TEAMTENNIS : Navratilova Beats Dukes in Every Fashion, Atlanta Wins

Martina Navratilova almost single-handedly ended the Newport Beach Dukes’ hopes of a World TeamTennis title, leading the Atlanta Thunder to a 30-17 victory in the championship match at WCT-Peachtree World of Tennis in Norcross, Ga.

With Atlanta leading, 12-9, after men’s doubles and singles, Navratilova teamed with Heather Ludloff for a 6-1 victory over Amy Frazier and Lise Gregory, defeated Frazier 6-2 and joined Kelly Evernden for a 6-5 (5-4) triumph over Frazier and Ronnie Bathman, giving the Thunder its second consecutive title.

“She was absolutely the queen,” Dukes Coach Greg Patton said. “She was the dominator. She threw a salvo right into our engine room and sunk our ship so fast in that women’s doubles we were in lifeboats the rest of the match trying to get to the shore.”

The victory kept Navratilova’s streak alive of having played for the champion in all three years she has played TeamTennis since the league’s revival in 1981. Navratilova played for the Los Angeles Strings’ 1981 championship team.

Patton’s hope was for the Dukes’ male players to build a five-game lead before Navratilova took the court to put added pressure on the nine-time Wimbledon singles champion.

“It is a well-known fact in the tennis world that Martina is a great front-runner,” Patton said. “If she’s out in front, there’s no stopping her. But if you can make it close, she can get a little tightened up.”

It briefly looked as if that plan would work. Rikard Bergh and Bathman took a 3-0 lead over Brett Steven and Evernden. But the Thunder duo, the league’s best men’s doubles team, forced the set into a nine-point tiebreaker.

Bergh and Bathman opened a 4-2 lead, but Evernden and Steven won the final three points.

Steven then defeated Bergh, 6-4, in the men’s singles, winning four of the last five games.

“I felt the Swedes (Bergh and Bathman) were flat,” Patton said. “I felt Rikard was emotionally flat in the singles.”

And then it was Navratilova’s turn to dominate, taking 20 minutes to win the women’s doubles.

“Amy played really well, but on the sidelines, we were in awe of what she was doing,” Patton said.

The defeat ends the Dukes’ season, during which they won 10 of their final 13 matches after starting the season 1-3.

“There’s no doubt that for me and the team we have a great sense of satisfaction that we were able to get here,” Patton said. “It was a great train ride and we almost got to our destination. Sometimes it felt like a runaway train, other times it felt like that train was going to stall, but other times it was fantastic.”

Although TeamTennis traditionally has little continuity, one element of the Dukes’ success could return for next season.

Patton, the only coach the Dukes have had in their three-year history, is optimistic about returning for a fourth season, despite his move from UC Irvine to Idaho State.

According to Patton, he has the support of owner Fred Lieberman.

“I can’t say it is 100% certain, but from all indications, he’s pretty happy,” Patton said. “If I get the opportunity to do it, I’ll do it.

“This is such a great and exciting venue for tennis and I think it is only going to get better. I like being involved in it. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that this league will only get better and better, with bigger crowds and more exposure.

“I want to be on the cutting edge of that. I love coaching team tennis and this is the perfect avenue for that.”