“Puchie” Plays Tough As DC Wins WTT Championship
- WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 26: Olga Puchkova of the Washington Kastles is lifted by team mates after winning the final match and clinching the Advanta World TeamTennis Championships for the Washington Kastles over the Springfield Lasers played at Kastle Stadium, CityCenter DC in Washington, DC on July 26, 2009. (Photo by Allen Clark/www.OffWingPhoto.com)
It was an unlikely hero that helped the Washington Kastles win their first Advanta World TeamTennis Championship in dramatic fashion with a win over the Springfield Lasers.
To chants of “Olga” and “Puchie,” it was Olga Puchkova who raised her game and fought off the nerves that turned her serve from weapon to liability.
The order of play for the night had numerous tennis players holding tennis Grand Slam victories play their matches earlier in the night. Springfield played tough throughout and Washington was never able to open a large lead despite having the firepower of Scott Oudsema, and double specialists Rennae Stubbs and Leander Paes.
The Kastles went into the final match with just a two game lead and pitting Puchkova against the League’s Female MVP, Vania King, and if needed they would complete the team match in overtime play. King lived up to her billing reaching a 4-2 lead and holding three championship points.
But that is when coach Murhpy Jensen went into overdrive helping to calm Puchkova’s nerves. Kastle’s Scott Oudsema and Rennae Stubbs donned their rally caps, wearing the baseball caps inside out and the large crowd started chanting, “OLGA.”
While Kastle’s Scott Oudsema earned the MVP of the Championship game it was Puchkova’s gutsy play overcoming a worthy opponent in King and her own demons when it came to serving. Puchkova fought off three championship points to defeat King and lead Washington to a 23-20 victory over Springfield.
Puchkova credited her team and the Kastles crowd with pushing her to the victory. “It was amazing, it was awesome,” said Puchkova of the crowd chanting her name in the final games of her match with King. “The win boosted my confidence a lot. Hopefully this year I can build on this experience.”
“The team just never game up,” said Coach Jensen. “That’s what makes WTT so exciting.”
Kastles team owner Mark Ein called it the most exciting match he had ever seen. “It’s a dream come true to win this in front of our fans,” Ein said.
Breakdown of the Match – Washington (23) over Springfield (20)
- Men’s Singles – Scott Oudsema (Kastles) def. Raven Klaasen (Lasers) 5-3
- Mixed Doubles – Rennae Stubbs\Leander Paes (Kastles) def. Liezel Huber\Martin Damm (Lasers) 5-4
- Men’s Doubles – Scott Oudsema\Leander Paes (Kastles) def. Martin Damm\Raven Klaasen (Lasers) 5-4
- Women’s Doubles – Liezel Huber\Vania King (Lasers) def. Rennae Stubbs\Olga Puchkova (Kastles) 5-3
- Women’s Singles – Olga Puchkova (Kastles) def. Vania King (Lasers) 5-4
Enjoy the following slideshow of pictures from the final.
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)
Fans Have Fun While Kastles Fall
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 7: Venus Williams of the Philadelphia Freedom celebrates with fans after playing with some kids from the crowd during a World TeamTennis match against the Washington Kastles at Kastle Stadium at CityCenter DC in Washington, DC on July 7, 2009. (Photo by Allen Clark/www.OffWingPhoto.com)
Just three days ago Venus Williams (of the Philadelphia Freedom) was playing in the Women’s singles final at Wimbledon with her sister Serena Williams (of the Washington Kastles). Tonight, Venus Williams was in Washington playing for Philadelphia while Serena was elsewhere.
Venus made the difference for Philadelphia as they cruised to a victory against Washington, 23-16. For the Kastles it was their home opener and the second loss of the season.
Despite being loaded with talent the Kastles coudn’t overcome the advantage of having Venus on hand. New for the Kastles this year is Leander Paes, Rennae Stubbs who have a combined total of 16 Grand Slam titles. Rounding out the team is newcomer Olga Puchakova and returning Scott “Boom Boom” Oudsema.
Washington Kastles Fall To Sacramento Capitals
Enjoy the pretty pictures here, for more on the match up between the Washington Kastles and the Sacramento Capitals visit OffWing Opinion.
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Kastles Get Big Win Over NY Sportimes with John McEnroe
We will be publishing through the day photos from last night’s victory in overtime by the Washington kasltes over the NY Sportimes. Please come back to the site as we update, you can also visit our complete photographic match coverage on our Flickr site.
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Serena Williams Kicks Off World TeamTennis In DC
I am both a photographer and a tennis fan so I was excited to be covering the first home match of DC’s entry into the World TeamTennis league, the Washington Kastles. Unfortunately the Kastles fell to the visiting Boston Lobsters, ending their unbeaten string of matches for a 2-1 season record.
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 8: Serena Williams of the Washington Kastles hits a forehand during a World TeamTennis match against the Boston Lobsters at Kastle Stadium in Washington, DC on July 8, 2008. (Photo by Allen Clark/www.OffWingPhoto.com)
The match analysis will be left to OffWing Opinion, here at OffWing Photo I wanted to give you some insight on shooting the event.
If the number of photographers is any indication, the Kastles have to be happy with having Serena Williams as their marquis player. The sidelines were crowded with photographers, most sitting knee to knee to cover the inaugural match on home turf. My guess is that there were approximately 20 photographers shooting the event.
The Kastles and Qorvis, their PR group, did a good job by being open to questions and planning in advance for many of the needs of the press for the opening match.
Now to the nitty gritty of shooting the event. The toughest challenge to overcome was the lack of enough light once the sun set behind the buildings of downtown. Of course everyone wanted to photograph Serena Williams but her singles match was held as the last match of the night. This meant shooting at high ISO’s and the unfortunate side affect of noise in the shots. It also forced me more time post-processing the images to get them to a suitable quality.
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 8: Justin Gimelstob of the Washington Kastles hits a backhand during a World TeamTennis match against the Boston Lobsters at Kastle Stadium in Washington, DC on July 8, 2008. (Photo by Allen Clark/www.OffWingPhoto.com)
It may just be me but it also seemed that the south side of the court was darker than the north side. The players had more pronounced shadows on their faces when playing on the south end of the court.
Here are a few humble suggestions:
- If possible bring in another set of lights near mid-court. I know the photographers will appreciate it and maybe the players too.
- There should be a ramp at the press entrance, many of us have heavy equipment bags on wheels that we had to carry up and down 10 steps. (simple plywood would do)
- Open up the player entrance so that it is easier to get the shot of the players coming through smoke machines. It was really narrow so the shot was blocked by a single video camera.
I am looking forward to covering the rest of the season and happy that Washington has added another tennis event, now if we can get a women’s tennis tournament to return to DC.
For more photos from the event please visit our complete photographic match coverage on our Flickr site.
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World TeamTennis Comes To Washington DC
World TeamTennis was co-founded by Billie Jean King, 33 years ago and has now added a team in Washington DC. DC’s team is called the Washington Kastles and will play in a stadium built at the location of the former Convention Center.
Tonight will be the home opener for the Kastles as they go up against the Boston Lobsters. Serena Williams will be on hand to play for the Kastles at 7pm tonight. The Kastles are currently undefeated (2-0) in league play.
Yesterday members of the team and city officials kicked off the season with the first practice at the new stadium.
Mashona Washington, Sacha Jones, and Scott Oudsema joined their captain Thomas Blake for their practice. Team members Serena Williams and Justin Gimelstob were not present. Williams will be playing tonight in the Kastles first home match, while Gimelstob will be sitting out the match for a one game suspension.
The league has a 3-week season, stretching from July 3rd to July 23rd, will have 11 teams vying for the King Trophy.
The format of play is unique from what you see at other professional tennis matches:
- Two men and two women compete on each team.
- The match format consists of five sets
- One set each of men’s and women’s singles
- One set each of men’s and women’s doubles
- One set of mixed doubles
- Every game counts as a point in the overall score
- Typical score is 23 – 19
- A team must win the last game of the last set or the match goes into overtime
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