July 16, 2021 – Finally playing outdoors and at the scheduled location, the Raleigh Pro League, presented by Smart Athlete Physiotherapy, put on a dazzling display of Pro Team Tennis in front of a large crowd at MacGregor Downs Country Club in Cary.
Playing in front of their home crowd, Team Mosquito Authority made their 2021 debut, but would come up short against league leading Team White Dahlia 3-1. White Dahlia’s William Noblitt and Christian Welte got off to a fast start, winning the 1st set over Mosquito Authority’s Jas Schmitt and Michael Ogden 6-1. Schmitt/Ogden came back to make it close in the second, but Noblitt/Welte held them off to take the set 7-5 and win the court. On the Men’s 2 court, White Dahlia’s Quentin Guichard and Marko Zivkovic took the court over Mosquito Authority’s Sean Ferreira and Jose Velazquez 6-4 6-2. Playing on the feature court in front of a very supportive crowd, MacGregor Downs Pro’s Mia Bobrowski and RJ Clement teamed up to give Mosquito Authority their solo court win of the evening by besting White Dahlia’s Dawn Kitner and Phillip Cardell 6-1 6-4 on the Mixed court. Meanwhile, players on the Women’s court battled to a 3rd set tiebreak where White Dahlia’s Devan McCluskey and Kristen Kepler would win the court over Mosquito Authority’s Jenny Green and Michelle Dasso 6-7 6-2 10-7 to seal the team win for White Dahlia.
Playing on the back courts, undefeated Team MADabolic battled it out with Team Wake Orthopaedics in a match that took three 3rd set tiebreaks and a Captain’s Choice Super-Tiebreak to decide the winner. The Women’s court finished first as Wake Ortho’s Caitlin Whoriskey and Kris McGrath won in straight sets over Team MAD’s Meghan Coomes and Amanda Janda 6-4 6-1. The Men’s 2 court finished next as Wake Ortho’s Glen Kitner and Lilo Pelegrino battled back after dropping the 1st set 1-6 to take the 2nd set and go on to win the 3rd set tiebreak over Team MAD’s Michael Polasek and Justin Radloff 1-6 6-3 10-5 giving Wake Ortho a 2-0 court lead. The Men’s 1 court provided plenty of highlights with huge serving as Wake Ortho’s Jon Davis and Matthew Moody pushed Team MAD’s Ian Dempster and Rohan Chandrasekhar into a 3rd set tiebreak. Wake Ortho Captain Cameron Rosenow’s creative line-up almost paid off, but Dempster/Chandrasekhar held on to take the court 6-2 3-6 10-6. All attention turned to the Mixed court where Team MAD’s Heather Waters and Brian Smith were tied at 1 set each with Wake Ortho’s Liz Perkins and Justin Roberson and going into a 3rd set tiebreak. Waters/Smith took the tiebreak winning the court 6-4 2-6 10-7 and force a Captain’s Choice Super-Tiebreak to decide the team winner.
Waters went back on court with Ian Dempster to represent Team MAD in the Captain’s Choice and Whoriskey and Davis represented Wake Ortho. The deciding tiebreak was hard fought as Whoriskey/Davis took an early lead, but Waters/Dempster came back to tie it up. The teams traded leads until 11-all. Waters/Dempster won the next 2 points to take the tiebreak and keep Team MAD undefeated in their first 2 matches.
Definitely a fun evening with lots of great tennis.