World TeamTennis

"TeamTennis" redirects here. For the general topic, see Team tennis.
World TeamTennis
Upcoming season or competition:
Current sports event 2015 World TeamTennis season
Sport Team Tennis
Founded 1973
CEO Ilana Kloss
No. of teams 7
Country  United States
Most recent champion(s) Washington Kastles
Most titles Sacramento Capitals (6)
TV partner(s) Tennis Channel
ESPN2
Sponsor(s) Mylan, N.V.
Official website www.wtt.com

World TeamTennis is a coed professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States which was founded in 1973.

Originally played on a no-line court, each match consists of five sets. Each set features a different configuration (men's singles, men's doubles, women's singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles). Prior to each match, coaches decide the order in which the sets will be played. Each player on a team usually plays in at least one of the five sets. Scoring is no-advantage; there is no requirement to win a game by two scores; at deuce (40-40), whoever scores the next point wins the game. The first team to reach five games wins each set. A nine-point tiebreaker is played, if a set reaches four-all. One point is awarded for each game won. If necessary, Overtime and a Supertiebreaker are played to determine the winner of the match.

The league's season normally takes place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA take a break from their tour schedules to partake in World TeamTennis.

History

First league

The World Team Tennis (WTT) Professional Tennis league was founded in 1973 by four people: Larry King (owner of San Francisco Golden Gaters), Dennis Murphy (founder of the World Hockey Association), Fred Barman and Jordan Kaiser. The league began play in May 1974 with George MacCall as Commissioner of the 16 teams: Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo-Toronto, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Florida (Miami), Hawaii (Honolulu), Houston, Los Angeles, Minnesota (Minneapolis-St.Paul), New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco.

The original league format included a four-colored tennis court, a 44-contest season, and teams of at least two men and two women. A match consisted of the first player or team to win five games, with a nine-point tiebreaker at four-all, and no-ad scoring in women’s singles and doubles, men’s singles and doubles, and mixed doubles. This made WTT the first professional sports league to give equal weight to each man and woman competing for their teams.[1]

WTT also held annual All-Star games for the seasons from 1975 to 1978. Marty Riessen (Cleveland) and Greer Stevens (Boston) won Most Valuable Players (MVP) honors for the inaugural all-star gala won by the East, 28-21, at the Inglewood Forum in Los Angeles. In 1976 the West All-Stars, led by Chris Evert and Betty Stöve, capped an incredible comeback when they defeated Billie Jean King and Evonne Goolagong in a super tiebreaker, 5-4, giving the West a stunning 28-27 overtime victory at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. After trailing at one stage by 24-17, the West, led by Stove and Dianne Fromholtz, won the final set plus two games in overtime to draw the West All-Stars even at 27.[2] Tom Okker (San Francisco) and Dianne Fromholtz (Los Angeles) won MVP honors that year. In the 1977 All Star Game held at the San Diego Sports Arena, Björn Borg (Cleveland-Pittsburgh) and Betty Stove (Seattle-Portland) captured MVP awards as the East bested the West, 23-18. WTT held its final All-Star event in Las Vegas in 1978.[3]

WTT was the first professional sports experience for Jerry Buss (eventual owner of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings), and for Bob Kraft (eventual owner of the NFL's New England Patriots and MLS's New England Revolution).

Elton John wrote the theme song "Philadelphia Freedom" for his favorite team.

The first league ended play in 1978.

Second league

The league resumed play in 1981 as TeamTennis and fluctuated between four and twelve teams. In 1992, the name was changed to World TeamTennis (WTT). In 2005, twelve teams competed.

Billie Jean King became Commissioner and major owner of the league in 1984, following her retirement from tournament tennis competition. She retired as Commissioner in February 2001 and Ilana Kloss became the new WTT commissioner, a position she still holds.

In 2013, World TeamTennis was renamed Mylan World TeamTennis after Mylan, a generics and specialty pharmaceuticals company, announced a three-year agreement to serve as the title sponsor of WTT.[4]

Many top tennis players have participated in the league over the years, including: Billie Jean King, Rod Laver, Björn Borg, Chris Evert, John McEnroe, Evonne Goolagong, Jimmy Connors, Martina Navratilova,[5] Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport, Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis. Connors and Goolagong were not allowed to participate in the 1974 French Open due to their associations with WTT.[6][7] Connors' exclusion from the French Open denied him the opportunity to become the first male player since Rod Laver to win all four Major singles titles in a calendar year.

Timeline

1974–1978

1981–1991

League play resumed in 1981 as TeamTennis with four California teams, expanding to eight teams in 1982. In 1985 a recreational league for non-professionals was added, which was co-branded with the professional league.

1992–1999

In 1992, the current name World TeamTennis was restored.

2000–present

In 2000 the current logo was adopted.

In 2005 & 2006 the league consisted of 12 teams and in 2007 the Hartford FoxForce ceased operations.

Prior to the 2008 season, the Houston Wranglers ceased operations and the Washington Kastles joined the league.

In the 2009 season, 10 teams competed: Boston, NY Buzz, NY Sportime, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Kansas City, Newport Beach, Sacramento, Springfield, and St. Louis.

Sacramento has won the year-end Championship six times.

Before the start of the 2011 season the New York Buzz and the New York Sportimes merged into one New York team, the Sportimes.[10]

During the 2011 season the Washington Kastles completed a perfect 16–0 schedule, winning their second championship in three seasons.

In 2012 The Washington Kastles completed their second consecutive perfect season, going 16–0 for the second season in a row to become the first professional sports franchise to go two complete seasons without a loss. Their 32-consecutive-match winning streak is one shy of the major professional sports record of 33 consecutive wins set by the 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA. They began the next season with 2 wins making their streak 34 games, setting the new record.

Following the 2012 season, the Kansas City Explorers relocated to Irving, Texas and became the Texas Wild.

In 2013, World TeamTennis was renamed Mylan World TeamTennis after Mylan signed a three-year deal as the title sponsor.

On November 21, 2013, the Orange County Breakers were sold, relocated to Austin, Texas and renamed the Austin Aces.[11]

On January 16, 2014, the New York Sportimes were sold, relocated to San Diego and renamed the San Diego Aviators.[12]

On February 4, 2014, the Sacramento Capitals were relocated to Las Vegas and renamed the Las Vegas Neon.[13]

On March 5, 2014 the Las Vegas Neon franchise was terminated, leaving the league with seven teams.[14]

On February 23, 2015, WTT announced that a new ownership group had taken control of the Texas Wild and moved the team to Citrus Heights, California, renaming it the California Dream.[15]

Teams

Eastern Conference
Team City Stadium
Boston Lobsters Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA Boston Lobsters Tennis Center at the Manchester Athletic Club
Philadelphia Freedoms Radnor Township, PA The Pavilion
Washington Kastles Washington, D.C. Kastles Stadium at the Charles E. Smith Center
Western Conference
Austin Aces Austin, TX Gregory Gymnasium
California Dream Citrus Heights, CA Dream Stadium at Sunrise Mall
San Diego Aviators Carlsbad, CA Omni La Costa Resort and Spa
Springfield Lasers Springfield, MO Mediacom Stadium at Cooper Tennis Complex

Past Champions

Sources

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ "World TeamTennis Firsts". World TeamTennis. Retrieved 2009-12-17.
  2. ↑ "Chrissie Evert in 1976 World Team Tennis All-Stars Match". chrisevertdotnet (Youtube). Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  3. ↑ "Steve Dimitry's WTT Web Page". Steve Dimitry. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  4. ↑ "World TeamTennis and Mylan Announce Three-Year Collaboration". www.wtt.com. October 16, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
  5. ↑ "SPORTS PEOPLE: TENNIS; King Wants Navratilova to Finish Year". The New York Times. 1994-07-15.
  6. ↑ John Barrett, ed. (1975). World of Tennis '75. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 15–17. ISBN 9780362002171.
  7. ↑ "Connors, Goolagong 'Can't Play'". The Palm Beach Post. May 22, 1974.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Struggling WTT Adds Three New Franchises". The San Bernardino County Sun. December 1, 1978. p. 65.
  9. ↑ "WTT:Virginia Wade". World TeamTennis. Retrieved 2009-12-17. References both "Sets" and "Apples".
  10. ↑ "New York Sportimes to Play Two WTT Matches in Albany This Summer As World Team Tennis' New York Teams Consolidate" http://www.wtt.com/page.aspx?article_id=2411
  11. ↑ "Mylan World TeamTennis team relocates to Austin; Andy Roddick to star on team" http://www.austinacestennis.com/teams/article.aspx?article_id=4160
  12. ↑ "Mylan World TeamTennis team headed to San Diego" http://www.sandiegoaviators.com/teams/article.aspx?article_id=4247
  13. ↑ "Mylan World TeamTennis team relocates franchise to Las Vegas" http://www.lasvegasneontennis.com/teams/article.aspx?article_id=4290
  14. ↑ "LEAGUE STATEMENT ON LAS VEGAS FRANCHISE TERMINATION" http://www.wtt.com/page.aspx?article_id=4330
  15. ↑ "Mylan World TeamTennis Returns to Sacramento Area in 2015 with California Dream". World TeamTennis. February 23, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Steve Dimitry's WTT Web Page". source data for 1981-2005. tennis-reference. Archived from the original on 2005-02-22. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  17. ↑ "USTA National Campus Championship". Retrieved 2009-12-02.