Freedoms defeat Lasers

Luka Gregorc tried to lift the ball lightly over, but he failed. It kissed the white stripe atop the net and rolled down, bouncing on Gregorc's side of the court. He fixed his eyes to the ground, shook his head, and scraped the edge of his racket against the court.

Gregorc and his partner, Jordan Kerr, were already down 3-1 and about to lose another one in game five, set three of the medley that is World TeamTennis - Gregorc's Freedoms and the Springfield Lasers played mixed doubles, women's singles, men's doubles, men's singles, and women's doubles, in that order, at the Pavilion on the Villanova University campus Saturday night.

But Gregorc recovered. He and Kerr broke Springfield in the next game, Gregorc served the Freedoms to four straight points, and, with the eighth game tied 3-3, Gregorc smacked the ball off opponent Devin Britton's wrists to force overtime. There, Gregorc and Kerr clinched the set.

Gregorc followed with a set of men's singles, dropping that one 5-4, but his play helped the Freedoms defeat the Lasers 21-18 (5-1, 2-5, 5-4, 4-5, 5-3).

Gregorc, 28, had never played in the WTT. He said curiosity drove him to join the league this year. Other players told him it was fun, something different.

"I figured I'd try something different before I finish my career," he said.

Gregorc's time as a professional has been unremarkable. He peaked as the No. 172 player in the world in March 2009, and later that year he qualified for Wimbledon, making him the first Slovenian player to qualify for a Grand Slam.

But Gregorc's game betrayed him soon after. He didn't get along with his coach in 2009, and he couldn't find an instructor he liked for about a year. By the end of 2009 he was world's No. 358 player, and the latest rankings put him outside the top 500. Gregorc has never reached a tournament final.

"I'll play as long as my body lets me, as long as there is financial support behind me," he said. "But I love what I do, and I want to keep doing it."

Though he hasn't been a topflight competitor as he envisioned for his career, and though he only split his two sets Saturday, Gregorc provided the most entertaining performances of the evening at the Pavilion.

Against No. 175 Amir Weintraub, Gregorc jumped ahead 4-2, but he couldn't hold on, and the set stretched to overtime. This time, Gregorc walked off the court the loser.

Down 4-3 in overtime, staring at set point, Gregorc pushed Weintraub sideline to sideline before lining up a put-away shot. But the ball drifted wide, and the set was Weintraub's.

Gregorc walked off the court, again shaking his head. But he stared straight ahead, fixed on his teammates, who pulled him toward the bench with their applause.