Washington Kastles down St. Louis Aces in the final to lift the cup – World Team Tennis 2011
In an enthralling competition being played in the WTT (World Team Tennis) Finals, Washington Kastles registered victory over St. Louis Aces, at Family Circle Tennis Center, on Daniel Island in Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday.
The matchup lasted for three hours and twenty minutes of play, before Kastles concluded victory at 23-19. Aces were off to an excellent start, bagging the opening set comprehensively but their opponents made a terrific comeback
to push them out of the game. Kastles reeled off three consecutive sets to get a substantial lead in the game but dropped the final set to Aces, letting the overtime come into play. After a stiff resistance, Aces finally succumbed after the over time round
to let Kastles away with victory at 23-19.
Kastles dominated for most of the time in the contest and bagged victory in the most convincing manner. They were off to a sloppy start in the opening set, the mixed doubles team of Jean-Julien Rojer and Liezel Huber from Aces
blew away their duo of Leander Paes and Rennae Stubbs to collect the initial five points for their side. Rojer and Huber had a powerful serve game and converted one of their eight break opportunities to seal the first set at 5-3.
A strong reply came from Kastles in the next set when the women’s doubles of Arina Rodionova and Stubbs absolutely devastated the pair of Huber and Tamira Paszek at 5-0. They stung three straight serve breaks to race through the
second set without any serious resistance from the Aces. Rodionova and Stubbs took their side into a 8-5 lead, which was never cut down by their opponents in the rest of the matchup.
Things exacerbated for Aces in the third set when the pair of Roman Borvanov and Rojer failed to withstand the fury of Paes and Bobby Reynolds in men’s doubles encounter. The Kastles’ lead futher extended to 13-7, as Paes and Reynolds
wrapped up the third set at 5-2.
Kastles’ domination continued in the fourth set as well, with Rodionova winning her singles clash against Paszek at 5-4 to drive her side closer to victory. However, Borvanov wins the fifth set in men’s singles at 5-4 against Reynolds
to impose overtime round into play, with Kastles still leading the board at 22-16.
Borvanov played the overtime round from Aces and comprehensively took down Reynolds at 3-1 but still failed to prevent a heavy defeat to his side in the end, letting Kastles win the matchup at 23-19.
Tags: