WTT: Washington Kastles Win Eastern Conference Finals

WASHINGTON--The Washington Kastles and New York Sportimes, the two sides of one of the most contentious rivalries in the gentle history of the league, met Friday evening in the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2009 World Team Tennis playoffs.  The two teams had a much publicized fracas during their regular season match in Washington just eight days before, with players from each side pegging one another with shots, leading to verbal confrontations that resulted in the suspension of New York Coach Chuck Adams.

Before the match began, Leander Paes was named Male MVP of World Team Tennis for the 2009 season.  In accepting the honor he thanked his teammates, the fans, and the Kastles behind-the-scenes organization.  Vania King was awarded the Female MVP honor before the Western Conference Final, held concurrently in Springfield.

Though they did not have a home court advantage, the Sportimes' stronger regular season record gave them the power to set the order of the evening's events.  This power is most crucial in determining what the final event will be, as it should be what the decider considers their strongest event, so that it will be the match up used in case of any overtime.  The Sportimes chose to put men's singles last, banking on Robert Kendrick vs. Scott Oudsema to be the most favorable match up for their cause.

It's possible that the Sportimes decided to put their least favorable match up first intentionally just to get it over with.  Facing a combined fifteen grand slam doubles titles between Leander Paes and Rennae Stubbs, it was only logical for the Sportimes to get mixed doubles out of the way first. 

Mixed Doubles: Robert Kendrick/Abigail Spears (NYS) vs. Leander Paes/Rennae Stubbs (WAS)

Despite the Washington advantage on paper, it's the Sportimes who look more formidable early in the event.  Spears hits four winners at net to help Kendrick hold to 0, giving the Sportimes a good statement to start the match with.  Paes is immediately shaky on serve, double faulting to a game point, which he is able to save again.  Spears, Stubbs, and Kendrick all hold before Paes serves again, which is again a shaky affair that he just manages to hold on to through a game point.

Perhaps dismayed by blown opportunities, Spears' serve begins to falter, and she is broken at 2.  Stubbs then shows some uncharacteristic shakiness on her own serve, as she is broken at 2 as well to send the event to a tiebreak.

In the tiebreak, Kendrick double faults on the very first point.  The serving team wins each of the remaining points, and that one point gifted through a double fault gives the Kastles the edge they need to take the breaker 5-3, and the event 5-4. Washington Kastles lead 5-4.

Women’s Singles: Abigail Spears (NYS) vs. Olga Puchkova (WAS)

My pick for the Sportimes' most favorable matchup, American Abigail Spears vs. shaky Russian Olga Puchkova in women's singles, is next up.

Puchkova threatens to prove me wrong early, playing sharper than I had seen her play before to hold to 1.  She moves her opponent around with ease, finding short angles that the sluggish Spears cannot handle.  Spears is pushed to a game point on her serve, but manages to hold on for the hold and 1-1.

And then things got real ugly.

Puchkova, whose serve has been inconsistent the entire season, starts missing both first and second serves by yards, double faulting twice on her way to 0-3.  She then floats three soft first serves in, each of which Spears misplays badly.  On game point Spears gets a return in play, which surprises Puchkova enough to make her dump her next shot into the bottom of the net.

Spears returns the break quickly though, double faulting twice on her way to being broken at 1, leveling the event at 2-2.  Puchkova follows suit, throwing in two more double faults of her own to be broken again for 2-3.  It's pretty unimpressive stuff.

Spears double faults twice in her next game as well, but Puchkova doesn't come close to winning any of the other points, giving Spears a precious hold for 4-2.  Spears then breaks at 0 in the final game of the event on the back of another Puchkova double fault, taking the event for the Sportimes 5-2, and giving them a two-point lead overall.  New York Sportimes lead 9-7.

Men’s Doubles: Jesse Witten /Robert Kendrick (NYS) vs. Leander Paes/Scott Oudsema (WAS)

Men's doubles, the event that caused so much controversy last time, is next on the card.  Jesse Witten makes his first and only appearance in the two matches between these two teams in this event, replacing the absent John McEnroe. 

It's not an auspicious beginning for Witten, as he is broken to give the Kastles a 2-1 lead.  After the other three hold routinely, Witten is back serving again, this time able to hold to 2 to bring the Sportimes to 3-4.

But the one break of Witten proved to be enough, as Paes held with some ease to secure the event for the Kastles by the score of 5-3, and digging the team out of the hole Puchkova created to draw the match level at a dozen a piece going into halftime. Tied 12-12.

During half time, a swarm of insects of biblical proportions descended onto the court, flying in the faces of players and fans alike.  The bugs were swept off the court with brooms and racquets between points, but still annoyed just about everyone at court level.

Women’s Doubles: Abigail Spears/Christina Fusano (NYS) vs. Olga Puchkova/Rennae Stubbs (WAS)

Stubbs, who didn't have much positive to say about Puchkova's work ethic during her interview with The Daily Forehand, clearly is making an effort to make things work on court with the young Russian during this crucial juncture. 

Stubbs serves well throughout the first game, and shows restraint in her reactions to Puchkova's bad misses on a couple easy shots.  Stubbs manages to hold to 2, followed quickly by Spears holding to 0.

Puchkova's serving woes continue, but with encouragement from the veteran Stubbs she manages to steady herself, winning the game point for the hold and earning a big lifting hug from her Australian partner that catches Puchkova completely off-guard and seems to relax her considerably.

Puchkova played  the best she has all season, taking advantage of Fusano's weak serve and leading the team to the break for a 3-1 lead.

With a surprisingly large and vocal group of traveling friends and family supporting them, the Sportimes break back on Stubbs' serve, to bring the event to 2-3.  But Stubbs immediately came back firing to break Spears, giving Puchkova's serve a chance to close out the event for the Kastles.  Puchkova, playing much more freely since holding in her first service game, remained solid to close out the event 5-2 for the Kastles, giving them a three game lead heading into the deciding event. Washington Kastles lead 17-14.

The matchup the Sportimes had been banking on, between New York's 69th ranked Robert Kendrick and Washington's 553rd ranked Scott Oudsema, would be the one to decide which team would advance to the WTT Finals.  Oudsema needed at least two games to prevent Kendrick from winning the match before overtime or a super tiebreak, a task that seemed fairly tall given the disparity between the two's success on the ATP tour.

Both players held to 0 to open the event, with the 6'3'' Oudsema using his powerful serve to level the talent gap between the two.

Kendrick then double faulted twice in a row to bring up game point in his second service game, but an Oudsema return into the net let him hold on for the 2-1 lead.  Oudsema followed suit with some shaky play of his own, but was able to hold through a game point with a second serve ace that caused his bench of teammates and hometown fans to erupt.

Kendrick was not able to make any dent on Oudsema's serve in his third return game either, but in the fourth game a window of opportunity opened.  Oudsema double faulted at 2-2, giving Kendrick two chances to win the event.  But Oudsema steeled himself, serving and volleying effectively to fend off the first chance, and firing a big, unreturnable serve down the T on the second to bring the event to a tiebreak.  By winning the fourth game, Oudsema guaranteed himself at least an opportunity to serve a game for the win in overtime, with a chance to close out the match even before that in the tiebreaker.

In the tiebreak for the event, the two rode their serves as they had all along, with Kendrick winning the breaker 5-3 on only the third point won against serve.  Washington Kastles lead 21-19.

The Kastles had the lead after five events, but WTT rules mandate that a team must win the last game in order to win a match, so the men continued into overtime...

Overtime: Robert Kendrick (NYS) vs. Scott Oudsema (WAS)

The sides remain the same from the last event into any overtimes needed, so it was up to Oudsema to bring home the Eastern Conference Championship for the Kastles.  Luckily for him, all he had to do was win one game, and he had the opportunity to serve first.  

After Kendrick won the first point off of a lucky mishit that floated over Oudsema's racquet, Oudsema pounded three more big first serves that set up easy second shot winners.  On his first of three match points, Oudsema hit a would-be second serve ace that Kendrick half-heartedly challenged.  As the replay showed the ball just clipping the line, the team and its fans erupted, and Oudsema was mobbed at the net by his bench.  Washington Kastles win 22-19.

The Kastles celebrated on court as the Sportimes quietly exited.  They were joined by giddy owner Mark Ein, who was lifted into the air by Leander Paes while other Kastles hugged and laughed. 

The Kastles were awarded the 2009 Eastern Conference Championship banner by WTT Commissioner Ilana Kloss, posing for pictures behind it and grinning ear to ear.  Rennae Stubbs then led the team on a victory lap around the court, high-fiving fans and signing autographs the whole way around.

The 8-7 Kastles will face the 13-2 Springfield Lasers in the finals.  Lead by 2009 WTT Women's MVP Vania King and WTA doubles #1 Liezel Huber, the Lasers advanced to the final by beating the Newport Beach Breakers in the Western Conference Final, after King blew a four-point lead in the final event, but managed to recover to win the deciding super tiebreak).

The finals of the World Team Tennis 2009 season are Sunday, July 26th at 5 PM at Kastles Stadium in downtown Washington DC.  I'll be there, so stay tuned for The Daily Forehand's coverage and photos of that as well.

To see more photos from the Eastern Conference Final, visit The Daily Forehand's Picasa album of the event.