Washington remains undefeated after win
With no cameo appearance from either Williams sister, Venus or Serena, the Washington Kastles faced their first match at home minus a drawing card Tuesday night.
Instead it was the visiting New York Sportimes who supplied the star power, as former world No. 1s John McEnroe and Martina Hingis helped fill Kastles Stadium at the Wharf to near capacity.
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But even the recognizable duo, with a combined 12 major titles, couldn’t halt the undefeated Kastles, who edged New York 20-19 (7-6) in a super-tiebreaker.
The stars this night were Kastles veterans, Leander Paes, 38, and Bobby Reynolds, 28, who pulled out the super-tiebreaker, surviving three match points after falling behind 6-4 against McEnroe and his big-serving partner, Robert Kendrick.
Reynolds, who also won his singles match 5-2 to start the evening, polished off the final two points, serving an ace, then delivering a powerful serve that McEnroe returned, but straight to Paes at the net who smashed home the clinching point.
“It’s fun to play as a team,” McEnroe, 52, said before the match. “Martina’s on our team. That gives us a good team right away. We have a chance against anybody.”
McEnroe was right about Hingis. She powered New York (5-2) to victories in women’s singles, 5-2 over Arina Rodionova, and in women’s doubles as she combined with Katie O’Brien, serving the decisive two points in the tie-breaker of a 5-4 (5-3) verdict.
Then in men’s doubles, Kendrick and McEnroe held serve and broke once for a 5-3 victory, forcing the super-tiebreaker that they appeared destined to win.
Another star for Washington was 40-year-old doubles standout Rennae Stubbs, who combined with Paes for a 5-2 victory in mixed doubles over McEnroe and Hingis.
In the decisive point of the lone break game of the mixed doubles match, Stubbs returned a Hingis serve so sharply that McEnroe, 52, couldn’t handle it at the net. Paes dominated his service games, losing just two points. And Stubbs finished off the match winning her service game as Hingis returned the decisive point long as Washington (7-0) remained the WTT’s lone undefeated team.
