Former world No. 1 player and current Wimbledon mixed doubles and women’s doubles champion, Martina Hingis, led the Washington Kastles to a victory over the Boston Lobsters at the Manchester Athletic Club last night. The World Team Tennis (WTT) match took place in Manchester, Massachusetts, just north of Boston.
Hingis won five grand slam singles titles between 1997-1999 and nine grand slam doubles titles between 1997-2002. She retired in 2002, but made a come back in 2006 and won another grand slam doubles title. The 34-year-old Swiss citizen retired again in 2007 before starting a second come back in 2014. Since then she has won an additional 3 Grand Slam doubles championships, for a total of 18. Among active players only Venus Williams (with 36) and Venus Williams (with 22) have more career Grand Slam wins.
Leander Paes was Hingis’ partner for her Wimbledon and Australian mixed doubles championships this year, and the two paired up again for a 5-2 win over Boston’s Scott Lipsky and Arantxa Parra Santonja. Paes, age 42, is a former world No. 1 doubles player who has won eight men’s doubles and nine mixed doubles Grand Slam championships.
An all American men’s singles match saw Washington’s Sam Querrey age 27 (No. 38 in the world), top the Lobsters’ Tim Smyczek age 27 (No. 72 in the world) by a score of 5-3. Only John Isner age 30 (No. 18 in the world) and Jack Sock age 22 (No. 30 in the world) are ranked higher than Querrey among American men. Smyczek, a rising American star, reached the third round of the US Open in 2013 and lost to Rafael Nadal 7-5 in the fifth set in the second round of the Australian Open this year.
Hingis defeated the Lobsters’ Irina Falconi 5-3 in women’s singles. Falconi, who reached a career high No. 71 last month, is in her second season with Boston. Hingis then teamed with Anastasia Rodionova to beat Falconi and Parra Santonja 5-2 in women’s doubles.
Boston’s Lipsky and Smyczek put a good fight in men’s doubles, but lost 5-4 to Paes and Querrey.
The defending league champion Kastles (6-3) remain atop the Eastern Division, 2.5 games ahead of the second place Lobsters (4-6). The Philadelphia Freedoms (3-7) occupy the third and final spot in the division.
The seven-team league has two conferences, and teams play 14 matches in a three-week span from July 12-29. The Eastern and Western Conference Championships (first place vs. second place)will be held on Thursday, July 30, on the home court of each Conference’s top-seeded team. The Conference Champions advance to the Mylan WTT Finals on August 2 on the home court of the Eastern Conference Champion.
World Team Tennis has a unique, fast paced format. Team matches consist of five sets, including one set each of men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed (coed) doubles. WTT innovations such as “no-ad” game scoring and “let serves are in play” keep things moving.
The Lobsters have two more home matches, the first will take place on Saturday vs the Western Division California Dream who will come with men’s doubles legends Bob & Mike Bryan.
Boston’s final home match of the season will be on Monday against division rival Philadelphia.
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