Vegas Rollers lose to Orlando in World TeamTennis debut
The Orlando Storm won four of five sets Sunday against the Vegas Rollers for a 21-20 victory on the opening night of the World TeamTennis season on the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.
The Rollers and Storm are expansion teams in the eight-team WTT.
The Rollers tied the score 20-20 when Henderson resident Evan Song took his singles match into a super tiebreaker but fell short 7-6 against 37-year-old Feliciano Lopez.
Song, 27, ranked No. 338 in the world, pulled his return wide on the deciding point versus the Spaniard, ranked No. 59. Lopez’s deciding serve went to the sideline and Song made a lunging attempt to get to the ball but pulled it hard to his left, across the net and out of bounds.
Las Vegan Asia Muhammad teamed with former UCLA standout Jennifer Brady for a 5-4 tiebreaking doubles win.
The Storm won in mixed doubles 5-2, men’s doubles with a 5-4 tiebreaker, and women’s singles on a 5-4 comeback in a tiebreaker by 17-year-old Whitney Osuigwe over the Rollers’ Jennifer Brady.
Players score one point for each game they win in men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
The Rollers are coached by UNLV Hall of Famer Tim Blenkiron. Their next match is Monday at 4 p.m. PDT against the Washington Kastles, to be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.
Jonathan Eskin can be reached at jeskin@reviewjournal.com
