Frances Tiafoe
Washington Kastles Hand the New York Empire First Loss of Season, 24-23
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 18, 2017) – Mardy Fish of the New York Empire (2-1) pushed the Washington Kastles’ (1-1) Frances Tiafoe as close to the edge as he could, but Tiafoe’s youth proved to be too much as the Kastles outlasted the Empire through extended play and a supertiebreaker, 24-23.
Tiebreakers were the theme of the evening as every single set needed one to be decided.
In Mylan World Team Tennis presented by GEICO, if the fifth event is won by the trailing team, in this case the New York Empire was trailing 23-22, and the trailing team is still behind in overall score, the match goes into extended play. Extended play continues until the leading team wins one game or the overall score is tied. Once tied, a supertiebreaker is played to determine the winner.
Fish played his way into the supertiebreaker by winning the extended play set, 1-0, bringing the overall score to 23-23.
WTT rules state that if a match is tied after five events or extended play, a 13-point supertiebreaker is played. The first team to reach seven points wins the supertiebreaker and the match. A coin toss is used to determine what team chooses to serve or receive.
The first four points of the supertiebreaker went back and forth, however, the Kastles’ Tiafoe proved to be too much for Fish as he won the supertiebreaker, 7-3, earning the Kastles first win of the season.
| New York Empire at Washington Kastles Box Score | |||||||||
| MXD | WD | MD | WS | MS | EP | STB | Total | ||
| New York Empire | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 (3) | 23 | |
| Washington Kastles | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 (7) | 24 | |
Mixed Doubles: Kirsten Flipkens/Neal Skupski (New York Empire) def. Martina Hingis/Treat Huey (Washington Kastles), 5-4
Women’s Doubles: Anastasia Rodionova/Martina Hingis (Washington Kastles) def. Flipkens/Maria Sanchez (New York Empire), 5-4
Men’s Doubles: Huey/Frances Tiafoe (Washington Kastles) def. Mardy Fish/Skupski (New York Empire), 5-4
Women’s Singles: Madison Brengle (Washington Kastles) def. Flipkens (New York Empire), 5-4
Men’s Singles: Tiafoe (Washington Kastles) def. Fish (New York Empire), 5-3
Extended Play: Fish (New York Empire) def. Tiafoe (Washington Kastles), 1-0
Supertiebreaker: Tiafoe (Washington Kastles) def. Fish (New York Empire), 7-3
The New York Empire returns to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Wednesday, July 19 to face the Philadelphia Freedoms at 7 p.m.