2020 @WorldTeamTennis Final Preview, Prediction

Posted by Admin on August 2, 2020
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Courtesy, World Team Tennis

2020 @WorldTeamTennis Final Preview, Prediction

After a noble experiment in a bubble and 62 matches played over the course of three weeks in the Allegheny Mountains, we are left with the #3 seed Chicago Smash and the #4 seed New York Empire to battle it out on a gorgeous sunny day at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. There were probably a few naysayers who thought the WTT season wouldn’t last with so many players at the same site during a Coronavirus resurgence in North America.

Here we are, though: Zero positive COVID-19 test results and one match to go. The first year expansion franchise, the Smash, have surprised a lot of long-time followers of the league, but their success shouldn’t come as huge shock to anyone. With Sloane Stephens, Genie Bouchard, Rajeev Ram, Brandon Nakashima and Evan King, the Smash would have been competitive in 2020. The extra sauce on this squad comes from Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who was named the league’s female player of the campaign. She’s been off the charts in doubles, and doubles are every bit as important as singles in the world of World Team Tennis.

The New York Empire are riding high on emotion after knocking out the top-seeded Philadelphia Freedoms in the semifinals on Saturday. The immovable object may be Mattek-Sands, but the unstoppable force would be Coco Vandeweghe of the New York Empire. Like Mattek-Sands, she’s playing some of her best tennis in a long while and her leadership in doubles has given her confidence in singles as New York’s Kim Clijsters has been sidelined for the last week.

Courtesy, World Team Tennis

H2H 2-0

The Smash took out the Empire 21-16 a week ago, when Sloane Stephens was a 5-1 singles winner. When the Smash edged the Empire, 22-21, two weeks ago, it was Kim Clijsters dominating Stephens, 5-2 and Mattek-Sands/Bouchard defeating Clijsters/Lisicki 5-2. With Clijsters participation unlikely today, it’s hard to see a different result than the two previous meetings.

Courtesy, World Team Tennis

I give Sock a slight edge against Nakashima in men’s singles, and Sloane Stephens with the nod over Vandeweghe in singles. As usual, that means it’s all coming down to the dubs. I give the advantage to Mattek-Sands and Rajeev Ram against Vandeweghe and Sock in the mixed, which should just be enough for the Smash to win it all in the first year of the existence of the franchise.

Prediction: Chicago Smash 22-20

In terms of the restarting of pro sports in the United States, the World Team Tennis bubble has been a resounding success. The Greenbrier Resort was chosen by the Feds to house the legislative branch of government in a post-nuclear apocalypse at one time because of its remote location. Queens, or Disney World, for that matter, are hardly a White Sulphur Springs. With only a few thousand people, a few restaurants outside the resort and neither a strip club nor a nightclub for 60 miles, other pro sporting events should consider such a locale.

—S. Fogleman in Lewisburg, WV

Empire State of Mind in Mountain State as @NYEmpireTennis Advance to @WorldTeamTennis Final

Posted by Admin on August 1, 2020
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Empire State of Mind in Mountain State as @NYEmpireTennis Advance to @WorldTeamTennis Final

The New York Empire advanced to the World Team Tennis final at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia with a 22-18 win over the top-seeded Philadelphia Freedoms this afternoon.

Jack Sock and Neal Skupski broke serve and started New York off with a 2 game lead after beating Fabrice Martin and Taylor Fritz, 5-3. They never relinquished that lead. Coco Vandeweghe played Sofia Kenin close in a 5-4 loss and frankly, did her job by minimizing the effectiveness of the Freedoms most potent weapon.

The big turning point of the affair came when Sock and Vandeweghe posted a 5-1 mixed doubles win over Taylor Townsend and Fabrice Martin/Taylor Fritz. Fritz was inserted into the match after the Freedoms were down 4-0. Vandeweghe teamed up with Nicole Melichar against Townsend and Caroline Dolehide. Philadelphia scrapped to a 5-3 win to keep hope alive. In the final set, Taylor Fritz needed a miracle comeback against Sock to turn the match for Philadelphia. Fritz challenged Sock all the way to the tiebreak, which Sock won 5-3 to seal the victory for his team.

—S. Fogleman in White Sulphur Springs, WV

2020 @WorldTeamTennis Semifinal #2 Prediction

Posted by Admin on August 1, 2020
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2020 World TeamTennis Semifinal #2 Prediction

Courtesy World Team Tennis

The late afternoon semifinal between the Orlando Storm and the expansion Chicago Smash should be a close match. Despite the teams sharing a 1-1 head to head record, the key to the Smash has been the monstrous doubles play of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and whatever partner with whom they team her up. Although the Storm beat the Smash, 21-16, on July 14, it was in large part due to Danielle Collins rolling over Sloane Stephens 5-0. In the loss, Mattek-Sands and Genie Bouchard managed a 5-1 victory against Pegula and Darija Jurak. When the Smash beat Orlando, 24-19 five days later, Mattek-Sands and Bouchard again beat Jessica Pegula, this time paired with Collins, by a 5-3 score.

No one expects Stephens to put in a poor performance against Jessica Pegula today and the men’s singles between Tennys Sandgren and Brandon Nakashima looks to be a draw. Pegula and Ken Skupski will have their hands full with Team Bethanie as well, with Mattek-Sands and Rajeev Ram on the other side of the net for the mixed doubles match.

Prediction: Chicago Smash d. Orlando Storm, 22-18

—S. Fogleman

2020 @WorldTeamTennis Semifinal #1 Prediction

Posted by Admin on August 1, 2020
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2020 @WorldTeamTennis Semifinal #1 Predictions

The Philly Freedoms are the top seed entering this weekend’s playoffs, but the New York Empire have had their number before. Despite the 7-7 record, the Empire handed the Freedoms  their first loss of the season, 25-17, a little over two weeks ago and have thwarted the Freedoms chances at a championship title in years past. In that match, Kim Clijsters held off Sonia Kenin, 5-3 and Jack Sock was victorious over Taylor Fritz, 5-3. Today, Clijsters is not scheduled to play and Coco Vandegwhe will need to step up and handle Kenin, the 2020 women’s Australian Open single champion. Sock and Neal Skupski will battle Philadelphia’s Fabrice Martin and Taylor Townsend in mixed doubles. Townsend will pair with Caroline Dolehide against Vandegwhe and Nicole Melichar in women’s doubles.

I’ll predict .an Empire win based on the doubles strength added by the Empire late last week in Vandegwhe and Melichar. It was a great addition to the team not just to hel the Empire to make the playoffs, but to pay dividends in the playoffs as well .Let’s face it: Doubles is even more important than singles in World Team Tennis. The play of Sock and Neal Skupski has been outstanding and Vandegwhe and Melichar are clearly vibing together. Vandegwhe and Sock may have the hardest time defeating their singles rivals, but Taylor Fritz is a known commodity to Jack Sock and I predict he wins the men’s singles set as well.

Prediction: Empire d. Freedoms 22-18

—S. Fogleman

Defending Champions @Madison_Keys, @DaniilMedwed Lead 2020 @CincyTennis Singles Fields

Posted by Admin on July 29, 2020
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Defending Champions Keys, Medvedev Lead 2020 Western & Southern Open Singles Fields

CINCINNATI (JULY 29, 2020) – Ten former champions headline the players on the initial singles entry lists for the 2020 Western & Southern Open that will be held Aug. 20-28 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.


The initial entries include both defending champions: Daniil Medvedev for the ATP Tour and Madison Keys for the WTA. 

Former men’s champions who have entered the ATP Masters 1000 also include the top two players in the ATP Rankings – No. 1 Novak Djokovic (2018 winner) and No. 2 Rafael Nadal (2011) – along with Grigor Dimitrov (2017) and Marin Cilic (2016). 
Two-time champion Serena Williams (2014-15) will join Keys, Kiki Bertens (2018), Garbiñe Muguruza (2017) and Karolina Pliskova (2016) as past WTA champions in the Premier 5 field. 

The women’s field includes five Major champions in Williams, Muguruza, Sofia Kenin, Petra Kvitova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2019 W&S Open runner-up. Three men’s entrants – Cilic, Djokovic and Nadal – are past Major winners.

The women’s field, which features 39 of the top 53 players in the WTA Rankings, includes seven players aged 21-or-under. Sixteen-year-old Coco Gauff will make her Western & Southern Open debut and will be joined by fellow teens Amanda Anisimova (18) and Iga Swiatek (19) to join a youth movement that also includes 20-year-old Dayana Yastremska. Kenin, a 2019 Western & Southern Open semifinalist who won the 2020 Australian Open, leads a group of 21-year-olds that includes Elena Rybakina and Marketa Vondrousova. 

Forty of the top 43 ranked ATP players have entered on the men’s side. One teenager, 19-year-old Felix Auger Aliassime, leads five men aged 21-or-under in the field. Four of the entrants from the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings are under the age of 25: No. 5 Medvedev (24), No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas (21), No. 7 Alexander Zverev (23) and No. 8 Matteo Berrettini (24).  The top eight seeds in both draws will receive first round byes. Twelve players will be added to each field through a two-round qualifying event that will be held Aug. 20-21. The deadline for players to enter the qualifying event is Aug. 3. Four men and five women will be awarded wild card entries into the main draw singles fields.
Main draw play for the Western & Southern Open will begin on Aug. 22. Both singles finals will be held on Friday, Aug. 28, with the WTA final taking place at 2 p.m., and the ATP Tour’s at 4 p.m.

Further details for the 2020 tournament will be announced in the coming weeks, and all aspects of the event are subject to change. 

The @OrlandoStormWTT Close to Clinching @WorldTeamTennis Playoff Berth With Win Over @SDAviators

Posted by Admin on July 28, 2020
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ORLANDO STORM CLOSE IN ON PLAYOFF BERTH WITH IMPRESSIVE VICTORY AGAINST SAN DIEGO AVIATORS, 19-15

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.V. (July 27, 2020) – The Orlando Storm moved one step closer to clinching a coveted four-team World TeamTennis playoff spot with a 19-15 victory over the San Diego Aviators on Monday night on Center Court at Creekside Stadium – The Greenbrier “America’s Resort.”

The Storm improved to 8-4 and remained in sole possession of third place behind league leading Philadelphia (9-2) and Chicago (9-3), while the Aviators fell to 3-9 and in last place in the WTT standings in this the final week of the WTT regular season.

The Storm jumped out to a commanding 15-5 lead after the first three sets, getting wins in Mixed Doubles (Ken Skupski/Jessica Pegula), Women’s Singles (Pegula) and Men’s Singles (Tennys Sandgren). Former WTT Male MVP Ryan Harrison of the Aviators battled Sandgren shot-for-shot from the baseline in a tight singles affair that saw Sandgren come out on top, 5-3.

One of the bright spots of the night for the Aviators was the doubles play of Christina McHale and the newest Aviator Kveta Peschke, who beat Pegula and Darija Jurak, 5-1, in Women’s Doubles. Just before Sunday night’s WTT trade deadline, Peschke – a former world No. 1 doubles player – and Sabine Lisicki were traded from the New York Empire to San Diego for Coco Vandeweghe and Nicole Melichar.

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Harrison and Jonny O’Mara took out Sandgren and Skupski in Men’s Doubles, 5-2, in the final set to make the score 18-15. That sent the match into Extended Play where Skupksi held serve in doubles for the win.

ORLANDO STORM PLAYER KEN SKUPSKI: “I think the difficulty with this year with COVID was that everyone came into the tournament differently. You really have to take your time and figure out where your strengths and weaknesses are. I think if we keep playing the way we have been then we’ll have a good shot to win it all.”

Orlando Storm defeats SAN DIEGO AVIATORS, 19-15 (EP)

Mixed Doubles: Ken Skupski/Jessica Pegula (Storm) def. Jonny O’Mara/Christina McHale, 5-2

Women’s Singles: Pegula (Storm) def. Kveta Peschke (Aviators), 5-0

Men’s Singles: Tennys Sandgren (Storm) def. Ryan Harrison (Lasers), 5-3

Women’s Doubles: McHale/Peschke (Aviators) def. Pegula/Darija Jurak (Storm), 5-1

Men’s Doubles: O’Mara/Harrison (Aviators) def. Skupski/Sandgren (Storm), 5-2

Extended Play: 1-0 Storm. With Orlando leading 18-15, Skupski held his doubles serve to end the match.

—S. Pratt, WTT

The @NewYorkEmpireTennis Just Took A Big Step Forward to @WorldTeamTennis Playoffs With Solid Victory

Posted by Admin on July 26, 2020
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The @NewYorkEmpireTennis Just Took A Big Step Forward to @WorldTeamTennis Playoffs With Solid Victory

In a match with obvious World Team Tennis playoff implications, the New York Empire took a huge step forward today, easily defeating the Washington Kastles 25-15. Both teams entered the match with matching 5-5 records. New York was propelled to an early lead when Neal Skupski and Kveta Pescke took the mixed doubles set, 5-2.

Two days ago, Empire coach Luke Jensen pulled a struggling Sabine Lisicki and replaced her mid-set with Kim Clijsters, who promptly won the set. Today, Lisicki needed no such reinforcements, and it was Kim Clijsters serving as her biggest cheerleader as Lisicki easily managed Venus Williams, 5-3. Clijsters planted a big mom hug on her German teammate after the victory.

Jack Sock and Neal Skupski posted another 5-2 doubles win over Tommy Paul and Marcelo Arevola and the rout was brewing. Lisicki returned with Kveta Peschke to once again vex Venus, who paired with Arina Rodionova in the Empire’s 5-4 women’s doubles win. Jack Sock closed out the match with a 5-4 victory over Tommy Paul. Lisicki was selected as the Chosen Player of the Match.

The results of the match were particularly poignant for both teams: the Empire seized undisputed ground for the final of four playoff spots, while the Kastles, at 5-6, most likely need to win out in order to qualify. I’m sure the folks at CBS are pulling for a Williams appearance in next Sunday’s final. That ratings bonanza is a tall order at the moment.

—S. Fogleman in the Mountaineer State

In a Battle of Struggling Teams, @BreakersTennis Edges Past @SGFLasers

Posted by Admin on July 25, 2020
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In a Battle of Struggling Teams, @BreakersTennis Edges Past @SGFLasers

Today’s World Team Tennis offering at noon at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia featured the last place Orange County Breakers taking on the 8th place Springfield Lasers. If the 2019 WTT defending champion Lasers were going to make the playoffs to contest their title defense, they had to win today.

Mitchell Krueger got things started for the Lasers with a 5-4 win over Steve Johnson in men’s singles.

As Caty McNally stood below the banner celebrating the Lasers 2019 title, things started to go awry for Springfield. McNally dropped five chances to close the women’s singles set out as Jen Brady snatched victory from the jaws of defeat for Orange County. McNally was not amused and the match wal tied at 9-all.

Steve Johnson and Austin Krajicek gave the Breakers their first lead of the match with a 5-3 win over Jean-Julien Rojer and Robert Lindstedt.

Brady took another win over McNally, this time in women’s doubles paired with Gaby Dabrowski, 5-4. McNally and Robert Lindstedt were able to force a single game of extended play before the Breakers closed out the match with a 24-21 win.

After the match, Brady said she believed that the World Team Tennis experience will result in improved tournament play next month for the participants.

“It’s great practice once the tour starts back up,” she said. “I think everybody here is going to have a big advantage going into the first couple of tournaments because they’ve been in match and I think everybody can build on that.”

—S. Fogleman in Greenbrier County, Almost Heaven

The @OrlandoStormWTT End @PhillyFreedoms Win Streak in Early @WorldTeamTennis Saturday Action

Posted by Admin on July 25, 2020
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The @OrlandoStormWTT End @PhillyFreedoms Win Streak in Early @WorldTeamTennis Saturday Action

The Philadelphia Freedoms rode a six match win streak into Saturday morning, and with 2020 Australian Open women’s singles champion Sofia Kenin on the roster, there was little reason to the think that the streak would not extend further. The Orlando Storm found themselves in a tight race to remain in the World Team Tennis top tier, as the top four teams in the league will contest the semifinals and final next weekend.

What followed was a blowout by WTT standards. So many sets in this competition end with a tiebreak that it was surprising to not see a 5-4 result on the scorecard today, where the Storm dominated the Freedom, 23-13.

Tennys Sandgren and Ken Skupski bageled Donald Young and Fabrice Martin to take a big 5-0 lead in men’s doubles. Jessica Pegula stepped up to the plate in route to a breezy 5-2 victory over Kenin and you had the feeling that it was going to be a good day for the Storm. Pegula followed up her singles win with a doubles victory with Darija Jurak. The pair beat Taylor Townsend and Caroline Dolehide, 5-3. Sandgren finished off the Freedoms with a 5-3 victory over Taylor Fritz and the rout was over. Pegula was selected as the “Chosen” Player of the Match for her efforts, although Sandgren must have been a close second for the nod.

The Storm badly needed to win today and their record now improves to 6-4. With the victory, the Storm maintain a one-half match lead over the Vegas Rollers and one full match lead on the Washington Kastles, who are currently outside of the playoff bubble.

Orlando will open tomorrow’s WTT action as well, taking on the 2019 league champion Springfield Lasers in a must-win match for Springfield.

—S. Fogleman in West Virginia

At @WorldTeamTennis Friday, Clutch @ClijstersKim Cruises in @NYEmpireTennis Win

Posted by Admin on July 24, 2020
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At @WorldTeamTennis Friday, Clutch @ClijstersKim Cruises in @NYEmpireTennis Win

Steve Fogleman in White Sulphur Springs, WV

Kim Clijsters has always been a heavy lifter in the world of professional tennis, having been the first unseeded woman to win a U.S. Open singles title. Today in World Team Tennis action at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Clijsters showed her mettle.

Before she heated up on court for the New York Empires, Clijsters served as a ball person during the opening set of men’s doubles. While she trained her eyes on the play in front of her, she couldn’t help but constantly turn around to keep an eye on her three kids in attendance—Jada, Jack and Blake. She even threw a water bottle from the Empire’s stash toward one of her thirsty boys during a timeout.

Clijsters gave those children a show to remember, and she started by winning the women’s doubles event with Kveta Peschke, 5-2. Moments later, she was paired with Jack Sock, as they took the mixed doubles 5-4. That would have been a successful day for any WTT player.

In a surprise move, New York Empire Coach Luke Jensen substituted the Belgian after fellow teammate Sabine Lisicki faced a 3-1 deficit to Monica Puig of the Vegas Rollers. Clijsters needed a moment to get her singles game on track, and ultimately defeated Puig by a 5-4 score, effectively knocking the Rollers out of the match.

 

After the match at courtside, Clijsters told me that “you just try to be ready when you get put out there.  I was a little surprised by (the move) and I was like ‘ok’, Sabine wasn’t playing her best tennis but she still had some good tennis in her,” she said. “In that first game, I had to wake myself up a little bit again.

I remarked that she looked like she was doing double duty during the opening singles match, between serving up balls to Sock and H20 to her son.

“This is my life, so I’m used to it. To a lot of people or players, it’s unusual but it’s very normal and I wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s just a matter of time to balance it out,” Clijsters replied.

Clijsters was deemed Player of the Match. With the win, the Empire improves their record to 5-4, good for third place in the WTT standings.