Last night was a big night, as the legend and co-founder of World Team Tennis, Billy Jean King, was present for the Washington Kastles match against the Philadelphia Freedoms. The home team took the night, 25-9, and are now getting ready for the Mylan WTT Finals.
The night started with the Kastles Anastasia Rodionova being presented the MVP award of the World Team Tennis. Rodionova is ranked No. 62 in singles and No. 19 in Doubles.
The match began with mixed doubles and Washington’s Martina Hingis and Leander Paes versus Philadelphia’s Taylor Townsend and Marcelo Melo. Townsend, only 19 years old, used to be the No. 1 Juniors player in the World and is a power player with a solid frame. Melo is also a big power player and is No. 3 in the world for doubles. It was an exciting match but the defending Wimbledon Champion, Hingis and Paes, dominated it. The two play with a serious chemistry whereas Melo and Townsend just didn’t have the chemistry and the teamwork to pull off the win.
The second match was women’s singles. The Kastles Madison Brengle played against the Freedoms Coco Vanderweghe. Vanderweghe is ranked No. 32 in singles while Brengle is 44. Although Vanderweghe was the stronger player with more power, a bigger kick serve and more strength; she simply made too many unforced errors and was not consistent. Brengle stole the match at 5-2, playing smarter and forcing Vanderweghe to make the mistakes.
The third match of mixed doubles featured the Freedom’s Melo and Robby Ginepri (No. 441 in singles in the world) versus the Kastles Sam Querry and Paes.
Melo was beautiful to watch as he closed in on the net quickly during his big powerhouse baseline shots faster than any other player. Querry and Paes were smart and used the “eye formation” a lot during this match (a tactic in doubles to throw off your opponent so they don’t know where you are moving). This pair, like Paes and Hingis, had a lot of chemistry together and played as a team, with smart execution. Melo and Ginepri just couldn’t keep up the pace.
The fourth match was Women’s Doubles. Washington’s Hingis and Rodionova were up against Philadelphia’s Vanderweghe and Townsend. This was the best match of the night because the teams were evenly played, had points that went on for a very long time and displayed a lot of power hitting. In the end, the Kastles were just too strong for the Freedoms and pulled off the win, 4-4.
The final match of the evening was men’s singles with Querry up against the Ginepri. Querry is just an amazing closer and pressure doesn’t affect him. He came out hungry to win and dominated the match with power and ball placement.
The Kastles beat the Freedoms 25-9 and will play in the finals Sunday at 11:30 at the Kastles Smith Center.