Two Dukes Redeem Themselves in Easy Victory : Tennis: Grossman and Whitlinger-Jones relax, allowing them to handle the Twist.

Embarrassed by their performance Sunday night in Idaho, the Newport Beach Dukes’ Tami Whitlinger-Jones and Ann Grossman decided to embarrass someone else Tuesday night.

Whitlinger-Jones and Grossman had victories in only three games in women’s doubles and singles Sunday, but Tuesday they won 12 of 17 in the Dukes’ 30-16 victory over the Florida Twist at the John Wayne Tennis Club before about 500 fans. The Dukes raised their record to 8-0; Florida fell to 3-5.

“They were fired up,” Duke Coach Angel Lopez said. “They wanted to redeem themselves.”

Grossman hadn’t played World TeamTennis for two years before Sunday and Whitlinger-Jones was the Dukes’ alternate. But both were playing before a feisty Idaho crowd on Sunday because regulars Zina Garrison Jackson and Larisa Neiland were in Germany playing in the Federation Cup. Neither player handled the situation well.

“I came out a little nervous because we were 6-0,” Grossman said. “Those were tough conditions. The crowd was obnoxious and I wasn’t used to it. I was relaxed being here in Newport. The crowd is so mellow. They need to liven up a bit.”

The Newport Beach spectators might have been more mellow than usual perhaps, because they never had a match to get enthused about. Grossman and Trevor Kronemann got the Dukes off and running with a 6-3 mixed doubles victory over Nicole Arendt and Greg Van Emburgh.

Whitlinger-Jones then routed an erratic Arendt, 6-2. Whitlinger-Jones was winning points by simply keeping the ball in play for more than one volley. Arendt, who once was ranked as high as 65 in the world, didn’t play any better in doubles with partner Laxmi Poruri. Whitlinger and Grossman beat the Twist tandem 6-3 to give the Dukes an 18-8 lead.

“We were both a lot more relaxed than in Idaho,” Whitlinger-Jones said. “We just decided to have some fun. We jumped out on them early and I think they got a little down.”

Kelly Jones, Whitlinger-Jones’ husband, kept the Twist down with a 6-2 singles victory over a lethargic Andres Gomez, who won the French Open four years ago and once was ranked No. 4 in the world.

Van Emburgh and Gomez salvaged some respectability by taking the last set, 6-5, over Kronemann and Jones. But Kronemann and Jones held serve in the first game of overtime to end the match.

The Dukes’ next match is Saturday in Sacramento (5-2) against the second-place Capitals, who trail Newport Beach by 2 1/2 games in the West Division. Neiland should be back for the Sacramento match, but Duke owner Fred Lieberman said Garrison Jackson might miss Saturday’s match and Sunday’s against WTT champion Wichita.