Olga Puchkova by Max Cook
Despite a strong start in mixed doubles and a big women’s singles win by Olga Puchkova, the Washington Kastles were defeated last night by the St Louis Aces. The Aces may have actually benefited from the loss of their marquee player, Anna Kournikova, who is out for the season with a wrist injury. While she was once ranked eighth in the world in singles and first in doubles, her tennis career has been seriously curtailed in recent years due to injuries. She still draws quite a crowd and finds time to do charity work including yesterday’s Bloomberg Kids Tennis Clinic.
While the Kastles remain winless at 0-4, there is still hope. If Puchkova works on her doubles game with Rennae Stubbs and the team reduces their double faults and improves their break point conversions, they stand a good chance of winning. The players need to get fired up and start living up their motto, “refuse to lose”.
The Kastles play again at home on Sunday against the New York Buzz, so buy a ticket and hope for a win!
