Breakers bring balanced attack

The Newport Beach Breakers finished the regular season, 9-5, and

enter the World Team Tennis playoffs as the No. 2 team out of the

Western Conference. The Breakers will face the top team in the WTT,

the Sacramento Capitals (11-3), Sept. 16 in the Western Conference

final in Sacramento.

The Breakers were buoyed by the outstanding play of Ramon Delgado

this season. Delgado was the WTT finals’ MVP after helping the

Breakers beat the Delaware Smash, 23-17, to win the league

championship in 2004.

Delgado finished the 2005 season as the best men’s singles player

in the WTT, going 62-40 in total games with a .608 winning

percentage. He was 12-2 in all of his singles sets and he led

come-from-behind wins in two matches.

The native of Paraguay has defeated two-time Grand Slam champion

Patrick Rafter, four-time Grand Slam champion Jim Courier and Andy

Roddick, currently the No. 3-ranked player in the world.

Anastassia Rodionova was powerful in women’s and mixed doubles.

She led the women’s doubles team to a 9-5 record and helped the mixed

doubles team finish with the third-highest winning percentage (57-50,

.533) in the league.

All but one of Rodionova’s women’s doubles sets was played with

Katerina Bondarenko.

Bonderanko had the second-highest winning percentage in women’s

singles for someone with more than 90 games played (48-47, .505).

Bonderanko helped coach the team when Maria Sharapova made her

appearance July 23 against the St. Louis Aces. Sharapova led a

come-from-behind win by helping the women’s doubles team to a 5-2

victory, followed by her 5-0 win in women’s singles to close the

match. The Breakers, which also featured Estancia High product Devin

Bowen, secured their second straight postseason berth with a 22-16

victory.