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by Christopher Gerby One can only assume that World Team Tennis founder Billie Jean King has some kind of grudge against the league's Kansas City franchise. The Explorers once again failed to acquire any name players in the annual "draft." Fresh-faced doubles specialist Jessica Steck was their "first round pick" and her season-long teammates are Tara Snyder, Brent Haygarth, and Jeff Coetzee. Not exactly Murderer's Row. Making matters worse for Kansas City on Monday night was Coetzee's absence. While this didn't send shock waves through the crowd like Monica Seles's inability to play the previous night, it did give the hometown New York Buzz a major advantage. Coetzee had played every point of men's singles for Kansas City this season and had joined Haygarth in one of the league's better men's doubles teams. Jeff's place would be taken by a young man named Michael Lang, who has no ATP ranking and can boast four years of college experience as his only claim to tennis fame. All signs pointed to a third consecutive win for the Buzz. First set -- mixed doubles: Bhupathi/De Villiers vs. Haygarth/Steck Brent Haygarth immediately looked comfortable on the court he called home during the 2000 WTT season. He hit two winners in a row to open the first game, a break of Mahesh Bhupathi's serve. However, the Buzz broke right back, Bhupathi shouting "come on!" after his backhand on game point overwhelmed Steck. Form held for the rest of the set, each team scoring three service holds to send the 4-4 set into a tiebreaker.
OVERALL SCORE: KANSAS CITY 5, NEW YORK 4 Second set -- women's singles: Jill Craybas vs. Tara Snyder Jill Craybas and Tara Snyder met once before tonight, in the final of a 1998 challenger event. Snyder won that match in Houston, but their fortunes have changed dramatically in the interim. After rising to # 33 in the world rankings that year, Snyder suffered an injury and never got back to top form. Craybas, on the other hand, is riding high at her personal best ranking (81st -- five spots ahead of Mary Pierce) and is one day removed from a very strong performance against Magdalena Maleeva. Craybas kept her roll going by taking a 2-0 lead over Snyder and opening a 0-30 lead in Game 3. The Kansas native finally got on track, though, winning four points in a row to hold for 1-2. Game 4 was a bit tricky for Craybas, but she won it when a serve trickled over the net cord for a lucky ace. (Lets are played in Team Tennis.) Snyder made all kinds of mistakes in Game 5, looking utterly frustrated as Craybas broke her for a 4-1 lead. A couple minutes later, Craybas had her first match point. Tara was still determined, though, and she ran Jill all over the court with solid forehands. Snyder got to deuce, which is a sudden death "game point" in Team Tennis. Incredibly, Craybas got another serve to skip off the tape and fall in for an ace before Snyder could react. "I got a little lucky in a couple of the games," Jill admitted after the 5-1 win. "I felt pretty good out there. I was moving well. I wish I would have returned a little bit better, but other than that I thought I played pretty well." I asked her what she thinks about the league's rule on playing lets, which certainly benefited her tonight. "I feel like it's a little bit unfair, but you know, it can happen to me too. I was telling Nannie on the sidelines that it would be nice if we could do that on purpose." OVERALL SCORE: NEW YORK 9, KANSAS CITY 6 Third set -- women's doubles: Craybas/De Villiers vs. Snyder/Steck The Buzz extended their lead early in Set 3, breaking Steck's serve for a 2-0 lead. The following game went to 40-all, at which point Snyder smacked a winning forehand pass. Unfortunately for Tara, that was one of the last good shots she made tonight. She double faulted to end Game 4, handing the momentum right back to the Buzz. De Villiers completed a love hold for 4-1 with an ace. Steck then had a 40-30 lead on her serve, but threw it away with a double fault and an errant forehand volley. It was an ugly evening for the Kansas City women, who dropped two consecutive 5-1 sets. OVERALL SCORE: NEW YORK 14, KANSAS CITY 7 Fourth set -- men's singles: Justin Bower vs. Michael Lang Brent Haygarth excelled in mixed doubles tonight, but still didn't get the call in singles. Kansas City coach Paul Smith turned the reigns over to Michael Lang, a righty with a one-handed backhand and a very short resume. Lang was a bit less hopeless than I was expecting -- he was at least able to keep the ball in play more often than not. However, he had no weapons with which to hurt Justin Bower, who's been playing fairly well for the Buzz. The South African dropped just two service points in a 5-0 set which was only slightly more competitive than the score suggests. Bower remains undefeated while wearing a red headband. OVERALL SCORE: NEW YORK 19, KANSAS CITY 7 Fifth set -- men's doubles: Bhupathi/Bower vs. Haygarth/Lang Haygarth finally got back onto the court, long after his team had any realistic chance to pull out a victory. After Bhupathi and Bower stormed out to a 3-0 lead (extending the Buzz's winning streak to 11 consecutive games) in this set, you could have excused the Explorers for tanking. However, Lang scratched out a hold for 1-3. At 40-40 in the next game, Haygarth ran down a drop volley and sent back a winning forehand for 2-3. Brent then served well in a hold for 3-3. When the Explorers snared a 0-40 lead against Bhupathi's serve, the set suddenly looked like it was Kansas City's for the taking. Not so fast -- the Buzz won four points in a row, Bower striking a victorious pose after his drop volley made it 4-3. A surprising love hold from Lang forced a tiebreaker, but it was no contest. Bower and Bhupathi served impeccably, as an unreturnable delivery from Mahesh closed out the 5-0 shutout. FINAL SCORE: NEW YORK 24, KANSAS CITY 11 After a long, draining victory over Hartford on Sunday night, the Buzz avoided the letdown one might have expected. "Usually if you have a big win the night before, then it's very hard the next day, but I think we enjoyed this match," said Nannie de Villiers. The easy victory upped New York's record to 4-2, a winning record which matters to Mahesh Bhupathi. "It's obviously very important to the team, the owner, and everything. I usually don't play much during this part of the season, so I thought I'd give (Team Tennis) a shot. And when you're playing, you obviously want to win. I'd be home resting if I didn't want to." |