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Tennis News Wire -
Venus Williams leads Washington Kastles to World
TeamTennis title
Venus Williams led the Washington Kastles to their
second consecutive World TeamTennis title today with a
20-19 victory over the Sacramento Capitals at the Family
Circle Tennis Center in Charleston, S.C. Williams was
also named the Finals MVP, winning her sets in women's
doubles, mixed doubles and the decisive final set of
women's singles.
The win gives the Kastles 32 consecutive match wins, the
second longest streak in U.S. pro sports history. The
top mark is 33, held by the NBA's 1971-72 Lakers.
With the overall score tied at 15-15 heading into the
final set, Williams edged Coco Vandeweghe 5-4 in women's
singles to give the Kastles their third title in the
past four seasons. Although Williams was part of
championship teams in Philadelphia and Washington, this
was the first time she had played in the championship
match. She credited her Kastles teammates for giving her
the edge in a tight final set. "I had to come out on
fire today," said Williams. "Knowing I had to play for
my team was motivating."
"Coco played her heart out," said Sacramento coach Wayne
Bryan. " I'm very proud of our team and congratulations
to the Kastles."
Sacramento led early when Kevin Anderson defeated Bobby
Reynolds in the opening set, winning men's singles 5-3.
Anderson served up three aces and won 79 percent of his
first serve points compared to 61 percent for Reynolds.
Washington broke Asia Muhammad's serve twice in women's
doubles and closed out the set on Venus Williams' serve,
5-1.
Men's doubles was highlighted by brilliant shot-making
by the Kastles' Leander Paes but it was the Caps that
broke Paes serve for a 2-1 lead. Anderson pushed the
lead to 4-2 on his serve and broke Paes serve for a
second time to take the set 5-2 and lead 11-10 at
halftime.
Coach Wayne Bryan started Anderson in mixed doubles to
take advantage of his big serve and the strategy worked
as Sacramento won the first game and broke Paes serve to
lead 2-0. Washington broke back against Vandeweghe's
serve then Williams held to tie the set at 2-2. After a
seesaw battle that evened the score at 4-all, Washington
pulled out the set win in a 9-point tiebreak, 5-4 (1).
FINAL RESULTS:
World TeamTennis Finals presented by GEICO
Family Circle Tennis Center – Charleston, S.C. - Sunday,
September 16
WASHINGTON KASTLES def. Sacramento Capitals 20-19
Men's Singles - Kevin Anderson (Capitals) def. Bobby
Reynolds (Kastles) 5-3
Women's Doubles - Venus WilliamsAnastasia Rodionova (Kastles)
def. Yasmin SchnackAsia Muhammad (Capitals) 5-1
Men's Doubles - Mark KnowlesKevin Anderson (Capitals)
def. Bobby ReynoldsLeander Paes (Kastles) 5-2
Mixed Doubles - Leander PaesVenus Williams (Kastles)
def. Mark KnowlesCoco Vandeweghe (Capitals) 5-4
Women's Singles - Venus Williams (Kastles) def. Coco
Vandeweghe (Capitals) 5-4
