V. Williams Puts on Clinic as Kastles Fall to 0-3

To the guests who got to mingle with Venus Williams before the Washington Kastles' home opener, the five-time Wimbledon champion looked taller than expected.

To former Washington Redskins great Darrell Green, she looked as if she would make a great cornerback, given her speed, agility and instinct -- high praise from a man considered among the best ever at the position.

From school children to sports legends, more than 3,000 Washingtonians got to see Williams blast her vaunted strokes and flash her megawatt smile last night.

And for the first time in the city's sport's history, an athlete playing for a team from Philadelphia could do no wrong.

Williams's Philadelphia Freedoms defeated the Washington Kastles, 23-16, to relegate the capital city's World Team Tennis franchise to the bottom of the Eastern Conference, with an 0-3 start.

But with Williams in action for three of the night's five sets -- just three days removed from her appearance in the Wimbledon women's singles final, in which she lost to her sister Serena, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 -- everyone from the ball kids to fans on the last row went home happy.

Team tennis, of course, doesn't carry a fraction of the spoils or prestige of Wimbledon. It's about entertainment as much as competition; about men and women playing on the same team, contributing equally; and it's about getting youngsters excited about the game.

There were fiercely contested points, to be sure, on the brightly colored court at Kastles Stadium in downtown Washington. Williams's vaunted serve and groundstrokes were on display, as were the lightning reflexes of Leander Paes and Rennae Stubbs, who each advanced to Wimbledon's final in mixed and women's doubles, respectively.

But Kastles Coach Murphy Jensen, himself a former Grand Slam title-holder (1993 French Open doubles) kept things light, throwing the challenge flag with wind-ups worth of legendary guitarist Pete Townshend's windmills, urging his players on ("Feet! Feet! Feet!) and pumping up the crowd.

Those on hand included former AOL chairman Steve Case; Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council; Washington Wizard Caron Butler; Green, the NFL Hall of Famer; and schoolchildren from across the city, many of whom had taken part in an afternoon tennis clinic with Williams and went home with autographs.

Philadelphia led 15-9 at halftime -- time to give away burritos and play pro-am tennis, with Williams and Stubbs teaming with small children equipped with scaled-down rackets and oversized tennis balls. Team Williams won this event, as well.

Afterward Williams granted an on-court interview to a young boy who didn't hesitate to ask the hard questions.

"How was Wimbledon?" he asked.

"Wimbledon was good," Williams said. "Especially the doubles," which she won with Serena.

Then, "How does it feel to play your sister?"

"She's awesome," Venus said, adding that Serena, the Kastles' marquee player, will join the team for her only Washington appearance next Tuesday.

And she closed with a pitch for the sport, explaining that she went to a clinic run by the co-founder of World Team Tennis, Billie Jean King, when she was just 7. "Billie Jean King was pitching balls to me," Williams said, "and look at me now!"