Brits Neal Skupski and Marcus Willis united for New York. (Mylan WTT/CameraworkUSA)
Another tiebreak followed in men’s doubles, as Willis and compatriot Skupski took on Kastles substitutes Treat Huey, ranked No. 19 on the ATP Tour in doubles, and Robert. The two teams had contrasting nights on serve, as the Empire landed 70% of first serves and hit five aces, while the Kastles struggled to the tune of 42% first serves with two double faults -- but after eight games, and a break apiece, the two teams found themselves in a nine-point tiebreak. In the decider, Huey showed off the kind of tennis that’s taken him to seven ATP crowns in doubles, carving out set point with a perfectly-executed backhand poach, before Willis missed the final return off the Robert serve to give the Kastles their first set of the night, 5-1 in the breaker.
In front of their home crowd, the Kastles’ comeback began to gain strength out of halftime thanks to a strong performance by Brengle and Klepac. The duo faced off against McHale and Irigoyen, competing against their second team of Kastles’ opponents this season after falling against Martina Hingis and Anastasia Rodionova in the first meeting between the two teams on Aug. 2.
The first test for the Empire came early, after the Kastles called a GEICO Timeout ahead of the deciding point on McHale’s serve to open the match -- and McHale was indeed iced, double-faulting to hand the early initiative to Washington. Although she and Irigoyen broke the Klepac serve back immediately, another deciding point went the way of Washington courtesy of a big return of the racket of the Slovenian, and a big serve from Brengle on the set’s third and final deciding point gave the Kastles a 3-1 lead at the change of ends. That lead held up to the tune of a 5-2 decisive win for Washington, which saw the match poised at 16-15 in favor of New York headed to the final event.
Willis and Robert, both blessed with big serves and touch around the net, showed off all court tennis in the men’s singles with little to separate them over the course of the set. The two worked all parts of the court over their encounter, wowing the crowd with combinations of dropshots, angles and serves -- and fittingly, after eight games where neither had a look at a break point, the pair found themselves in the third nine-point tiebreaker of the night. The scenario was simple: a win for Willis would secure a win for the Empire, while a win for Robert would push the match into a Supertiebreaker -- a first for Mylan WTT this season.
After the first six points between the two rookies in the tiebreak went with serve, Willis brought up match point as Robert netted a backhand -- but the Frenchman had other ideas, forcing a final deciding point by handling several Willis slices with aplomb and finally forcing a Willis miss off of a fine cross-court forehand. With the match on the line in the final point, it was Willis who came out on top in a circus rally, sprinting to the net to track down a drop shot and then scooping up a volley from his shoes into the open court to close out on of the most thrilling matches of the 2016 Mylan WTT season thus far.
