NY Empire Drop Two Tiebreakers in Loss to Lasers

After the rain forced the match between the Empire and the Lasers to move inside to the practice courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, things got started with the men’s singles match between former professional tennis player, Mardy Fish, and rising ATP star, Miomir Kecmanovic.

Kecmanovic got off to a fast start on Fish, winning the match 5-2 and converting on two of his six break point chances. Kecmanovic was able to win 73% of his first serve points despite not serving a single service ace.

When asked about how he enjoyed his first summer playing WTT, Kecmanovic said: “It was definitely tough getting used to it. It was just fun to play and I enjoyed myself.”

Fish on the other hand, hit four aces and won 85% of his first serve points. What hurt Fish was his second serve as he won just three out of the 13 points on his second serve.

“You never want to come out first and lose 5-2, and get broken on serve twice; that doesn’t happen very often for me at any time,” said Fish. “It’s unfortunate that I let the team here and didn’t send get them off to a good start.”

In women’s doubles, Tatjana Maria and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez opened up a 3-0 lead, but the Lasers’ duo of Vania King and Abigail Spears staged a massive comeback to win the flight in a tiebreaker 5-4.

After the Lasers won the men’s doubles match 5-4 in a tiebreaker, King bolstered the Lasers’ advantage with a 5-2 win over Maria at women’s singles. King broke Maria three times in the match to just about put the match out of reach for the Empire.

“The fans really get into it,” King said of what makes the World TeamTennis atmosphere special. “You get to play at home and away which is not typically what we get to do in tournaments. And with the team aspect, you really get to bond with each other and support each other much more than we would throughout the normal season. I can’t say it is less pressure because we still really want to win, but it is still a lot of fun.”

The Empire attempted a last-ditch effort rally in the final match, led by the mixed doubles pair of Martinez Sanchez and Neal Skupski. The duo won the match 5-4 to send it into extended play, but lost in the first game of the extra period as the Lasers sealed its 25-17 victory.  

For the Empire, it hopes to end its losing streak and get on track versus the Orange County Breakers on Thursday night. For the Lasers, they are in Washington D.C. tonight to take on the Washington Kastles.