Empire rally past Freedoms again

Playing for the second time in two nights, the New York Empire managed to edge out a win against the Philadelphia Freedoms despite losing more sets than they won on Monday evening.

After clinching Sunday’s season-opener in men’s singles thanks to John Isner, Mardy Fish delivered for the visiting team in Philadelphia on Monday, as the Empire posted another comeback victory.

With her team trailing the Philadelphia Freedoms for the second straight day, the Belgian defeated Sloane Stephens (and Taylor Townsend, who was subbed in when down 3-0) 5-1 to tie the match, and set the stage for Mardy Fish to clinch New York’s second win of the season in the final set.

The Orange County Breakers’ and former Stanford star won an improbable rally at the close of the women’s singles tiebreak – firing off a winner of a perfectly placed drop shot from Springfield’s Francesca Schiavone – to help the home team earn its first victory of the season.

Gibbs’ win was sandwiched between a pair of 5-2 sets for the home team in men’s and mixed doubles, as Ken Skupski posted two wins alongside Steve Johnson and Andreja Klepac, respectively.

Though Schiavone and Abigail Spears got the Lasers their first set of the night out of halftime in women’s doubles, SoCal’s favorite son Johnson clinched the victory for the Breakers with a 5-2 win in men’s singles.