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by Christopher Gerby An enthusiastic crowd (numbering approximately 1,700) welcomed the New York Buzz back to Schenectady's Central Park after a rough 1-2 road trip saw them crash out of first place in WTT's Eastern Conference. Particularly contentious was a Saturday night loss to the archrival New York Hamptons in which John McEnroe was alleged to have verbally abused both of the Buzz's female players. Team owner/general manager Nitty Singh went so far as to file a protest with the league, but WTT commissioner Illana Kloss allowed the match's result to stand. Another win by the conference-leading Hamptons on Monday afternoon put the heat on...literally, with the temperature hovering around 92 degrees as the Buzz's home finale got underway. After reaching the Team Tennis championship match last season, the Springfield Lasers returned the exact same roster of Anastasia Myskina, David Wheaton, Katie Schlukebir, and David MacPherson for 2002. However, the club sputtered into Schenectady with a 4-5 record and injury-prone Wheaton had a towel ominously wrapped around his right elbow. To make matters even worse, the Lasers got an unsatisfying pre-match lecture from the umpire. Unlike Candy Pantano (who worked five of the Buzz's home matches), this ump would hold the teams to an obscure rule mandating that only coaches could approach him to argue a line call. After having a few more words with the man in charge (whose name was not announced before the match), Lasers coach Trevor "Tank" Kronemann groused "instead of 1 inch, it has to be 4 inches out for him to overrule." First set: women's doubles -- De Villiers/Huber vs. Myskina/Schlukebir After dubbing Justin Bower "the Slam Man," the PA announcer determined that Nannie de Villiers and Liezel Huber would be known as "the Queen Bees" in this final home match. But one day removed from playing in Hartford, they didn't appear to have much sting left in their rackets. De Villiers and Huber looked flat and sluggish as they quickly dropped four consecutive games to Myskina and Schlukebir. Myskina was particularly impressive, often sending back hard, accurate shots while off balance or on the run. Huber missed a pair of volleys after De Villiers scored a 40-0 lead in Game 5, but Nannie delievered a service winner to finally get on the board at 1-4. Huber redeemed herself in the following game, ripping a forehand pass down the middle of the court to earn a break chance against Schlukebir. De Villiers converted it with a lunging forehand return winner, punctuated by an angry-looking fist pump. Huber was still having all kinds of problems with her game, though, and she netted a volley in Game 7 to give Springfield a set point. Myskina capitalized, catching the baseline with a superb forehand blast. "Nastya" celebrated her set-winning shot by giving Coach Kronemann a big hug. OVERALL SCORE: SPRINGFIELD 5, NEW YORK 2 Second set: women's singles -- Liezel Huber vs. Anastasia Myskina Springfield came into the match with the league's best game-winning percentage in women's singles, thanks entirely to slender Moscow native Anastasia Myskina. With a world ranking of 15 and looks as exotic as her name, Anastasia is one of Russia's true rising stars. She lived up to her advance billing by opening this set with a break of Liezel Huber's serve. Myskina's groundies started to fly on her a bit in the very next game, though, and Huber broke back to even the set. Unfortunately for the home crowd, Huber just could not stay on track. She seemed to be at war with herself as she lost the next two games, uneasily transitioning from safe, defensive shots to more aggressive forehands which often missed their intended targets. Myskina continued to play powerful, graceful tennis from the baseline (sometimes leaving her feet entirely to strike a lethal forehand), but was pretty erratic in her own right. After Myskina double faulted to bring up a 40-40 point in Game 5, Huber used a moonball to set up a break-earning forehand winner. The following game also went to 40-all, but this time it was Myskina ending a long rally with a winning forehand for 4-2. Myskina struggled to close out the set, falling behind 30-40 in Game 7, but two more winners off her racket sealed the deal. Huber apparently left her best tennis behind in Hartford and Myskina had made her pay by another 5-2 count. OVERALL SCORE: SPRINGFIELD 10, NEW YORK 4 Third set: men's doubles -- Bhupathi/Bower vs. MacPherson/Wheaton Trailing by six games before they ever took the court, New York's men knew they had plenty of work to do. They responded with big serves and leaping overheads, breaking David Wheaton en route to a 3-0 lead. Wheaton and David MacPherson once reached the Australian Open semifinals together, but at 33 and 35 years old respectively, they're past their prime. Already leading 15-30 on MacPherson's serve, Mahesh Bhupathi ended an utterly spectacular four-player rally with a vicious forehand winner. The crowd erupted, giving Bhupathi the loudest ovation heard all season in Central Park. Undeterred, the lefty from Down Under silenced them by putting in three consecutive first serves (none of them returned in play) to hold for 1-3. Playing with the kind of flair and emotion usually associated with his former doubles partner Leander Paes, Bhupathi made the highlight reel again with an unbelievable save in Game 5, jumping high into the air to return a smash which would have landed in the stands. He eventually won the game with a forehand volley and wagged a finger in the direction of the Buzz's bench. Wheaton held for 2-4, but the damage was done. Mahesh Bhupathi launched two consecutive service winners to close out a 5-2 win of the set. OVERALL SCORE: SPRINGFIELD 12, NEW YORK 9 Fourth set: men's singles -- Justin Bower vs. David Wheaton David Wheaton entered the final week of his professional tennis career wearing the trademark American flag headband he'd sported in his salad days. When he was just 22 years old, Wheaton reached the semifinals of Wimbledon and won $2 million as champion of the lucrative (if not prestigious) Grand Slam Cup event. In the decade since, Wheaton has battled serious injuries and undergone a religious conversion. Having already retired from the ATP circuit, the devout Christian is embarking on a post-tennis career as an "inspirational speaker" and radio talk show host. This final week of the Team Tennis regular season figures to be Wheaton's on-court swan song. Looking to give him a rude send-off would be Justin Bower, sporting a new red dye job in his hair. Bower and Wheaton threw big serves at one another in five mostly rally-free games, David taking a 3-2 lead on serve. Justin then faced a tense 40-40 point in Game 6, but scrambled well to draw a forehand error from his lumbering opponent. Wheaton missed a pair of low half-volleys to give Bower break chances in Game 7. The man from Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota saved the first with an ace, but then double faulted to give New York a 4-3 lead and new hope in the overall tally. Bower wasted no time putting this set to bed, unleashing an ace at 40-15. The 5-3 victory in men's singles put the Buzz in better position than they ever could have anticipated after the second set. OVERALL SCORE: SPRINGFIELD 15, NEW YORK 14 Fifth set: mixed doubles -- Bhupathi/De Villiers vs. Wheaton/Schlukebir The first game of the final set appeared to be in New York's pocket when a David Wheaton down-the-line backhand was called out at 40-0. The umpire overruled it, however, and the Lasers suddenly came back to life. A winning backhand return from Wheaton at 40-40 gave himself and Katie Schlukebir a critical early break. The umpire made what looked for all the world like a make-up call against Springfield in the next game. Wheaton reacted about as harshly as a man of faith can, screaming "That is not out! Oh, gosh! That is so ridiculous!" Two points later, Mahesh Bhupathi hit a lunging return winner to break for 1-1. The crowd went wild as the Indian whipped off his hat and used it in a windmill fist pump. Wheaton, meanwhile, kept muttering about "such bad calls." Early in the third game, the newly volcanic Bhupathi slammed his racket after missing a volley. However, De Villiers was steady in a hold for 2-1. A fault call against Schlukebir in Game 4 had Wheaton upset all over again. "Oh no! Right on the line! Unbelievable," he bellowed, to no avail. A couple points later, De Villiers ripped a forehand return which clipped Schlukebir's racket for a 3-1 edge. Two consecutive Bhupathi aces finished off the next game and put the Lasers on the brink of elimination at 1-4. The befuddled umpire failed to hear a linesman's call on a Wheaton second serve in Game 6, wrongly assuming it to be an ace. In no mood for nonsense, Bhupathi corrected him: "Double fault, dude. Get with the program!" However, the umpire got it wrong again, announcing "second serve." Mahesh violently slammed his racket as the other players explained things and finally got the score called correctly. When the dust settled, Wheaton closed out an otherwise routine service hold for 2-4. Still returning serve very well, Katie Schlukebir sent a De Villiers offering back with a winner for 0-15. Wheaton found the baseline with a backhand on the next point, but the linesman called it out. David MacPherson pounded the chair next to him with his hand, causing it to bounce off the court. Anastasia Myskina tried to argue the call, but was told to sit down. Coach Kronemann pleaded his team's case instead, but finally grumbled "way to decide a match." A pair of service winners followed by shouts of "come on!" got De Villiers to match point at 40-15. One last winner from Wheaton made it 40-30, but Bhupathi made good on the second match point, putting away an authoritative overhead smash. The 5-2 win of the final set completed a stirring comeback for the home team. FINAL SCORE: NEW YORK 19, SPRINGFIELD 17 "Three shanks and a sh***y call" made the difference tonight, according to Trevor Kronemann. Anastasia Myskina was even more bitter, hissing "I'm going to kill him" after leaving the court. But the incompetent officiating didn't stop Mahesh Bhupathi from savoring a dramatic victory. "We really wanted to win this one," he said afterward. "Got off to a really slow start, unfortunately, but we were able to pick up our games when it counted." I asked Bhupathi if he made a conscious effort to step up as the team's emotional leader this time around. "Yeah, definitely. We've had a tough road trip coming into tonight and, as you saw, we were pretty flat coming out. So we needed to get the energy flowing and definitely the crowd was amazing tonight and helped us get up. That's what came through at the end." Bhupathi's doubles partnership with Max Mirnyi will resume when the WTT season ends, but for now he's focused on helping the Buzz catch the New York Hamptons in the Eastern Conference standings. A season-ending three match road trip will seal their fate one way or another. |