TENNIS:Playoffs out of sight for Breakers

Too many losses too early in the season have taken their toll on the Newport Beach Breakers.

After losing on the road to the New York Buzz on Wednesday and the Philadelphia Freedoms on Thursday, the Breakers find themselves at 3-7 and virtually eliminated from the playoffs.“I don’t think 8-6 will get it done,” Breakers Coach Trevor Kronemann said before Newport Beach lost the pair of matches. “I think it’ll take 9-5 and that may not even get it done.”

It didn’t help that the Breakers play in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. Springfield (10-0), Sacramento (7-2) and Kansas City (6-4) are all ahead of the Breakers in the conference standings. Only two teams from the conference will make the playoffs, which are scheduled for July 27-29 in Roseville, as the wild-card berth for the host was eliminated this season.

The Eastern Conference, by contrast, features four teams tied for first place — all at 5-5 — and one at 5-6.

Springfield, Sacramento and Kansas City are also a combined 4-1 against Newport Beach, which plays Sacramento for the second time on the road on Saturday. That match will feature Lindsay Davenport playing for the Capitals.

Davenport, who lives in Laguna Beach, is the sister-in-law of Breakers’ doubles player Rick Leach, being married to his younger brother, Jon.

Davenport played for the Breakers in their inaugural season of 2003.

This is likely the first year since that season that the Breakers won’t make the playoffs. Newport Beach won the World Team Tennis championship in 2004 and advanced to the championship match the past two seasons, losing to the New York Sportimes in 2005 and the Philadelphia Freedoms last year.

But the Breakers’ remaining two home matches should still be memorable. On Sunday, four-time Wimbledon women’s singles champion Venus Williams will be in town with the Philadelphia Freedoms.

Billie Jean King, the tennis legend and the founder of World Team Tennis, is also expected to make an appearance.

On Wednesday, world No. 2 Maria Sharapova will make her only appearance with the Breakers. Also that day, tennis legend John McEnroe will be in town with the New York Sportimes.

“We’re just going to go out and give it a great effort, work hard and have a good time,” Kronemann said.

STAYING AT HOME

The Breakers’ Ramon Delgado did not accompany the team on its road-trip to New York and Pennsylvania this week, Kronemann said.

Delgado is 35-24 in men’s singles for Newport Beach, a .593 games-won percentage that ranks second in WTT behind Jesse Witten of the Sportimes. But his right knee has been bugging him lately, as Delgado has been experiencing swelling and has had it drained twice.

“He’s been playing well for us, even though he’s only playing at 75 or 80%,” Kronemann said.

Pete Sampras took Delgado’s spot during those two matches. But Delgado, the four-year veteran of the Breakers, is scheduled to rejoin the team in Sacramento on Saturday.

“He’s got a big schedule after this,” Kronemann said. “He’s playing four weeks in a row leading up to the U.S. Open. We’ve got to give him a fair enough chance to calm that knee down.”

STILL GETTING ADAPATED

It has been a long season for Michaela Pastikova. One of only two women’s regulars on the Breakers, the Czech-born player has been playing mixed doubles with Leach and women’s doubles with Lauren Albanese.

Recently, she’s also been playing women’s singles so Albanese can rest her sore right ankle.

Pastikova did win three sets for the Breakers in their 23-19 victory over Kansas City on Monday, but she said she’s still getting comfortable in her first year playing on the hard courts of WTT.

“I have to say that I’m still not very comfortable here,” Pastikova said. “I’m from Europe; I’m usually playing clay courts. So it’s still a little bit difficult for me to play on hard courts, but I’m trying to do my best. I’m trying to help the team, because I know how great the guys are doing. Ramon’s a great singles player and Rick Leach is a great doubles player, so I’m trying to help them.”

SAMPRAS HAS JOKES

Sampras is scheduled to play a series of three matches against world No. 1 Roger Federer in Asia in November.

Many think Federer, who has won 11 Grand Slam titles, will eventually eclipse Sampras’ record mark of 14.

The two players also hit together recently in Southern California. Sampras, known for his stoic demeanor, cracked a joke when asked how the practice with Federer happened.

“He texted me and said he was going to be in L.A. before Indian Wells,” Sampras said at a press conference on July 10. “I said, ‘Let me check my schedule. Let me see if I can find some room for you.’ ”

The comments drew laughs, but Sampras also had some real praise for Federer.

“We talked for two hours after one hit,” Sampras said. “It was everything that you hear about Roger. He’s a great guy; he’s a funny guy. He’s a young kid in a lot of ways. When he breaks my record, he’s the type of person I’d like to see break it. In my opinion, he’s what sports is all about.”

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or at [email protected].