Inside COVID-19 Bubble, New York Empire Win First Ever WTT Title

It was the forehand heard round the tennis world. And it was so unbelievable, it required a Hawk-Eye glance.

At 20 games to 20 and six-points-all in the World TeamTennis championship match, winning came down to one point in the final set: women’s doubles. Veteran doubles player Bethanie Mattek-Sands took her place at the net, while her partner, Sloane Stephens, of the Chicago Smash lofted the ball skyward. The New York Empire’s Coco Vandeweghe set her feet, took her racquet back and—against partner Nicole Melichar’s better judgment—ripped a down-the-line forehand that nicked the back of the baseline.

“I could hardly put into thoughts or words what was going on—it was Star Wars out there,” said Empire Coach Luke Jensen. “Genie Bouchard was hitting a ball to save her face, Kamau [Murray] substituted Sloane, Nicole was flying around the net, and then Sloane hits a bomb to save match point. I called a time out and Coco was like ‘I’m taking next serve’.

“Bethanie is then at the net with her ankles and instincts and Coco unleashes the beast right past her. Just the way the world is, I could go on and on how it could have gone sideways, but it didn’t,” Jensen added.

Hawk-Eye confirmed the “in” call. The New York Empire had won its first King Trophy and the $500,000 purse.

In five years, the New York franchise, put together in 2016 as an expansion team, has come from the very bottom of the league to the top through three coaching changes, three venue moves and several roster switchups, including absent marquee stars. But after an exhaustive three weeks and 66 league matches in a tennis “bubble” at the Greenbrier, the Empire won its first King Trophy.

Both Jensen and the team attributed a large measure of the Empire’s success to the addition of Kim Clijsters, who also acted as the team’s assistant coach, according to Jensen.

Clijsters, although sidelined for some matches, chalked up big singles victories By A.M. Brune

Credit Photos to Ryan Loco/World TeamTennis

— following an eight-year hiatus from professional tennis, as well as pairing with veteran Neal Skupski for mixed doubles.

But to get the Empire to that playoff spot, Jensen had to tinker with the team camaraderie.

Vandeweghe and Melichar had originally signed with the San Diego Aviators in March, but in an 11th-hour deal on the Sunday night before the season’s last week, Jensen traded Empire players Kveta

Peschke and Sabine Lisicki for the doubles pair. “It’s not in the tennis culture to trade or substitute, so you don’t want them happy about it, you want them to say, ‘I can win, coach.’ But for the franchise you’ve got to at least get in the playoffs,” Jensen said.

The acquisition quickly paid off. In her first match for the Empire, Vandeweghe racked up 13 crucial games in three of five sets over the Orange County Breakers.

“My Uncle Kiki (former New York Knicks player) sent out a mass email down in his bubble in Orlando saying, ‘Coco’s playing for New York now!’” Vandeweghe said.

Once the Empire sealed the fourth spot in the playoffs, Jack Sock became the star of the day as he and Vandeweghe took the Empire to an early lead by winning mixed doubles, 5-1, and with Skupski, men’s doubles. With losses in both women’s singles and women’s doubles, Sock delivered once more, defeating ATP No. 24 Taylor Fritz, to take the Empire to the championship.

The New York squad jumped out to a quick start in the final against the Smash. The mixed-doubles team of Sock and Vandeweghe, and the men’s doubles team of Sock and Skupski brought the Empire to 10-6 lead (5-2, 5-3). But Smash rookie Brandon Nakashima reeled off a 5-0 win

against Sock to swing the match in favor of Chicago, 11-10.

“I think I would chalk that up as my worst set of the three weeks, and unfortunately it came on the most important day,” Sock said. With Clijsters still sidelined, Vandeweghe returned to the court to face Stephens in the fourth set of women’s singles. Stephens capped off a 5-3 victory to push the Smash lead to 16-13.

The King Trophy still remained near the reach of either team, as Mattek-Sands and Genie Bouchard faced Vandeweghe and Melichar, who had won a previous matchup

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5-1 when they played as San Diego Aviators. It wouldn’t be as easy the second time.

Each team held serve to tie at 3-3, before the Empire broke Mattek-Sands’ serve to lurch ahead 4-3 and pull the team to 19-17. The Empire had the chance to win the set and force extended play, but Melichar double-faulted at 40- love. The Smash rallied to force a set tiebreak at 4-4 and had the momentum to capture an easy win and call it a day, as it fell on the Empire to not only win the set tiebreak, but also the next two games to tie the Smash’s overall score at 20-20 and finally compel a match first-to-sevenpoint super tiebreak.

The chase to seven points began with Chicago subbing in Stephens for Bouchard. New York went up 2-0 after Vandeweghe served. The Smash evened with Stephens’ serve. Mattek-Sands pushed Chicago ahead 5-3. Vandeweghe-Melichar knotted the score at 5-all, then 6-all, before Stephens served to Vandeweghe, whose knees hit the ground when she heard the word “in” from the baseline.

“They didn’t call it out… I was thrilled, but then the fact that (the Smash) were challenging (the call), we were like ‘oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no’ and then it was just

pure joy. It was just incredible,” Melichar said.

“I mean I’ve never been under that kind of pressure, ever,” Vandeweghe added. “It really accentuated what World TeamTennis is: the team vibe, team energy, people picking each other up when they’re down. I had so much fun out there.”

“A flip flop in the middle of the match… you couldn’t ask for any more than that,” said WTT CEO Carlos Silva. “And Coco’s winning forehand was like a walk-off home run, a buzzer-beater.”

WTT owners have yet to take stock of the season, Silva said, but already plans are in the works for year-round events. “The results just continue to build on what we have been saying: the format was exciting, we had to grow the audience. The ESPN, CBS and Tennis Channel deals did that.”

Since 2001, A.M. Brune has reported and written hundreds of freelance newspaper, magazine and website articles – from pitch to print – for publications, such as the New Yorker, The Guardian and The Nation. She lives, writes and plays league tennis in Manhattan.

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