Washington Kastles

Washington Kastles
Founded February 14, 2008 (2008-02-14)
Current season 2016
League World TeamTennis
Team history Washington Kastles
2008–present
Based in Washington, D.C.
Stadium Kastles Stadium at the Charles E. Smith Center
Colors Dark razzmatazz red, white and Prussian blue
              
Owner(s) Mark Ein
Head coach Murphy Jensen
Championships 6 (2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)
Division titles 6
Cheerleaders 8
Mascot Topspin and Slice

The Washington Kastles is one of six franchises currently competing in World Team Tennis.

Based in Washington, D.C. since 2008, the Kastles won the WTT championship in the 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons. The team is named for Kastle Systems, the office security company owned by team owner Mark Ein.

Venue

The Kastles will play the 2016 season indoors at George Washington University's Charles E. Smith Center at 22nd and G Streets NW. The Kastles also played the 2014 and 2015 seasons at the same venue. The venue hosted two matches that set the record for attendance at a Kastles match at 3,275 in 2014. In 2015 a new attendance record was set at over 4,200 when an additional seating section was offered for sale to a sold out match. That additional seating section sold out in less than one day.

The team played its first three seasons in a temporary stadium constructed each summer on the site of the former Washington Convention Center. The Kastles played the next three seasons at Kastles Stadium at The Wharf, a 2,600-seat facility erected in 2011 on the Southwest Waterfront. That facility was torn down for the city's waterfront development project.

History

The Kastles began World TeamTennis play as an expansion franchise in 2008 and finished 6–8 in their inaugural season. They won their first King Trophy (named after former world No. 1 player and league co-owner Billie Jean King) in 2009 despite losing their first four matches and finishing just 7–7 during the regular season. The Kastles failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2010 but then went undefeated in both the 2011 and 2012 seasons, winning all 14 regular-season matches, the Eastern Conference championship and the WTT championship.

In 2011, the Kastles went undefeated, the first perfect season for a World Team Tennis team and only the second team, after the 1994 Newport Beach Dukes, to win all of its regular-season matches. (The Newport Beach Dukes lost in the playoffs). It was the first time a Washington professional sports team posted an undefeated regular season and also won its league championship.

In 2012, the Kastles finished 16–0 again, becoming the first U.S. professional sports team to complete back-to-back perfect seasons.

The Kastles won their 2013 season opener against the New York Sportimes, 23–15, notching their 33rd consecutive victory and equaling the winning streak of the NBA's 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers. In their next match, they beat the Boston Lobsters, 25–12, a 34th victory that set the U.S. record for a winning streak by a major professional sports team.[1]

On July 10, 2013, the Kastles had their winning streak snapped by the Texas Wild in Las Colinas, Texas. The next night at home, the Kastles fell to the Springfield Lasers. Martina Hingis was not with the team for the back-to-back losses due to her induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The Kastles won the remaining 10 matches of the regular season and ended up with the best record in the WTT at 12–2. The Kastles beat the Boston Lobsters in the Eastern Conference Championship match on July 25 by a score of 25–12. The Kastles repeated that score of 25–12 in a rain-delayed WTT Championship match against the Springfield Lasers to win their third consecutive WTT Championship and post a final season record of 14–2.

The Kastles continued their winning ways in 2014. Even though the Kastles lost four regular season matches (a home record of 6–1), they posted the best record in the Eastern Conference and hosted the Philadelphia Freedoms in the Eastern Conference Championship match. The Kastles won their 5th Eastern Conference Championship by a score of 21–16.

The Kastles then traveled to Springfield, Missouri, to face the Springfield Lasers in the Mylan WTT Championship Match on July 27, 2014. Since the Kastles had a better regular-season record, they were considered the home team. The Kastles swept all five events and won their fourth consecutive WTT Championship by a score of 25–13. Bobby Reynolds won his Men's Singles event and the Men's Doubles event, his last match as a Washington Kastle. The only other team in the 39-year history of World Team Tennis that won four championships in a row are the Sacramento Capitals. With their WTT Championship in 2015, the Kastles stand alone with five consecutive WTT titles.

The Kastles have missed the playoffs and failed to win the Eastern Conference Championship and WTT Championship only twice in the existence of the franchise (2008 and 2010).

In 2015, the Kastles got off to a slow start and after the first seven matches of the season the team's record was 4–3. In typical Kastles style, the team then reeled off 5 wins in a row and won 6 out of the 7 final matches of the regular season to end up with a record of 10–4, the best record in the WTT's Eastern Conference.

On July 30, 2015, the Kastles hosted the Philadelphia Freedoms at home in the Eastern Conference Championship by a score of 25–9.

On Sunday, August 2, 2015 the Kastles hosted the Austin Aces in the WTT Finals and defeated the Aces 24–18 in extended play. The Kastles extended their consecutive WTT Championship Title streak to 5 in a row and their 6th overall title.

Justin Gimelstob controversy

On June 25, 2008, Kastles player Justin Gimelstob was on the Washington, D.C., morning radio show "The Sports Junkies", talking about his tennis career, his interactions with other tennis pros, his dalliances with such female players as Martina Hingis, and a variety of other topics. During the interview, Gimelstob, a regular guest on the show, said that when he faced Anna Kournikova (who played for the St. Louis Aces) the following month match in Washington: "I’m going to serve it right at the body, about 128, right into her midriff. If she's not crying by the time she comes off court then I did not do my job." Asked if that meant he hated the Russian, with whom he trained as a youth, he replied: "Hate is a very strong word. I just despise her to the maximum level just below hate."[2] He added that he would not like to sleep with Kournikova, "because she's such a douche." Instead, "I wouldn't mind having my younger brother, who's a kind of a stud, nail her and then reap the benefits of that."

Gimelstob subsequently lost his job as a commentator on the Tennis Channel.

Kournikova originally had planned to pull herself from the event but decided to play. In the mixed doubles portion of the match, Mashona Washington and Gimelstob defeated Kournikova and Travis Rettenmaier. 5–2 (though Gimelstob did not start the set. He came in for Scott Oudsema at 2–0).

People

Head coach

Thomas Blake was named head coach of the Washington Kastles in June 2008. Blake became a professional tennis player in 1996 and most notably partnered with his brother, James Blake, to play doubles in the US Open in 1996 and 2002. In 2005, Blake retired from professional singles play.

Murphy Jensen was named the Kastles' head coach at the start of the 2009 season. Jensen and his brother, Luke won the French Open doubles championship in 1993 and hosts a show on the Tennis Channel. After the Kastles finished undefeated in 2011 and 2012, Jensen was named the league's Coach of the Year. Jensen was also named the league's Coach of the Year in 2013.

Roster – 2016 Team Roster

Former Kastles

Seasons

2008 season

Record: 6–8 (Inaugural Season)

2009 season

Record: 7–7 (Eastern Conference Second Seed, World TeamTennis Champions)

Eastern Conference Championship (Kastles Stadium, City Center, Washington, D.C.)

World TeamTennis Championship (Kastles Stadium, City Center, Washington, D.C.)

2010 season

Record: 8–6

2011 season

Record: 16–0 (World TeamTennis Champions)

Eastern Conference Championship (Family Circle Tennis Center, Charleston, South Carolina)

World TeamTennis Championship (Family Circle Tennis Center, Charleston, South Carolina)

2012 season

Record: 16–0 (World TeamTennis Champions)

Eastern Conference Championship (Family Circle Tennis Center, Charleston, South Carolina)

World TeamTennis Championship (Family Circle Tennis Center, Charleston, South Carolina)

2013 season

Record: 14–2 (World TeamTennis Champions)

Eastern Conference Championship (Kastles Stadium at The Wharf, Washington, D.C.)

World TeamTennis Championship (Kastles Stadium at The Wharf, Washington, D.C.)

2014 season

Eastern Conference Championship (Kastles Stadium at the Smith Center, Washington, D.C.)

World TeamTennis Championship (Mediacom Stadium at Cooper Tennis Complex, Springfield, Missouri)

2015 season

Eastern Conference Championship

World TeamTennis Championship (Kastles Stadium at the Smith Center, Washington, D.C.)

2016 season

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://wtop.com/news/2013/07/washington-kastles-hold-longest-winning-streak-in-american-sports/slide/1/
  2. ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/atptour/2304243/Tennis-official-Justin-Gimelstob-serves-up-sexist-rant-against-top-female-players.html Telegraph retrieved 6th June 2016
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