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by Christopher Gerby Despite overcast skies and a threat of rain in the forecast, approximately 1,200 fans turned out for the New York Buzz's match against the visiting Springfield Lasers. It was Kids Night, after all, with special guests including a clown, the Roadrunner mascot, and...Alan Schwartz? Yes, the president of the United States Tennis Association put in an appearance, receiving a plaque from Buzz owner Nitty Singh. The honor was her way of thanking the USTA for moving a $50,000 women's challenger event to Schenectady this summer. The tournament gets underway next week and On The Line will be there. As for the Buzz, they'd finally gotten things turned around after an 0-4 start. A road match against the intrastate rival New York Sportimes was a Friday night bonanza. Justin Bower and Shaun Rudman remained winless in men's doubles, but the Buzz took the other four sets for an overwhelming 24-12 victory. Most notable was 15-year-old Buzz starlet Viktoriya Kutuzova laying a 5-0 bagel on struggling legend Monica Seles. The Ukranian phenom's eyes pratically lit up when I asked her about that experience. "This is the first time I was playing a star like she is and this is what's really great. She won a lot of Grand Slams and she's a great player and I can be sure that I can do something like this." With an attitude like that, Viktoriya and the Buzz had to be fairly confident as they took the court against 1-4 Springfield's low wattage lineup. First set: women's doubles -- Kutuzova/Stewart vs. Bedanova/Schlukebir Bryanne Stewart managed to lose the evening's opening game all by herself, committing three unforced errors before coughing up a double fault to have her serve broken at love. Stewart's struggles continued until Game 3, when she finally struck a winning volley and got a big ovation from the attentive Schenectady crowd. Unfortunately, the bad mojo had drifted over to partner Viktoriya Kutuzova, who double faulted twice en route to dropping her own serve. Daja Bedanova fought off a break point in extending Springfield's lead to a commanding 4-0. Every game counts in the cumulative scoring format of World Team Tennis, though, so the Buzz ladies were determined to at least get on the board. With Kutuzova in particular striking the ball with incredible ferocity, New York managed a hold for 1-4 and broke Kristen Schlukebir, narrowing the gap to 2-4. Things really went awry for the Lasers in Game 7. A steady drizzle of rain began falling, they lost an argument over a line call, and they could only watch helplessly when a ball off Kutuzova's racket literally danced across the net cord before falling in for a winner, getting the Buzz to within 3-4. Momentum clearly on their side now, New York opened up a 0-40 lead on Bedanova's serve and secured the love break when Kutuzova absolutely spanked a backhand return down the line. Having dropped four games in a row, Bedanova and Schlukebir had nothing left for the tiebreak. Kutuzova was the star, racking up three winners in the 'breaker. The Buzz took it 5 points to 1 when Viktoriya rifled a backhand past Schlukebir. OVERALL SCORE: BUZZ 5, LASERS 4 Rain continued to fall, delaying the start of the second event. One by one, the players and coaches began heading for their trailer. As Viktoriya Kutuzova headed off court, one of the rowdy fans known as the Buzz Boys called out, "Is there a delay?" She looked up and politely answered in the affirmative. As she told me after the match, the interruption couldn't have come at a better time. "After the doubles match, it was a really good comeback, and I was a little bit tired, so for me it was better with the rain." After a break of just about 35 minutes, the court was dry enough for Kutuzova to play singles. Second set: women's singles -- Viktoriya Kutuzova vs. Daja Bedanova The case of one-time rising star Daja Bedanova is a curious one. Three years ago she upset a still viable Monica Seles on her way to the US Open quarterfinals. As a teenager, she cracked the Top 16 in the world rankings. A swift decline followed, however, as Bedanova inexplicably fell from the Top 100. Thus far in 2004, the Czech has yet to play a main draw singles match on the WTA Tour, instead grinding it out in challengers and qualifying, with limited success. A lack of confidence would appear to be one major problem and it's obvious Daja's teammates are trying to help her in that regard. Kristen Schlukebir spent much of this evening's second set leaning so far forward in her chair that it nearly tipped over as she urged Bedanova on with words of encouragement like "come on girl," "you got it," and "great job, Daja!" Bedanova and Viktoriya Kutuzova appeared evenly matched early on, playing long points in very competitive games. Kutuzova drew first blood, ripping a forehand winner on game point to break Bedanova for a 2-1 lead. She gave the break right back, however, uncharacteristically slicing a backhand wide for 2-2. Bedanova grew frustrated in Game 5, bouncing her racket after pushing a backhand volley long. To make matters worse, she double faulted to surrender the game. Kutuzova had a 3-2 lead, but Bedanova was really putting her through her paces. After making a spirited run from the baseline to the net chasing a drop shot, a winded Kutuzova showed the guile of a veteran. The youngster kneeled down and feigned tying her shoe, merely fidgeting with the tied laces long enough to catch her breath. "Sorry," she said to her opponent with a raise of the hand before resuming play. The game ended with Bedanova engaging Kutuzova in an even longer rally, the most grueling of the set. Kutuzova sent a weary desperation forehand winner down the line (good for a 4-2 lead) before leaning on the net and looking to the heavens. Bedanova took an angry swipe at the backdrop while Lasers coach Trevor "Tank" Kronemann turned his attention to Kutuzova's energy-restoring tactics. "She's gotta be ready to play," he told the umpire. Another long wait between points early in Game 7 may have thrown off Bedanova. When she double faulted for 15-30, a livid Coach Kronemann bolted out of his chair and gave the umpire a lecture about the returner's responsibility to play to the server's pace. "She shouldn't be able to hold her up!" he bellowed. It wouldn't be an issue much longer: Bedanova pulled off on a backhand on set point, burying it in the net to lose 5-2. Kutuzova jogged to her chair, raising a clenched fist to the crowd's delight. Soon after, the clown appeared on court, presenting Viktoriya with a balloon animal. She accepted it with a shy smile before departing for the players trailer. Kronemann and Bedanova then took turns talking to the umpire, most likely about Kutuzova's stalling. Viktoriya was honest about the fatigue when I inquired about it after the match. "I was very tired, because we had a lot of really long points between us. I needed to get a little bit of rest between the points." OVERALL SCORE: BUZZ 10, LASERS 6 Third set: mixed doubles -- Bower/Stewart vs. Kratzmann/Schlukebir Breaking Justin Bower's serve in the opening game, the Lasers mixed doubles combination of 32-year-old Aussie Andrew Kratzmann and 20-year-old American Kristen Schlukebir got off to a promising a 2-0 start. The Buzz got red hot, though, taking 12 of the next 13 points and earning a 3-2 lead. Kratzmann bounced back, holding at love for 3-3 . Facing break point on Bryanne Stewart's serve, Bower tried to be the hero by making a daring poach, but his volley found the net. Schlukebir served it out from there, winning the set 5-3 when Stewart's return of a second serve sailed wide. It's been a pretty iffy Team Tennis campaign for Bryanne, who gave her racket an end-over-end bounce before returning to the sidelines. OVERALL SCORE: BUZZ 13, LASERS 11 The PA announcer let everyone know the customary 10-minute intermssion following the third set would be skipped tonight, thanks to the earlier rain delay. Alas, right on cue, the drizzle picked up again and forced a second delay. Many of the fans (including the infamous Buzz Boys) headed home, but some of the die-hards who stuck around were treated to autographs from the Buzz players. The clown even hopped back onto the court to spend some more quality time amusing Viktoriya Kutuzova. At 9:45 pm, more than 30 minutes after the previous set concluded, play resumed. Fourth set: men's singles -- Justin Bower vs. Jalal Chafai Judging strictly by the ATP entry system rankings, this wasn't a matchup worth waiting out a rain delay for. Off the tour for several months following knee surgery, Bower had fallen into a tie for 914th on the ATP computer. Amazingly, that puts him 15 spots ahead of Jalal Chafai, a Moroccan who lists Springfield, Missouri as his residence (which might explain why the Lasers acquired him). The match's overall outcome was still very much in doubt, though, and this would be a rare opportunity to watch two players with one-handed backhands square off. Bower was getting the better of it from the jump, leaving Chafai in the dust with one unreturnable serve after another. Chafai kept the set on serve, however, saving break points in Games 3 and 5. Jalal seemed to hit a pretty good groove in Game 7, holding easily for a 4-3 lead. Strangely, though, he was then substituted out in favor of Andrew Kratzmann, who hasn't played a singles match on the pro tour since May 2000. Perhaps Coach Kronemann was hoping Kratzmann would have better luck getting a read on Bower's wicked lefty serve. It didn't happen. Bower held at love, taking full momentum into the tiebreak. Justin drilled a winning forehand pass for the only mini-break, eventually closing out a 5-3 win of the 'breaker with yet another service winner. OVERALL SCORE: BUZZ 18, LASERS 15 Fifth set: men's doubles -- Bower/Rudman vs. Chafai/Kratzmann Inexplicably, Buzz coach Jolene Watanabe continues to let her hapless men's doubles team (0 for 5 on the season) serve as the anchor, scheduling their set last in the order of events. Justin Bower and the Springfield men picked up right where they left off, throwing big serves at each other. Bower took a 3-2 lead with his second consecutive love hold, scoring two aces in each game. Jalal Chafai faced a break point in the following game and Bower converted, putting away a volley so authoritatively that one fan called him "Mahesh" (in honor of former Buzz doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi). Leading 4-2 in the set and 22-17 in the overall score, New York would turn to weak link Shaun Rudman, who'd narrowly avoided dropping serve earlier in the set. Rudman got within two points of victory at 30-30 before tossing in a double fault. Facing break point, Bower reflexed a volley into the net. Justin seemed to take out an entire year's worth of frustrations on said net, violently whacking the tape with his racket. Game 8 ended on an almost identical note, Bower again blocking a volley into the net. His reaction was no less subtle this time -- Bower picked up the ball and whacked it high into the surrounding forest. He somehow managed to escape without a code violation, but he and Rudman would now have to dig in for a tiebreak against Chafai and Kratzmann, who could still force overtime. OVERALL SCORE: BUZZ 22, LASERS 20 When the trailing team wins the final set in World Team Tennis, they force overtime, in which they can attempt to win enough games in a row to tie the score. If the leading team wins a game before that, the match is over. That part was simple enough, but the matter of who would serve to open overtime was in dispute. With the unbelievable roll he was on with the serve, Bower obviously wanted the ball. He'd served first in the tiebreak, though, technically making that his service game and bringing up Chafai's turn in the rotation. "I wasn't too happy about that. I thought it was me," Bower admitted after the match. Adding to the drama, Chafai dropped just one point on serve, getting the Lasers to within a game of the supertiebreak, now trailing just 21-22. Bower again asked if it was his turn to serve, prompting Lasers coach Trevor Kronemann to grin and say, "He can't serve every game." Indeed, the pressure would fall on Shaun Rudman's shoulders again. He won the first point, but double faulted to 15-15. A nice volley by Bower (so nice that Kratzmann threw his racket at the ball as it eluded him) made it 30-15. A clutch service winner got Rudman to match point at 40-15. The quieter of the Buzz's two South Africans, who's lost all seven sets he's played for the team this year, saved his best for last. A nice first serve glanced off Kratzmann's racket and made it official: the New York Buzz had their first home win of the season. FINAL SCORE: BUZZ 23, LASERS 21 (OT) Turning to some young fans moments after the victory, Justin Bower shouted, "That's thanks to you guys, baby. You pulled me through it!" His doubles partnership with buddy Shaun Rudman may not be "the well oiled machine we could be," Bower admits, "but we're definitely playing better than the first couple of nights, starting to get it together a little bit." A key to that resurgence has been Bower's serve, which is absolutely on fire thanks to a tip from Viktoriya Kutuzova's coach/father, Valeriy. "He told me that I needed to get my hip in a little more like Roddick, so I get a little more extension, a little more height." Bower jokingly expressed a desire to hire Viktoriya's dad as his own coach. "I'm gonna have to marry her so we can share him." Following their second win in a row, could Bower say the Buzz are turning the corner? "You know what? Everybody says it's too soon to do that, but the Buzz rock. We're gonna rock, we've got a little momentum, and I'm gonna call it right here that we're gonna have a good rest of the season." Viktoriya Kutuzova may not be Justin's future wife, but she agreed with that last answer. "We're going better and better. The first time, I didn't know how Bryanne plays. She didn't know how I play doubles, so it was tough. Now we know each other, the same way guys, and same way mixed doubles, and we can do better." The Buzz will take that momentum to Philadelphia before returning home for a July 16th bout against the league's reigning champions, the Delaware Smash. |