WTT Season Begins July 5

Published December 31, 2009
By Staff

The start of the 35th season of the World TeamTennis Pro League has been moved to Monday, July 5.  The regular season will run July 5-22, with the WTT Conference Championships set for July 23 and the WTT Finals on July 25.

The WTT Conference Championships will be played at the home venue of the top seeds from the Eastern and Western Conferences.  The location of the WTT Finals will be announced in early 2010.

The later start date allows WTT players to complete their play at Wimbledon without conflicting with the start of the WTT Pro League season.   In 2009, more than 25 percent of WTT players were still in action at Wimbledon during the final days of singles, doubles and juniors competition.  The Grand Slam successes continued at the 2009 US Open as WTT players earned four of the five major championship titles.

Over the course of three weeks, WTT players in 10 markets will play 73 matches during 21 nights of tennis.  More than 60 players are expected to compete during the League's 35th season.  Teams start building their lineups with the WTT Marquee Draft in early February.  Lineups are completed at the WTT Roster Player Draft, which will be held in Indian Wells, Calif., on March 16.

World TeamTennis also released a special logo today to commemorate the League’s 35th season in 2010.  The logo will be broadly integrated into the League’s marketing efforts, including advertising, online, merchandise and onsite in the 10 team markets.

The 35th season celebration began earlier this fall with the weekly announcement on WTT.com of 35 players who have made the biggest impact on World TeamTennis.  The League will also highlight the 35 greatest moments in WTT history.  Fans will select the ranking order of the top 10 impact players and greatest moments next spring.  Additional celebrations, including several to be held in team markets, are being planned for the upcoming months.

Billie Jean King co-founded the WTT Pro League and co-ed team format in the 1970s.  With WTT’s gender-balanced team concept, each team is comprised of two men, two women and a coach.  Team matches consist of five events, with one set each of men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.

WTT is also well known for introducing other innovative elements to tennis including instant replay, cumulative and no-ad scoring, on-court coaching, Supertiebreakers, multi-colored courts and player names on the back of shirts.

Each season, the WTT Pro League features some of the biggest stars in tennis.  Top names from the 2009 season included Venus Williams, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Anna Kournikova, Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, Maria Sharapova, Michael Chang and the U.S.’s top-ranked doubles team of Mike and Bob Bryan.  The League is a showcase for three generations of tennis standouts, including legends, current tour players and up-and-coming tennis pros.  Sharapova and Andy Roddick are among the players who started in the League as teenagers.

In 2009, World TeamTennis and the New York Buzz also fielded the first all-junior team of top U.S. prospects in partnership with the United States Tennis Association.  The USTA is a minority owner and promotional partner of World TeamTennis.   WTT and the USTA are teaming up on number of initiatives, including development of the youth market through junior team tennis programs.