For the second year in a row, the end of the U.S. Open signals the beginning of the World Team Tennis season. For those unfamiliar with WTT's format, here are the main ways it differs from regular tennis:
Monday, September 8th was opening night for the 1997 World Team Tennis season, with just one match on the schedule -- the brand new Milwaukee Racqueteers facing the New York OTBzz in Schenectady, NY. The big story in this one was supposed to be the WTT debut of Russian phenom Anna Kournikova. The 16-year-old was scheduled to play three matches with "the Bees" (the first two at home) before Brenda Schultz-McCarthy would take her place on the roster. Kournikova's name and face were splashed all over the local sports sections, along with quotes about how she was looking forward to the Team Tennis experience.
Despite all the hype, I wouldn't believe the glamour girl would really deign to appear in little Schenectady until I saw it for myself. Therefore I wasn't too surprised when I arrived at the site to see OTBzz Debbie Graham, Dave Randall, and Kenny Thorne warming up with someone who clearly was not Kournikova. This fourth player looked quite a bit like Joannette Kruger, the South African who's in the middle of a fine comeback season on the WTA Tour. I wasn't completely sure, though. Perhaps Kournikova was still in her trailer engaging in a diva tantrum of some kind while the rest of the team hit with this Kruger lookalike.
It wasn't until the starting lineups were announced that the crowd was let in on the big news. "Baby Spice" had withdrawn with "a possible stress fracture of her big toe" and was indeed being replaced by the real Joannette Kruger. I'm not sure how the Bees would have managed to track down a world-class (albeit not world-famous) player like Kruger at the last minute. I can only assume they knew in advance that Kournikova would not be appearing, but allowed the media to play up her appearance anyway so they could sell some tickets. General admission is free, but you have to pay for the good seats (and they obviously could sell more of those good seats to fans expecting to see the young rising star).
As it turns out, the Kournikova injury appears to be legitimate. Not very serious, but legitimate. Depending on where you get your information, it's either a sprained right big toe or a possible stress fracture of that toe. World Team Tennis executive director Ilana Klass had the following to say about the situation: "I think if she was 25 or 26, they'd just give her a shot, and tell her to go play. But she's young, so the doctors don't want to take any chances with her. They showed me the X-rays. She's really hurt... I think it had been bothering her a little bit during the (U.S.) Open, but she hurt it again practicing. They called me late (Sunday) night to tell me."
So Kruger really was summoned at the last minute. "I was in Hilton Head; I was on my vacation, but I got a phone call asking me to play, so I said, `Yeah.' I got here at 3 p.m. (just three hours before the start of the match)... I think after I get used to the court and get some practice in, I'll play better."
World Team Tennis rosters tend to undergo quite a bit of change from the player draft to the actual start of the season. Team members come and go, sometimes without an excuse. Nonetheless, Tami Whitlinger-Jones stuck to her Milwaukee commitment in spite of one of the best excuses you could imagine -- she's about four months pregnant. Tami's doctor cleared her to play the U.S. Open, however, and apparently she feels good enough to get in some Team Tennis before putting her career on hold for the blessed event.
You could excuse the players for not yet being completely adjusted to the WTT mindset on opening night. You could also excuse the umpire -- at 30-0 in the first game, she called a let and had to correct herself (Jack Waite then walked over to tease her about the slip-up). Dave Randall scored an ace and two service winners on his way to holding for a 1-0 New York lead. Waite responded with a love hold for 1-1. Debbie Graham, who has one of the biggest serves in the women's game, seemed well on her way to adding another hold when she smacked an ace for 40-0. The Bees lost the next four points, though, Graham double faulting on game point to give Milwaukee a 2-1 lead.
Jack Waite surrendered the lead in the following game, his netted backhand volley on game point breaking Jones to make it 2-2. Yet another 40-40 game followed, Waite winning this one with a deftly struck lob. Waite added an easy hold to go up 4-2. Graham managed another ace in an easy hold for 4-3. Jones was pushed to 40-40 again, but held for 5-3. The set nearly came to a quick end after that, a Randall double fault and Graham overhead miss making it 0-40. Randall fought off all three set points, however, getting to 5-4. Waite, the only player not yet broken, was pushed to 30-30 in the 10th game, but he responded with two service winners in a row to complete the set. 6-4 MILWAUKEE.
Going by their WTA Tour rankings at the end of 1996, you'd swear this was a complete mismatch. Injury woes left Kruger at a lowly 112th in the world when the season ended, while Wild was riding high at #31. A major reversal of fortune has followed in '97, however. Mired in a season-long slump, the Chicago native found herself at #112 when the new rankings came out on Monday. Kruger, on the other hand, has ridden a career year to the #39 slot and arrived in Schenectady off a fourth round showing at the U.S. Open.
So Kruger is the one playing well, right? Not in the opening game of this set. The highlight for her was an ace off a net cord, Kruger triumphantly raising her arms to celebrate the lucky shot. Wild scored a break, however, winning a game point with a sharp cross-court backhand. Wild bent down to tie her shoe during the second game, prompting "Dr. Sound" (the DJ hired to announce this year's OTBzz home games) to play the infamous "Final Jeopardy" music. Wild was unfazed, this time winning the crucial 40-40 point with a cross-court forehand. Known for her net game, Wild was remaining conspiculously glued to the baseline. It certainly was working, though -- she broke Kruger at love for a 3-0 lead.
During the fourth game, "Dr. Sound" made his latest attempt to spur the crowd into a buzzing frenzy. This is part of the shtick at OTBzz games -- the fans are supposed to make a "bzzzz" noise before big points as a way of firing up the home team and disturbing the opponents. It usually goes over like a lead balloon, though. Wild had fun with it, swatting at an imaginary bee before serving. She built a 40-15 lead, but served a pair of double faults to bring up game point. Wild recovered well, using a deep first serve to set up a forehand winner. She took a 4-0 lead over the surprisingly flat Kruger, who probably thought she was going to be on vacation this week and may not have been ready to play.
New York coach Inder Singh wisely used his substitution at this point, sending in Debbie Graham to replace Kruger for the rest of the set. Graham has had little singles success the past couple years, mostly relegated to failed qualifying attempts. However, it's nice just to see her able to make the effort. In July 1995, Graham suffered a massive pulmonary thromboembolism (which in simple English is a blood clot of the lungs) which put not only her career but her life in danger. Put in that perspective, a little 4-0 deficit couldn't have looked too daunting.
Graham trailed 30-40 in her first game off the bench, but she eventually held serve on a Wild forehand error. The OTBzz were finally on the scoreboard in this set and nobody was happier about it than Kruger, who ran out to give Graham a high-five. Wild had a miserable sixth game, sinking to 15-40 on a chipped forehand into the net and losing on a double fault. Graham then narrowed the lead to 4-3 with a solid service game. Wild took a 40-30 lead in the eighth game, but missed a pair of forehands for 4-4.
Debbie Graham had totally siezed the momentum and Wild was looking more like her '97 self than her '96 incarnation. Then Graham went up 40-15 in the next game...but failed to capitalize. She double faulted for 40-30 and hit two straight forehands into the net to hand Wild a 5-4 lead. Wild wasn't about the let this lead slip away. Graham sent a forehand long on the first set point (at 40-30). Her comeback had made a difference on the scoreboard, but it hadn't ended well. 6-4 MILWAUKEE. TOTAL SCORE: 12-8 MILWAUKEE.
Another umpire gaffe to report early in this one -- she lost track of the score in the opening game, calling 40-15 when in fact the Bees had won the game. Notably, it was good sports Jones and Wild who corrected her. They fought off a couple break points in the subsequent game, Wild holding for 1-1. The third game went to 40-40, at which point Kruger punched a backhand volley long. She whirled around and groaned, now trailing 2-1. An easy Jones hold made it 3-1 in the set and gave Milwaukee a commanding 15-9 lead in the cumulative score.
Wild was distracted by a moving linesman in the first point of the following game. She held up a hand before the second point, telling Graham to wait until everyone was in position. "The last time, that guy was walking all the way to his line," she said. "Naah," came a derisive voice from the crowd. "Yeaah," Wild replied. None of this mattered much, as Graham zipped through a love hold to make it 3-2.
A hideous attempt at an overhead by Kruger ended the next game, Wild holding for 4-2. Kruger held for 4-3, though, and the Bees had a chance at 30-30 in the Jones service game. A backhand winner by Graham and forehand volley error by Jones followed, getting the OTBzz back on serve at 4-4. Graham then held for a 5-4 lead and hit a touch volley winner to go up 30-40 in Wild's service game. The rally was completed when Graham hit another winning volley to seal the game and the set. The Bees were finally on track. 6-4 NEW YORK. TOTAL SCORE: 16-14 MILWAUKEE
The Central Park stadium had a distinctly empty feel when this set got underway. A 10-minute intermission followed the third set and was apparently taken by many fans as a cue to leave altogether. Graham, Kruger, and Wild were also absent -- they had gone back to the trailers and didn't return to cheer on their male teammates until the first game of this set was complete (Jones also departed briefly but was back in time). If you had to pick a set to skip, this may have been the ideal one. Neither team can boast a player ranked in the ATP's Top 200 in singles, although Thorne was one of the surprise success stories of the '96 WTT season (when he posted the second best men's singles record in the league).
Thorne, who has an entertaining net-charging style, managed a pair of great forehand passes in the opening game -- the second came at 40-40 and broke Waite's serve. Thorne scored an easy hold for 2-0 and nearly went up 3-0, just missing a backhand on game point. Thorne did hold at love for 3-1 and broke for 4-1 when Waite netted a backhand volley at 40-40. The Bees now had an overall lead of 18 to 17.
The next game was a weird one. Two foot faults were called against Thorne and a wrong-footed Waite fell down once. More importantly, Waite delivered a pair of winning lobs on his way to a 15 break for 4-2. Waite then fought off a break point with an ace in the seventh game, holding to 4-3 on a service winner.
Thorne whacked three service winners in the eighth game, holding for 5-3. Waite held at love to make it 5-4, forcing Thorne to serve out the set. Despite a lot of support from the crowd, Thorne came up short -- he sent a backhand wide on game point, making the score 5-5 and forcing a best-of-nine tiebreaker.
Waite got off to a bad start with a double fault and trailed 2-1 after a Thorne ace. Thorne missed a forehand for 2-2, but hit a volley winner for 3-2. A volley error by Waite gave the OTBzz double set point at 4-2. Two backhand errors by Thorne dragged him back to 4-4, meaning the next point would end the set. It ended in Milwaukee's favor, Waite ripping a forehand pass down the line to clinch the tiebreaker 5 points to 4. 6-5 MILWAUKEE. TOTAL SCORE: 22-19 MILWAUKEE
Often in the 1995 season, New York's collective butt was saved by men's doubles, where "Bash Brothers" Dave Randall and Roger Smith excelled. Team captain Randall is still here (the only original Bee player on hand for this match), but his partner for the second season in a row is Thorne. The combination isn't quite as strong, so the 3-point deficit loomed large against capable doubles specialists Christo van Rensburg and Jack Waite. Perhaps the Bees had to hope the 35-year-old Van Rensburg had gotten rusty sitting on the bench for the first four sets. Christo had been warming up between sets, though, and seemed to be in very good spirits (dancing when he was introduced at the start and chatting animatedly with teammates during the games).
Easy holds for Thorne and Waite made the score 1-1. A pair of volley errors by Thorne broke Randall for 2-1 and Van Rensburg held easily for 3-1. To say the least, things did not look good for the home team. "Dr. Sound" chimed in with wisecracks throughout the match, but it was a fan who got off the best line of the night during the fifth game of this fifth set. After a questionable call went against the Bees, he yelled out to the umpire, "It's not our fault they didn't give you a chair!" (referring to the WTT practice of having the umpire spend the entire match standing on a wooden box rather than sit in an elevated chair). The Bees lost the argument but won the game, cutting the lead to 3-2.
Thorne's mediocre play -- which began after he took that 4-1 lead in the singles set -- continued. He missed a volley midway through the sixth game, chiding himself "don't miss that!" and saying "sorry" to Randall. Thorne failed to reach a drop shot before its second bounce on the next point, running all the way to his chair and then whacking the chair with his racquet. Waite held easily for 4-2; Randall did likewise for 4-3. New York lost the following game when a Thorne shot at 40-30 hit Randall in the back (the second time that had happened).
A Randall smash and Thorne service winner clinched the following game for 5-4, but the OTBzz still faced a tough uphill climb trailing 27-23 in the cumulative score. Their only hope was to break Waite's serve and reel off three more games in a row. It didn't happen. Big serving from Waite limited the Bees to just one point in the 10th game. 6-4 MILWAUKEE. FINAL SCORE: 28-23 MILWAUKEE
So the debut of the 1997 New York OTBzz was doubly disappointing for their fans. They didn't get to see Anna Kournikova and didn't even get to see a win, as the Bees dropped a match they probably would have won with "the Lobbing Lolita" in tow. Joannette Kruger was quite disappointing in her World Team Tennis debut and Kenny Thorne wasn't much better. The Milwaukee Racqueteers, who had a couple fans sporting foam "cheese heads" in attendance, got the franchise off to a nice start with a road win. It had to be a much needed confidence boost for a team whose star player is in the worst slump of her career and whose other members range from a 35-year-old to a pregnant woman.