WASHINGTON — Anyone who’s ever been to a Washington Kastles match already knows the team’s championship history: Since their downtown debut in 2008, the team has won five titles, including each of the last four World Team Tennis trophies. And they enter the 2015 campaign with some even more impressive hardware.
Last weekend at Wimbledon, three members of this year’s Kastles team took home titles. Serena Williams lifted her sixth women’s singles trophy Saturday. Not to be outdone, Martina Hingis teamed with Sania Mirza to win the women’s doubles title in three sets, coming from behind for a 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 victory. Then Hingis and fellow Kastle Leander Peas took to the court on Sunday and blasted their way to a 6-1, 6-1 route in the mixed doubles final.
Hingis and Paes are Kastles veterans, each key to the team’s recent championship runs. But the younger Williams sister, the top-ranked women’s player in the world, is returning to Washington for the first time since 2011.
“Playing for the Kastles is something Serena has always loved to do,” Kastles owner Mark Ein told WTOP’s George Wallace in an interview last week. “Her schedule has made it so she couldn’t for the last couple of years, but she is thrilled to come back. She loves the city. She has great memories of playing for the team.”
Hingis’ Wimbledon titles were her first grand slam championships since 2000. She has won 10 slams playing doubles and five playing singles, but her renaissance 15 years after her prime has been remarkable. The Swiss star has returned to the top ranking in women’s doubles, while combining with Paes to be the seventh-ranked mixed doubles team before winning Sunday in Southwest London. At 34, the 2014 WTT Finals MVP returns for her third season in Washington.
The impact of Kastles players at the All England Club extended beyond the championships: Venus Williams made it to the quarterfinals before running into her sister’s title march; Sam Querrey made the second round before running into eventual runner-up Roger Federer. Likewise, Anastasia Rodionova made the second round in women’s doubles before bowing out in three sets.
It’s never been any secret why the Kastles have been so successful — year in, year out, they’ve sported more talent on the roster than their World Team Tennis competitors. But this year, that talent will arrive at the top of its game, with trophies in tow to prove it.
“When you set a high bar, figuring out how to go above that bar is hard,” said Ein of trying to win again in 2015. “What we’ve done in the past doesn’t matter.”
The Kastles are off to a good start already, having snagged a 20-17 win in their season opener on the road on Sunday over the Boston Lobsters. The team rode its depth — with Rajeev Ram, Madison Brengle and Arlington’s Dennis Kudla filling in for the top-flight players.
They return home for their second season at the Smith Center, on the George Washington campus, Tuesday night. While Serena Williams will not yet be with the team, Venus will lead the charge of defending the team’s home court, where they are 29-2 over the past four seasons. But for Ein, none of that past matters — only the season at hand.
“I generally only reflect on it a couple of months after the season,” he said of last year’s title. “There’s not a lot of time for looking back, only time to look forward. (We’re) just trying to deliver another magical summer.”
