Ladies come through for Breakers

A burgeoning rivalry in World Team Tennis added its fourth chapter in as many nights Wednesday at Newport Beach Tennis Club.

Yes, the Orange County Breakers and San Diego Aviators are becoming very familiar with each other.

“It definitely starts to get a little personal,” said Nicole Gibbs of the Breakers. “Things got a little feisty tonight, so it was a good night to bring the cameras. We were getting in each other’s faces and there were some big ‘Come on’s, definitely some emotional moments.”

The most emotional moment for the Breakers was at the end of the match. Gibbs and Alla Kudryavtseva came through with a 5-2 victory in women’s singles, leading Orange County to a 21-19 match win over its rival.

Call it a draw four matches into the season. Orange County and San Diego are both 2-2 this season, tied for third place in the six-team league. The Philadelphia Freedoms lead the league with a 4-0 mark.

For the Breakers, it felt good to avenge Tuesday night’s 23-15 loss to the Aviators in Carlsbad.

“The first two matches were so tight, and [Tuesday] they got away from us, but I think we made a good statement winning those last two sets,” Kudryavtseva said. “We’re not going to fold, and we continued the momentum today.”

Kudryavtseva showed her doubles prowess in the final set, with some long forehand rallies as well as good poaches at the net. She and Gibbs took a 4-1 lead and had a game point on Rogers’ serve, but San Diego won it to pull the set to 4-2 and the match to 20-19.

But Gibbs was able to serve out the set and the match, the last point coming on a winning volley by Kudryavtseva, who is ranked No. 26 in the world in doubles.

“We came up with some amazing play,” Kudryavtseva said. “I’m really proud of us right now actually … I liked our mentality. I mean, we really went for it. We weren’t waiting for them to give it to us. We moved at the net.”

Gibbs, smiling, interrupted.

“Even I did,” she said. “Even I moved at the net, and that’s rare. But she did a great job to finish it … Seriously awesome from Alla. Playing the last two matches is so tough. You can get really nervous, you can start to get negative when things get tight. She stayed positive and did a great job leading our team.”

The match was close throughout, but the Breakers started it off strong in men’s doubles. Orange County’s Dennis Novikov and Scott Lipsky beat Raven Klaasen and Ryan Harrison, 5-2. The difference was in the three-all points, as Novikov and Lipsky won all four of them.

“We had a lot more energy from the start,” Gibbs said. “The guys came through with a doubles win which we hadn’t been getting before, so that was absolutely pivotal.”

Gibbs appeared on her way to her third women’s singles victory over San Diego’s Rogers in four nights, as she held a 4-3 lead and a pair of game points on Rogers’ serve. But Rogers rallied to force a tiebreaker (first to five points).

Gibbs also got out to a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker, but Rogers rallied for the 5-4 (5-4) win to pull the Aviators within 9-7.

After Harrison beat Novikov in men’s singles, 5-3, the match was tied at 12-12. It would come down to the last two sets.

Klaasen and Darija Jurak edged Lipsky and Kudryavtseva in mixed doubles to give the Aviators a 17-16 lead, before the Breakers came through in women’s doubles.

Orange County has Thursday off and will play host to the Washington Kastles, the five-time defending World Team Tennis champions, on Friday night. Mardy Fish is scheduled to appear as a marquee player for the Kastles (3-1).

“We’re in it,” Gibbs said. “We’re hoping to carry this momentum into the weekend, hopefully get a win on Friday. It’s a big match on Friday, so we’re just turning our focus to there and trying to get to 3-2 on the season.”