DANVERS - It didn’t seem like it from being there, but the Boston Lobsters lost to the Springfield Lasers last night, 21-20. Raven Klaasen beat Jan-Michael Gambill, 7-5, in the super tiebreaker as the Lasers improved to 9-0, but the reason they were close to defeat was partially because of Martina Navratilova.
The 52-year-old Navratilova was who most everyone came to see. This year marks her 20th in World TeamTennis, and last night marked her first of two home matches with the Lobsters this season.
Navratilova and James Auckland defeated Liezel Huber, the No. 1-ranked female doubles player in the world, and Martin Damm, 5-3, in mixed doubles.
Without rest, Navratilova then played women’s doubles with Raquel Kops-Jones.
She loudly contested consecutive out calls on Kops-Jones. After all these years, she can still be left dumbfounded.
“What are we supposed to do?’’ she asked Lobsters coach Bud Schultz.
The next ball landed well out. Navratilova raised her arms in a Y, mocking the line judge. This resulted in laughs from the crowd, and got the fans even more on her side.
“She’s still Martina,’’ said Kops-Jones. “She always has a presence.’’
They lost that match, however, 5-2, to Huber and Chanelle Scheepers, and Navratilova was done playing for the night.
But she stuck around and stood up for an out call that slighted Auckland in his men’s doubles match with Gambill. Gambill and Auckland wouldn’t need the help, anyway. They cruised to a 5-2 victory over Damm and Klaasen, giving the Lobsters a 12-10 lead with two matches to go.
Boston’s Stephanie Foretz lost the women’s singles match, 5-4, to Vania King, squandering leads of 2-0 and 4-2. Going into the final match, the Lobsters’ lead was 16-15, and it gave Klaasen hope.
“If it wasn’t for that ladies’ singles match, if it wasn’t for Vania, I wouldn’t have felt like I had the shot I had,’’ said Klaasen. “Both the ladies’ singles and the doubles, that’s what kept us in it tonight.’’
With Gambill’s loss in the super tiebreaker, however, the Lobsters fell to 4-7, after starting the season 2-0.
“We had it in the bag,’’ said Navratilova. “If we had any one of those eight points [that she contested and lost], we would have had it.’’
Auckland and Kops-Jones are trying to draw some of that Navratilova fire in the four matches they have with her this season.
“What you can learn from anyone who won 20 titles, you just listen to whatever she says,’’ said Auckland.
“I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. She’s not egotistical, but she’s a legend,’’ said Kops-Jones.
In a time where some tennis stars could crush cars with their serves, Navratilova is still out there getting it done, now with finesse.
“As long as I’m not in a wheelchair,’’ Navratilova said, “I’ll keep coming back.’’
