With A Win On the Road.
From Washington Kastles news wire....
Williams and the Kastles (1-4) secured their first victory of the season by a score of 24-17 against the Boston Lobsters (4-3) on their home court.
Fresh off ladies' singles and doubles championships at last week's Wimbledon, the 22-time Grand Slam winner showed her teammates and opponents what makes her the best in the world. Playing the women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles events, Williams won a total of 15 games, while losing just five.
In the first set, Scott Oudsema quickly found himself down 3-0 against former top 20 player Jan-Michael Gambill in men's singles. At that point, Oudsema became more aggressive attacking the net to hold his serve and breaking back in the next game. The two men held throughout the rest of the set and ended up in a tie-breaker with Oudsema losing a well-played and hard fought match.
Looking like the fashion icon that she is, Williams lit up the stadium when she took the court for the women's singles in her custom Kastles blue and red uniform down to the shoes. In her first appearance on a tennis court since Wimbledon, Williams faced the Lobsters' Raquel Kops-Jones. Williams looked like she didn't miss a beat with an impressive all-court exhibition of power and finesse. Kops-Jones competed hard but the outcome was never in doubt as Williams won all 10 points when she got her first serve in and won the set 5-2.
Williams then teamed with French Open doubles champion and Wimbledon mixed doubles finalist Leander Paes. These two world-class athletes on top of their games were too much for the Lobsters duo of Kops-Jones and James Auckland, neither of whom have reached a Grand Slam final. The 5-3 win gave the Kastles a 14-10 halftime lead.
Next up was another Kastles dream team, with Williams and Wimbledon ladies' doubles finalist Rennae Stubbs pairing to form a Kastles' women's doubles team, that has 17 doubles Grand Slam titles between them. The Kastles pair shut out, 5-0, the Lobsters team of Kops-Jones and Stephanie Foretz, both of whom are experienced and accomplished doubles players, in a dominating display.
With a 19-10 lead heading into men's doubles, Oudsema and Paes fought hard to win the final set of the night against Gambill and James Auckland before losing 5-4 in a tiebreaker. Going into overtime, the Kastles pair simply had to win a final game to close out their first win of the season and did so when Paes held serve in the third game of overtime.
Williams and the Kastles will try to put together consecutive wins tonight as they head to New York to take on the Eastern Conference-leading Sportimes at 7 p.m.
Earlier this week, Anna Kournikova kicked off a perfect summer evening in Washington by signing autographs and taking pictures with fans as they entered Kastles Stadium, where they witnessed the Kastles take a thrilling 12-11 halftime lead before eventually falling 20-15 to the St. Louis Aces.
Olga Puchkova starred for the Kastles, beating Aces opponent Ashley Weinhold 5-2 in the women's singles event.
USTA FAMILY DAY THIS SUNDAY!
This Sunday, July 12th is USTA Family Day as the Kastles face the defending WTT Champion New York Buzz at Kastles Stadium.
Before the match, the Kastles and USTA Mid-Atlantic will be throwing a "block party," which is guaranteed to be a blast for the whole family. Beginning at 3 p.m., the grounds will be filled with festival-themed activities such as a moon bounce, face-painters, stilt-walkers and tennis-themed arts and crafts! There will be a QuickStart court available to fans of all ages, as well as a QuickStart exhibition of USTA MAS youths playing on a specially-built 60-foot court at Kastles Stadium.
As an added bonus, all fans will receive free "Gecko" hats courtesy of GEICO and, as always, fans 16 and under will be able to meet and receive autographs from all the players after the Kastles match!
The Kastles match against the Buzz will have an early 5 p.m. start, making it perfect for a family outing to the city.
For individual match tickets visit ticketmaster.com or call (202) 397-7328.
From Washington Kastles news wire....
Williams and the Kastles (1-4) secured their first victory of the season by a score of 24-17 against the Boston Lobsters (4-3) on their home court.
Fresh off ladies' singles and doubles championships at last week's Wimbledon, the 22-time Grand Slam winner showed her teammates and opponents what makes her the best in the world. Playing the women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles events, Williams won a total of 15 games, while losing just five.
In the first set, Scott Oudsema quickly found himself down 3-0 against former top 20 player Jan-Michael Gambill in men's singles. At that point, Oudsema became more aggressive attacking the net to hold his serve and breaking back in the next game. The two men held throughout the rest of the set and ended up in a tie-breaker with Oudsema losing a well-played and hard fought match.
Looking like the fashion icon that she is, Williams lit up the stadium when she took the court for the women's singles in her custom Kastles blue and red uniform down to the shoes. In her first appearance on a tennis court since Wimbledon, Williams faced the Lobsters' Raquel Kops-Jones. Williams looked like she didn't miss a beat with an impressive all-court exhibition of power and finesse. Kops-Jones competed hard but the outcome was never in doubt as Williams won all 10 points when she got her first serve in and won the set 5-2.
Williams then teamed with French Open doubles champion and Wimbledon mixed doubles finalist Leander Paes. These two world-class athletes on top of their games were too much for the Lobsters duo of Kops-Jones and James Auckland, neither of whom have reached a Grand Slam final. The 5-3 win gave the Kastles a 14-10 halftime lead.
Next up was another Kastles dream team, with Williams and Wimbledon ladies' doubles finalist Rennae Stubbs pairing to form a Kastles' women's doubles team, that has 17 doubles Grand Slam titles between them. The Kastles pair shut out, 5-0, the Lobsters team of Kops-Jones and Stephanie Foretz, both of whom are experienced and accomplished doubles players, in a dominating display.
With a 19-10 lead heading into men's doubles, Oudsema and Paes fought hard to win the final set of the night against Gambill and James Auckland before losing 5-4 in a tiebreaker. Going into overtime, the Kastles pair simply had to win a final game to close out their first win of the season and did so when Paes held serve in the third game of overtime.
Williams and the Kastles will try to put together consecutive wins tonight as they head to New York to take on the Eastern Conference-leading Sportimes at 7 p.m.
Earlier this week, Anna Kournikova kicked off a perfect summer evening in Washington by signing autographs and taking pictures with fans as they entered Kastles Stadium, where they witnessed the Kastles take a thrilling 12-11 halftime lead before eventually falling 20-15 to the St. Louis Aces.
Olga Puchkova starred for the Kastles, beating Aces opponent Ashley Weinhold 5-2 in the women's singles event.
USTA FAMILY DAY THIS SUNDAY!
This Sunday, July 12th is USTA Family Day as the Kastles face the defending WTT Champion New York Buzz at Kastles Stadium.
Before the match, the Kastles and USTA Mid-Atlantic will be throwing a "block party," which is guaranteed to be a blast for the whole family. Beginning at 3 p.m., the grounds will be filled with festival-themed activities such as a moon bounce, face-painters, stilt-walkers and tennis-themed arts and crafts! There will be a QuickStart court available to fans of all ages, as well as a QuickStart exhibition of USTA MAS youths playing on a specially-built 60-foot court at Kastles Stadium.
As an added bonus, all fans will receive free "Gecko" hats courtesy of GEICO and, as always, fans 16 and under will be able to meet and receive autographs from all the players after the Kastles match!
The Kastles match against the Buzz will have an early 5 p.m. start, making it perfect for a family outing to the city.
For individual match tickets visit ticketmaster.com or call (202) 397-7328.
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