Reynolds Ties USTA Record,
Anastasia in 6th SF of 2012
Kastles' closer Bobby Reynolds captured his first title of 2012 on Sunday.
(Photo by Vithaya Phongsavan)
Bobby Reynolds of the Washington Kastles etched his name into the record books of the United States Tennis Association on Sunday by capturing the Savannah Challenger doubles title alongside Australian Carsten Ball.
Reynolds has now won 30 championships on the USTA Pro Circuit (21 doubles, 9 singles), tying the all-time men's record held by retired American Paul Goldstein.
Launched in 1979, the USTA Pro Circuit features 47 men's tournaments that provide prize money and ranking points to professional players on the pathway to the ATP World Tour.
Reynolds captured his first circuit title 10 years ago as an amateur competing on the Vanderbilt University men's tennis team. Since then, his success on the circuit has propelled him onto the biggest stages in tennis.
The Kastles' closer has won singles matches at all four Grand Slam tournaments and captured an ATP World Tour doubles title at Indianapolis in 2006 with Andy Roddick.
Reynolds and Ball enjoyed a 7-6(7), 6-4 win in Sunday's Savannah final over Simon Stadler and Travis Parrott, formerly of the New York Sportimes.
WASHINGTON KASTLES 2012 Titles on Tour
Kastle Tour Event Tournament
Leander Paes ATP Doubles Chennai
Leander Paes ATP Doubles Australian Open
Leander Paes ATP Doubles Miami
Bobby Reynolds USTA Doubles Savannah
Anastasia Rodionova WTA Doubles Pattaya City
Arina Rodionova ITF Doubles Burnie
Arina Rodionova ITF Doubles Sydney
Serena Williams WTA Singles Charleston
The third-year Kastle got more good news this weekend, learning that he was the last player accepted into the Estoril Open, a combined ATP and WTA event. He made a successful debut in Portugal, defeating Bucharest semifinalist Attila Balazs 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday.
"Glad to get thru 1st rd after arriving to Portugal last night,"
Reynolds tweeted following his win. "Sometimes it's better to have no time to adjust."
In a second-round match early Thursday, the American pushed two-time Estoril champion and No. 7 seed Albert Montañes before falling 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Another Kastle playing on the Portuguese red clay this week is Anastasia Rodionova, seeded second in the women's doubles draw with Sania Mirza of India.
The Pattaya City champions defeated Eleni Daniilidou and Andreja Klepac 6-2, 6-7(5), [10-5] in a first-round match on Monday, and routed Americans Lindsay Lee-Waters and Megan Moulton-Levy 6-0, 6-4 on Wednesday.
Anastasia, who Kastles fans are already dubbing 'Super Nova,' is through to her sixth WTA doubles semifinal of 2012. She and Mirza will meet No. 3 seeds Yaroslava Shvedova and Galina Voskoboeva late Thursday for a spot in the Estoril championship match.
Arina Rodionova is unlikely to team with her sister Anastasia again during the clay-court season after injuring her left wrist at the WTA event last week in Fes, Morocco. The 2011 WTT Rookie of the Year won three qualifying matches and the opening set of her first-round match in the main draw before withdrawing from the event with a left wrist injury.
"Bad news," she tweeted. "Looks like I am gonna be out of action for a while- got the results of the tests and wrist doesnt look good at all"
Kastles fans can wish Arina well in her recovery by
following her on Twitter and tweeting her a message. Show 'Hot Rod' how much DC hopes to see her back with the Kastles this July.
Serena Williams, Arina's teammate from the 16-0 Kastles team of 2011, kept the Kastles reputation of perfection in tact during the U.S. vs. Ukraine Fed Cup tie April 21-22. The 13-time Grand Slam singles champion improved to 11-0 all-time in Fed Cup play by sweeping through both of her singles matches.
Serena and sister
Venus Williams are expected to return to action at next week's Madrid Open, which will be the first tournament ever staged on blue clay. As always, you can receive updates of all of the Kastles on tour by liking the
Kastles on Facebook.
By playing in two Fed Cup ties this season, Serena Williams is now eligible for the Olympics.
(Photo by Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA)