Kastles Into WTT Finals
- WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 24: Owner Mark Ein and Members of the Washington Kastles celebrate following their victory in the Eastern Conference Championships of World TeamTennis over the New York Sportimes at Kastle Stadium at CityCenter DC in Washington, DC on July 24, 2009. (Photo by Allen Clark/www.OffWingPhoto.com)
In only the second year of the franchise’s history the Washington Kastles have earned a birth into the Advanta World TeamTennis Championships with their win over the New York Sportimes.
The victory came overtime, by a score of 22-19 over the New York Sportimes. The win came down to the shoulders, and serve, of Scott “Boom Boom” Oudsema, who played in the final match of the evening against Sportime’s, Robert Kendrick. Oudsema pushed Kendrick, one of the best singles players in the league, but narrowly lost in a tiebreaker in regular match play. Oudsema however held tough and defeated Kendrick in the first game of overtime.
The Kastles displayed once again that the strength of their team is with their doubles. The Kastles have high ranking male and female double players in Leander Paes and Rennae Stubbs. Paes was recognized last night as the League’s most valuable male player. Paes and Stubbs have a combined 16 Grand Slam victories between them.
The Kastles will defend their home turf, Kastles Stadium against the Springfield Lasers, on Sunday at 5 p.m. in the Advanta WTT Championship Finals.
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 24: Owner Mark Ein of the Washington Kastles celebrates with Coach Murphy Jensen after winning the Eastern Conference Championships of World TeamTennis against the New York Sportimes at Kastle Stadium at CityCenter DC in Washington, DC on July 24, 2009. (Photo by Allen Clark/www.OffWingPhoto.com)
Murphy Jenson And Serena Williams Set To Lead Washington Kastles
Venus Williams will return as a member of the Washington Kastles for the 2009 season. (Photo by Allen Clark/www.OffWingPhoto.com)
World TeamTennis will be returning to Washington, DC again this summer. Last year’s inaugural season of the Washington Kastles brought tennis into the city’s business district as a tennis court magically appeared from a parking lot on the grounds of the former Washington Convention Center.
This year’s Kastle’s team will have some old and new faces on the team. A sure hit among the DC crowds will be returning headliner, Venus Williams. Coaching the team will be Murphy Jensen.
Here is the entire Washington Kastle team:
- Murphy Jenson – Coach, French Open Men’s Doubles Champion and winner of three more tour doubles titles. He also played ten seasons of World TeamTennis during his career before turning his attention to television. Murphy hosts “Murphy’s Guide” and “Open Access” for the Tennis Channel and has been featured in Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone.
- Serena Williams, ten-time Grand Slam singles champion plus many other assorted tour singles and doubles titles.
- Leander Paes, the world’s fifth-ranked doubles player and an eight-time Grand Slam champion
- Angela Haynes, the 2006 WTT women’s MVP who is currently ranked 137th in singles and 112th in doubles in the world
- Coco Vandeweghe, winner of the 2008 U.S. Open Girl’s title
- Scott “Boom Boom” Oudsema, a member of the 2008 Kastles who finished with the fifth-best singles record among WTT roster players last season.
