PRO TEAM TENNIS : Dukes Have to Work Overtime to Beat Breakers, 27-22

Greg Patton said it would be like this. But, really, you can’t believe everything the Newport Beach Dukes coach says.

Patton, who knows a thing or 500 about hyperbole, has been saying the Dukes are a good team, one of the best in Team Tennis.

With a 27-22 overtime victory over the Miami Beach Breakers Saturday at the John Wayne Tennis Club, the Dukes proved his point.

The Dukes weren’t great, merely good enough to survive for the first victory in franchise history.

The Dukes’ Marty Davis and Roger Smith lost the final set of the evening to Richard Schmidt and Greg Van Emburgh, 6-5. But since Team Tennis rules say you can’t win by losing the final set, the doubles teams headed to overtime.

The rules stipulate that the teams must continue play until the Dukes won one game, which was the case, or Miami Beach won enough games to tie the score.

The Dukes broke Schmidt’s serve for the victory.

Early on, the Dukes followed their opening-night form. After going to two tiebreakers Thursday against Raleigh and losing both, the Dukes’ women’s doubles team of Sophie Amiach and Amy Frazier took Sandy Collins and Cammy MacGregor to a tiebreaker in the opening set.

But this time Amiach’s perfectly placed drop shot at 4-all gave the Dukes the set and an early lead.

Frazier stayed on the baseline to defeat MacGregor, 6-2, in the women’s singles set and the Dukes led, 12-7. Then Davis and Amiach won the mixed doubles over Schmidt and Collins, 6-3.

Smith lost to Van Emburgh, but won three important games. Smith fell behind, 4-0, but regrouped before losing, 6-3, and the Dukes still led, 21-16.

The Dukes play five consecutive road games starting tonight at San Antonio.