Friday, July 24, 2020

Clijsters, New York hand Vegas third straight loss

   The Vegas Rollers' slim playoff hopes suffered another blow today.
   The New York Empire, featuring International Tennis Hall of Famer Kim Clijsters, won all five sets in its 25-17 victory over Vegas, with ex-Stanford All-Americans Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan and San Francisco native Sam Querrey, in a World TeamTennis match at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.V.
   It was Vegas' third consecutive loss and fifth in its last six matches. The Rollers have lost 14 of their last 15 sets, including all seven tiebreakers.
   Vegas fell to 4-7, sixth in the nine-team league. Even if the Rollers win all three of their remaining matches, they might not qualify for the four-team playoffs, Aug. 1-2 at The Greenbrier.
   Clijsters, a 37-year-old mother of three, launched a comeback in February after retiring in 2012. She and 45-year-old Kveta Peschke outclassed Monica Puig, the gold medalist in women's singles in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and Ajla Tomljanovic 5-2 to give New York (5-4) a 10-5 lead. Clijsters then won tiebreakers in mixed doubles and women's singles.
   After an off-day on Saturday, Vegas will face the expansion Chicago Smash (7-2) for the second time on Sunday at noon PDT (Tennis Channel) at The Greenbrier.
   Chicago defeated Vegas 24-18 (1-0 in extended play) in the season opener for both teams on July 12 at The Greenbrier.
NEW YORK EMPIRE 25, VEGAS ROLLERS 17
   Men's singles – Jack Sock (NY) def. Sam Querrey 5-3.
   Women's doubles – Kim Clijsters and Kveta Peschke (NY) def. Monica Puig and Ajla Tomljanovic 5-2.
   Mixed doubles – Clijsters and Sock (NY) def. Tomljanovic and Mike Bryan 5-4.
   Women's singles – Clijsters (NY) def. Puig 5-4.
   Men's doubles – Neal Skupski and Sock (NY) def. Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan (LV) 5-4.

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