From 1982 to 1994, Nitty Singh gained positive notices while serving as tournament director of the OTB International Open in Schenectady, NY. A co-ed event held annually the week before the US Open, the OTB was known for its free admission and history of awarding wild cards to promising young Americans. One such up-and-comer was Chanda Rubin, who reached the 1992 doubles semifinals while paired with fellow teenager Lindsay Davenport. 13 years after her last appearance in that tournament -- and just back after knee and ankle surgeries kept her off the tennis circuit for a year -- Rubin returned to the sleepy upstate town, representing the Philadelphia Freedoms of World TeamTennis. "It was so many years ago," Rubin remarked when I brought up her days at the OTB. "I remember that tournament was nice and they treated the players really well. Nitty's always been great. I've been knowing her for years. That's kinda what I remember the most, but it was so long ago. I'm happy to be back and playing here again for at least one match."

Unfortunately, Rubin's return wouldn't come in the scenic Central Park setting where the now defunct tournament was held. Rainy conditions (which grew worse as the evening wore on) forced the Freedoms' match against the New York Buzz indoors to the Schenectady Racquet Club. Ominous, given the knee woes Rubin is just now returning from, is the fact that Liezel Huber tore her ACL on that very same indoor court last season. Adding insult to potential injury was the announcer's bungled introduction of "Chandra" Rubin, who responded by rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "Yes, he butchered it totally," Chanda said with a laugh later on. "And he forgot to introduce the coach!"

Freedoms coach Craig Kardon eventually did get a belated introduction to the small crowd of approximately 100 hearty fans who lined an adjoining court to watch the action. They all got in free of charge, meaning another evening of lost revenue for the floundering Buzz. It seems to be one calamity after another for the home team, who came in with a 2-3 record following a narrow supertiebreak loss to the New York Sportimes.

First set: men's singles -- Scott Lipsky vs. Frederic Niemeyer

30-year-old journeyman Frederic Niemeyer continues to soldier on, playing challenger and futures events while trying to improve a ranking that has never risen above 134th in the world. Presumably what keeps the Canadian going is his massive first serve, which he's used to record as many as five consecutive aces in the past. The move indoors to the Racquet Club only served to enhance that weapon. It took eight return points for Scott Lipsky of the Buzz to even put a return in play. Lipsky was comfortably holding his own serve, however, and the set inexorably zoomed towards a tiebreak. Practically the only highlight in a contest nearly devoid of rallies was the scary sight of Niemeyer almost crashing through the backdrop into a hallway. He'd attempted to steady himself against a fence or wall that wasn't actually there, but escaped unharmed. At 4 games apiece, the tiebreak got underway...

SL serving: Service winner from Lipsky -- 1-0 BUZZ

SL: Niemeyer nets his forehand return of a second serve -- 2-0 BUZZ

FN: Niemeyer's serve skims the tape (allowed in WTT) and proves unreturnable -- 2-1 BUZZ

FN: Going for a big second serve down the T, Niemeyer double faults -- 3-1 BUZZ

SL: Lipsky's defensive backhand sails long; Niemeyer shouts "come on!" -- 3-2 BUZZ

SL: A running Niemeyer finds the net with a forehand - 4-2 BUZZ

FN: Another costly Niemeyer double fault, this one long, ends the set -- 5-2 BUZZ

OVERALL SCORE: BUZZ 5, FREEDOMS 4

Second set: women's doubles -- Ditty/Kutuzova vs. Dellacqua/Rubin

Chanda Rubin wasn't the only member of the Freedoms with a Schenectady history. Casey Dellacqua (alongside partner Nicole Sewell) won the doubles title at a 2004 challenger event played in Central Park. Dellacqua, who appears to have slimmed down a bit in the interim, was the most impressive player on the court early in the women's doubles stanza. Some really nice volleys from the Aussie southpaw keyed a love break of Julie Ditty for a 2-0 Freedoms lead. Breaks then became all the rage as Dellacqua, Viktoriya Kutuzova, Rubin, and Ditty all dropped serve, taking the score to 4-2 in Philly's favor.

When Dellacqua fell behind 15-40 in Game 7, yet another break appeared imminent. However, two Ditty forehand errors in a row brought up deuce -- a single "deciding point" in WTT rules. The ensuing rally was a short one, ending when Kutuzova drove a backhand into the net. Mired in a WTT season long slump, Kutuzova threw an arm up in frustration. Rubin had also looked a bit shaky, particularly at the net, but she and Dellacqua had done enough to secure the set by a 5-2 tally.

OVERALL SCORE: FREEDOMS 9, BUZZ 7

Third set: women's singles -- Julie Ditty vs. Chanda Rubin

Using World TeamTennis as a springboard in her return to competitive tennis following a year-long absence, Chanda Rubin had seen mixed results, winning two of four singles sets. Her final WTT test would come against unheralded lefty Julie Ditty, seeing a second straight night of singles duty in place of struggling teammate Viktoriya Kutuzova. If Ditty was nervous facing a player once ranked # 6 in the world, she didn't show it early on. Ditty dropped just one service point en route to a 2-1 lead. Rubin began clocking winners off both wings, however, holding for 2-2 and getting a 30-40 edge in Game 5. Ditty saved one break point, but the winner-take-all deuce point saw Rubin crush a backhand return to break and secure a 3-2 lead.

Rubin was showing flashes of her old greatness, but her rusty strokes remain marred by inconsistency. The Louisiana native committed three wild unforced errors in Game 6, quickly dropping serve to even the set at 3 games apiece. Rubin was dictating most of the play, however, and she pushed Ditty around in Game 7's rallies, breaking right back for a 4-3 advantage. Ditty saved a set point in the following game, but couldn't fend off another. The 27-year-old sent one last forehand long and waved her hand in dismissive disgust. Marking another positive step in her comeback, Rubin snared a 5-3 singles win to extend her team's lead.

OVERALL SCORE: FREEDOMS 14, BUZZ 10

Fourth set: mixed doubles -- Lipsky/Ditty vs. Nestor/Dellacqua

He's probably still recovering from the 23-21 fifth set he played over the course of two days at Wimbledon, but Daniel Nestor looked pretty sharp in his first appearance of the night. Nestor's wicked lefty serve was on song in routine holds for 1-0 and 3-2 in the mixed doubles. The Scott Lipsky service game that followed was more complicated. He trailed 30-40, but Julie Ditty temporarily bailed him out with a winning volley. However, the 40-40 "deciding point" remained and the Buzz had not been winning the majority of them against Philadelphia. The trend continued as Nestor finished an entertaining exchange by whipping a forehand winner down the line.

Trying to serve it out at 4-2, Dellacqua faced yet another deciding point. Again, two time Grand Slam doubles champion Nestor was too tough. He bent low to make a nice pickup volley, then knifed away a winning backhand volley to wrap up a 5-2 win of the set. A very credible effort from the Buzz, but they'd been outclassed on the key points.

OVERALL SCORE: FREEDOMS 19, BUZZ 12

Fifth set: men's doubles -- Corkery/Lipsky vs. Nestor/Niemeyer

Already trailing by seven games with only one event left to be played, the last thing the Buzz needed to face was this pair of rocket serving Canadians. The fifth set would prove similar in tone to the first, with rallies in short supply and unreturnable serves ruling the day. At 4-4 in the set and still trailing by seven overall, K.C. Corkery and Scott Lipsky had quite a mountain to climb. They'd first need to win the men's doubles tiebreak to maintain any chance...

SL serving: Lipsky opens with a service winner -- 1-0 BUZZ

SL: Another nice Lipsky serve sets up an easy volley for Corkery -- 2-0 BUZZ

DN: Nestor swings an ace out wide -- 2-1 BUZZ

DN: Dipping return by Lipsky; Nestor fails to dig out the shoestring volley -- 3-1 BUZZ

KC: Corkery pops a reflex forehand volley just long -- 3-2 BUZZ

KC: Nestor rips a forehand pass off a lunging Corkery's racquet -- 3-3

FN: Nestor is long with a forehand volley; Corkery screams "come on!" -- 4-3 BUZZ

FN: "Great serve!" shouts Craig Kardon after Niemeyer's unreturnable blast -- 4-4

FN: On a simultaneous set point/match point, Lipsky buries a forehand return in the net -- 5-4 FREEDOMS

FINAL SCORE: FREEDOMS 24, BUZZ 16

While the local print media descended upon members of the vanquished home team, I chatted with Chanda Rubin, who went out a winner in the last of her 2006 World TeamTennis appearances. "This was good for me to get back out into competition, having to put the shots together, move under live conditions," said Rubin, who last played a WTA event in July 2005. "I'm happy with the play that I've been able to get. I definitely wanna continue to do better and continue to hit out on my shots a bit better, get my movement better, but so far I'm pretty pleased with what I've been able to do." Rubin, who kept her leg elevated throughout the men's doubles set, admits that her physical form is something of a work in progress. "I'm still taking it kinda one day at a time, trying to make sure I recover and put myself in the best shape physically. I mean, I'll have to play two-out-of-three singles in tournaments, so I'll have to bump it up a little bit."

Craig Kardon may be the coach of the Freedoms, but Rubin sat next to her own longtime coach Benny Sims throughout the match. Even during a year of inactivity, their partnership remained intact. "We've been together for eight years. He's been an integral part of my tennis," Rubin says of Sims. "We've come back a couple of different times from injuries and surgeries. He's been very, very important." Chanda, who played the first match in the history of Arthur Ashe Stadium at the 1997 US Open, was granted a wild card into the ' 05 Open, but the injury problems forced her to turn it down. Next scheduled to play a hard court tournament at Stanford, she hopes her summer of play will culminate with a return to the Open. "That's the plan. That's what this is all for, getting ready for that." The weary Buzz, meanwhile, are also heading to California. They'll lug their 2-4 record to Sacramento and Newport Beach before returning home on July 17th.