World TeamTennis News & Notes
July 14, 2004 - World TeamTennis (WTT) News Release
United States Announces Olympic Team
Martina Navratilova, member of the New York Buzz, will make her Olympic debut in Athens this summer. This appearance is part of a professional tennis career that began in 1973 and includes 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 39 Grand Slam doubles titles, 167 singles titles, 174 doubles titles and a 40-1 record as member of the U.S. Fed Cup team. Navratilova will be the oldest player to compete for the U.S. in Olympic tennis. Joining Navratilova will be doubles partner and member of the Philadelphia Freedoms, Lisa Raymond. Raymond will compete in the Olympics for the first time in her career. A resident of Wayne, Pa., Raymond holds five career Grand Slam doubles titles, including the 2001 U.S. Open women's doubles title. She has represented the United States in Fed Cup for six years.
On the men's side, Mardy Fish, #18 player in the world and a member of the Hartford FoxForce, and the top-ranked doubles team of twins Bob and Mike Bryan who play for the Newport Beach Breakers this WTT season, will compete for the U.S. Patrick McEnroe, owner of the New York Sportimes, will coach the U.S. men's team.
Roster Moves
The Newport Beach Breakers World TeamTennis (WTT) franchise announced that Nadia Petrova would replace Maria Sharapova for the Breakers for a World TeamTennis match in Newport Beach on Saturday, July 17. Sharapova announced on Sunday that due to her demanding schedule following her Wimbledon win, she is taking some time off after she plays her scheduled WTT match on Wednesday, July 14, in Newport Beach.
Petrova is currently ranked #12 in the world in singles and #8 in doubles on the WTA Tour. This past April, she recorded one of her biggest wins when she upset former world #1 Serena Williams at a tournament in Amelia Island. She has also paired with Meghann Shaughnessy to form one of the tour's hottest doubles teams, winning four titles this year. Petrova has won a total of eight career WTA doubles championships. Petrova burst into prominence during the 2003 French Open where she reached the semifinals, defeating Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati along the way. Petrova will also help lead the Russians this summer as a member of the Russian Olympic Team.
In other roster moves, the St. Louis Aces announced that Tatiana Panova would be out for the rest of the season due to injury. Kelly McCain will replace Panova on the Aces roster. McCain is currently ranked #131 in singles on the WTA Tour.
Novo Nordisk New Sponsor of the WTT Donnelly Awards
Novo Nordisk, the leading pharmaceutical company in diabetes care, is proud to be the new sponsor of the WTT Donnelly Awards. Billie Jean King established the awards in 1998 to encourage diabetic children to lead an active life and compete in tennis. The two awards each provide $5,000 scholarships to young tennis players suffering from diabetes and are named after two long-time World TeamTennis executives and tennis champions, Diane Donnelly Stone and Tracy Donnelly Maltby, who are sisters. Stone was an All-American and NCAA doubles champion at Northwestern University, and Maltby earned All-Big Ten honors at the University of Iowa. Both women have had diabetes since childhood. Two adolescents, ages 14-21, who have diabetes and play tennis competitively in tournaments or on their school team will receive a $5,000 scholarship. In addition, the recipients will travel to New York City to receive their awards at the 2004 WTT Finals, held at the USTA National Tennis Center, home of the U.S. Open on August 28. All applications must be received by July 25, 2004, and the winners will be announced by August 10, 2004. To download an application, log on to www.wtt.com and click on BJK/WTT Charities.
World TeamTennis Stories from July 14, 2004
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