TEAMTENNIS : Undefeated Dukes Survive St. Louis Scare

The night’s only intrigue came in the second set when little known Patricia Hy of the St. Louis Aces came close to pulling off one of the bigger World TeamTennis upsets of the season against the Dukes’ Zina Garrison Jackson.

But Hy, ranked 15th among WTT women’s singles players and 43rd on the computer, fell apart after going up, 5-2, and the Aces (1-11) fell right along with her as the Dukes won their 12th consecutive match without a defeat, 30-20, Wednesday night before about 500 at the John Wayne Tennis Club.

Garrison Jackson, ranked third among regular singles players with a .605 winning percentage, was not herself as she played sluggishly, making several unforced errors. She gave signs of not being up to par in women’s doubles, but she and Larisa Neiland got by Julie Richardson and Hy, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Hy was hitting winners all over the court. When Garrison Jackson approached, Hy was usually ready with a rocket forehand passing shot.

Garrison Jackson fought back to trail, 5-4, but she faced four set points in the next game when she fell behind, 40-0. But Hy couldn’t close the deal as she missed two easy volleys that would have ended the set.

“I got a couple of lucky breaks,” Garrison Jackson said. “Patricia missed a couple of easy ones. I knew I had to start mixing it up, because she was timing everything.”

Garrison Jackson dominated the tiebreaker, winning it, 5-2, and giving the Dukes a 12-8 lead.

“Zina changed and didn’t come in as much and I didn’t have a target to shoot for,” said Hy, who has never played Garrison Jackson on the tour. “It hurts, but I hope I can learn from this.”

Garrison Jackson said her victory changed the complexion of the match.

“If I would have gone down 6-2 or something, you never know,” she said.

Instead, the Dukes picked up steam as Trevor Kronemann and Kelly Jones extended the lead to 18-11 with a 6-3 victory over Brent Haygarth and Ken Flach, who once represented the United States in the Davis Cup and was the top-ranked doubles player in the world. Jones then beat Flach, 6-4, in singles and Neiland and Kronemann defeated Haygarth and Richardson, 6-5 (5-1), in the mixed doubles.

Friday and Saturday against Phoenix and Jimmy Connors, the Dukes will attempt to become the first WTT to finish the regular season undefeated. Saturday’s match is at home and begins at 7:30 p.m.