Dukes Can’t Maintain Momentum : TeamTennis: After winning opening set, Newport Beach team watches San Antonio pull away for a 28-20 victory.

In the beginning it looked promising as the Newport Beach Dukes kicked off their second season in TeamTennis Thursday night at the John Wayne Tennis Club. But it wasn’t long before the San Antonio Racquets roared past the Dukes for a 28-20 victory in front of 500 fans.

The Dukes, playing their first of a 14-match, monthlong schedule, had their moments, but left Coach Greg Patton speaking in uncharacteristically serious tones when it was over.

“The sad thing is the season is so dang fast, it’s like you’re in a drag race,” said Patton, who is back for his second season as coach. “If you don’t get out of the starting block great, it’s all over.”

Well, there wasn’t much wrong with the Dukes’ start as Manon Bollegraf and Elise Burgin defeated the Racquets’ Anne Smith and Gretchen Magers, 6-4, in women’s doubles in the opening set. But Magers came back to beat Bollegraf, 6-3, in the women’s singles set, and San Antonio had a lead it would never relinquish.

From there, the Dukes missed too many chances and San Antonio, playing with increasing confidence, pulled away for its second consecutive victory.

The turning point came in the men’s singles set when the Dukes’ Jorge Lozano, a standout on Mexico’s Davis Cup team, lost a 3-1 advantage over the Racquets’ Sammy Giammalva. At that point, San Antonio led the team score only 17-14 and it looked as if Lozano would trim the lead further.

But Giammalva held serve, broke Lozano and held again for a 4-3 lead that opened the team gap to 20-14. Giammalva went on to win, 6-5 (5-1), and though the Racquets still needed to win the final set to win the match, matters seemed to be well in hand.

Leave it to Patton to put the match in its proper perspective, however.

“It’s like a blind date and we’re still trying to get to know each other,” he said of his team.

The Dukes have had only two practices and Bollegraf joined them only last week as a last-minute substitute for Soviet Leila Meskhi, who had to withdraw because of a shoulder injury.

“I’m on the sidelines with Bollegraf explaining the rules during the last set,” Patton said.

Still, he liked what he saw from Bollegraf and Burgin in the opening set.

“That was the best women’s doubles I’ve seen in TeamTennis,” Patton said.

The Dukes play at Sacramento tonight before returning home to play host to Wichita a 5 p.m. Sunday.