3 record on the night. Washington Kastles win 22-12.
The victory brings the Kastles’ winning streak to five, and moves them into second place in the Eastern Conference. A matchup with the first place New York Sporttimes and John McEnroe looms for Thursday. The Kastles won’t have Serena, so they’ll have to rely on Puchkova and Stubbs to compensate for the lost fifteen points. Won’t be easy.
To see all the exclusive photos from Tuesday night's action, check out The Daily Forehand's Picasa Album.
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