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Freedoms Spoil Bryan Bros Visit To Philly

Posted on July 17, 2012

The Philadelphia Freedoms were back home in Villanova tonight playing the Kansas City Explorers who brought tennis doubles stars Bob and Mike Bryan. The Freedoms brought another victory to the home crowd of 2,632 with a final score of 20-16.

The Freedoms took the first set 5-2 in men’s singles with Freedoms fan-favorite Luka Gregorc defeating Kansas City Explorer Nick Monroe. In a highly competitive women’s singles battle in the second set, Freedoms’ Kristyna Pliskova fell to Explorers’ Chanel Simmonds in a tiebreaker, 5-4. The third set of the match pitted Explorers marquee players Bob and Mike Bryan against the Freedoms Luca Gregorc and Jordan Kerr in men’s doubles. The Explorers dominated the set 5-1 against the Freedoms.

During halftime, Philadelphia Union’s Brian Carroll and Chase Harrison joined Bob and Mike Bryan on center court for an energetic and crowd-pleasing game of soccer tennis. This marks the second year that the Philadelphia Union and the Philadelphia Freedoms have partnered together to bring soccer to the tennis audience.

The Freedoms took two huge wins in the fourth and fifth sets with mixed doubles and women’s doubles. In mixed doubles, the Freedoms’ Kristyna Pliskova and Jordan Kerr defeated Bob Bryan and Tetiana Luzhanska 5-3 to tie the match up going into the fifth set. Kristyna and Karolina Pliskova fought hard for a 5-1 victory over the Explorers’ Tetiana Luzhanska and Chanel Simmonds to bring the team to victory. The Freedoms record now stands 3-3 for the season.

The Freedoms next home match is Thursday, July 19, 2012 against the Orange County Breakers with a special appearance by tennis legend Chris Evert. The Freedoms continue their 2012 home season throughout July with a roster of world-class tennis pros John McEnroe and Martina Hingis playing for the New York Sportimes (July 20) and Mark Philippoussis playing for the Freedoms (July 25). The Philadelphia Freedoms are presented by Beneficial Bank and hosted by Cancer Treatment Centers of America.