NEWPORT BEACH BREAKERS 2008 SEASON IN REVIEW:

Trevor Kronemann has been a member of World Team Tennis for 19 years as a player, coach and TV commentator.

But even with that experience, the Newport Beach Breakers second-year coach hasn’t seen events turn south so quickly like he did with the Breakers. Newport Beach finished the season 5-9 after losing at Kansas City in their final match on Wednesday.

The Breakers also drew over 12,500 people to Breakers Stadium at Newport Beach Country Club over their seven matches, with a Dana Carvey comedy event still coming Saturday . The match featuring John McEnroe on Tuesday was a sellout of the 2,200-capacity stadium. Proceeds benefit Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.

The 5-9 record was an improvement for the Breakers, who finished 3-11 a year ago. But, for Kronemann, that might have made it all the more frustrating. His team was winless in five matches decided by two games or less, as the Breakers missed the playoffs for the second straight year.

“I’d like to think it’s all tough luck,” Kronemann said. “You’re going to see some things happen, but in 19 seasons, I have not seen this many [bad] things happen in one entire season. I haven’t seen it. We came out and fought hard every night, and it was exciting for the fans until the very end. The team did the best they could, but the other team every night just seemed to have a different feel and we were always on the other side of the court. It just seemed like everything wasn’t going our way. I’m a firm believer in you create your own luck, but we couldn’t even create it.”

Newport Beach lost its women’s singles player, Angelika Bachmann, early in the season to a torn ACL. For the season, the Breakers also won just 55 of 126 of the important 3-all points (43.6%). A few more of those games would have swung several matches the Breakers’ way.

“It’s one of those seasons,” Kronemann said. “At least here at home, we couldn’t get that 3-all point. Everything evolved around that.”

But there were definitely positives for the Breakers. Ramon Delgado, a five-year veteran of the team, was WTT’s top men’s singles player. He won 63 of 103 (61.2%).

“I love to play here [in Newport Beach],” Delgado said. “I feel very confident here, and I feel that I can beat anybody. I wish they had some tournaments here, some bigger tournaments.”

Delgado also teamed with Newport Beach native Kaes Van’t Hof to create a formidable men’s doubles team. They won eight straight late in the season before falling in the finale.

Van’t Hof, who turns 22 on Aug. 1, will now set out to try to begin his pro career. He said he plans to play in a USTA futures event next week in Decatur, Ill., and he would be very open to returning to the Breakers next season.

“It was all I expected and a little more,” said Van’t Hof, the 2008 NCAA men’s doubles champion at USC with partner Robert Farah. “I started out a little nervous playing at home, but once you get comfortable, you always look forward to coming back home and playing here. I turned having people supporting me from a pressure thing into a good thing. You have to find your balance with that.

“I think [World Team Tennis] is great for the game,” he added. “Tennis is sometimes a little too stiff, and this loosens it up a little bit. As long as the crowd is having fun, then it’s better for the players, even. I got really lucky [playing for the Breakers]. I’ve got to stay the course and hopefully earn my way back here.”

Kronemann said although the year was tough, he also had fun as the Breakers coach.

“This is the place to play World Team Tennis,” he said. “You can’t beat the weather, and they’re packing the stands. What [WTT co-founder] Billie Jean [King] is trying to create is a place for little kids to see the sport of tennis, men and women competing. This venue accomplishes that every night. Little kids go home dreaming of being Ramon Delgado, being John McEnroe.”