WTT Completes 2009 Roster Draft
March 31, 2009 - World TeamTennis (WTT) News Release
(Miami) - Players from 17 countries highlighted today's Advanta WTT Roster Draft but it's a team of young Americans that will make World TeamTennis history this summer. The defending WTT Champion New York Buzz selected World TeamTennis' youngest team ever with a lineup of four up-and-coming American junior prospects, a WTT first. The new-look New York Buzz will be Alex Domijan, 17; Evan King, 17; Christina McHale, 16; and Sloane Stephens, 16.
Although the Roster Draft is where teams complete their lineup for the 3-week season with their full-time players, the League also announced that Maria Sharapova will play one home match for the Newport Beach Breakers on July 22.
The 2009 Advanta WTT Pro League regular season runs July 2-22 in 10 U.S. markets, with the top two teams from both the Western and Eastern Conference advancing to the Conference Finals on July 24. The Conference Champions will compete in the Advanta WTT Finals on Sunday, July 26 (location TBD).
Players selected during the Advanta WTT Roster Draft will join Sharapova and previously announced marquee players including Venus Williams and Andre Agassi (Philadelphia Freedoms); Serena Williams (Washington Kastles); Kim Clijsters and Anna Kournikova (St. Louis Aces); Martina Navratilova (Boston Lobsters); John McEnroe (New York Sportimes), Michael Chang (Sacramento Capitals) and Mike and Bob Bryan (Kansas City Explorers) to complete the lineup for the 2009 WTT season.
"Today's draft represents the diversity and depth of the generations of top tennis talent who play World TeamTennis," said WTT CEO/Commissioner Ilana Kloss. "Today was one of the strongest roster drafts in WTT history and it just adds to an already amazing lineup of marquee players."
Earlier this year, the USTA became a minority owner of World TeamTennis and the organizations are teaming up to promote the growth and development of youth team tennis in the U.S. "One of the main goals of the USTA's partnership with World TeamTennis, is to create innovative new ways to showcase our sport," said Lucy S. Garvin, Chairman of the Board and President, USTA. "By creating this WTT team that features some of the country's top junior prospects, the young players will gain valuable experience while showcasing our next generation of up-and-coming talent to new audiences."
The lineup for the U.S. team was put together by Patrick McEnroe, General Manager, USTA Player Development and his USTA coaching staff. "An integral part of our new player development philosophy is to foster a team concept among our rising junior talent, while providing them the best opportunities to face tough competition," said McEnroe. "The New York Buzz will provide the perfect opportunity to fulfill both these goals for the boys and girls working with the USTA."
Buzz owner Nitty Singh has a long history of supporting young tennis talent. "We are extremely excited to showcase America's finest juniors on our New York Buzz team this season," said Singh. "This keeps with our tradition of presenting the game's future stars such as Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and Lindsay Davenport who also played tournaments here in the Capital Region during the early part of their careers."
While the upstate New York franchise created a buzz with their all American lineup, it was the New York Sportimes who moved up via a trade with the St. Louis Aces to select Robert Kendrick as the first player in the Roster Draft. The Springfield Lasers picked up WTT first-timer Vania King with the third overall selection in the first round. The Washington Kastles selected world top five doubles star Leander Paes with their first round pick while the Sacramento Capitals brought back long-time Caps favorite Mark Knowles. Picking eighth in the first round, the St. Louis Aces grabbed singles and doubles standout Olga Govortsova. The Kansas City Explorers used their first pick to select Mike Russell and the Buzz took Sloane Stephens (New York Buzz).
Other first round picks included several player protections including Ramon Delgado (Newport Beach), Lisa Raymond (Philadelphia) and Jan-Michael Gambill (Boston).
Prior to the start of the Roster Draft, Sam Querrey and Liezel Huber were selected by teams for limited action this season as Roster Exempt players. The St. Louis Aces picked up Querrey for two home matches this summer while Huber, the world's top ranked doubles player, will play a limited schedule for the Springfield Lasers.
The 10-team League was co-founded by Billie Jean King in the early 1970s. Each team has a coach, two male and two female players who play singles, doubles and mixed doubles matches. Visit WTT.com for more information.
For details on the complete draft results and the 2009 schedule, visit www.WTT.com.
About Advanta WTT Pro League:
WTT is well known for introducing innovative elements to tennis including instant replay, co-ed format, multi-colored courts, cumulative and no-ad scoring, on-court coaching, Supertiebreakers and player names on back of their shirts.
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. 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.
Advanta is the title sponsor of the Advanta WTT Pro League and the official business credit card of WTT. Official Advanta WTT Pro League sponsors for the 2009 season include FirmGreen Energy, GEICO and Wilson Racquet Sports.
FINAL RESULTS: ADVANTA WTT ROSTER DRAFT - March 31 - Miami, Fla.
NOTE: Prior to the start of the Roster Player Draft, the Roster Exempt Draft was held. The St. Louis Aces selected Sam Querrey for two matches in St. Louis. The Springfield Lasers picked up the world's top-ranked female doubles player Liezel Huber who will play a limited schedule.
ADVANTA WTT ROSTER EXEMPT DRAFT
St. Louis Aces - Sam Querrey (two home dates July 15 and 17)
^Springfield Lasers - ^Liezel Huber (limited match schedule TBD)
ADVANTA WTT ROSTER DRAFT - March 31, 2009 - MIAMI
ROUND 1:
*NEW YORK SPORTIMES: *Robert Kendrick
NEWPORT BEACH BREAKERS: Ramon Delgado (protection)
SPRINGFIELD LASERS: Vania King
WASHINGTON KASTLES: Leander Paes
PHILADELPHIA FREEDOMS: Lisa Raymond (protection)
BOSTON LOBSTERS: Jan-Michael Gambill (protection)
SACRAMENTO CAPITALS: Mark Knowles
*ST. LOUIS ACES: *Olga Govortsova
KANSAS CITY EXPLORERS: Mike Russell
NEW YORK BUZZ: Sloane Stephens
ROUND 2:
#SACRAMENTO CAPITALS: #Rennae Stubbs
NEWPORT BEACH BREAKERS: Julie Ditty
SPRINGFIELD LASERS: Martin Damm
WASHINGTON KASTLES: Angela Haynes
PHILADELPHIA FREEDOMS: Travis Parrott (protection)
BOSTON LOBSTERS: Stephanie Foretz
#ST. LOUIS ACES: #Liga Dekmeijere
NEW YORK SPORTIMES: Jesse Witten (protection)
KANSAS CITY EXPLORERS: Kveta Peschke (protection)
NEW YORK BUZZ: Christina McHale
ROUND 3:
ST. LOUIS ACES: Tripp Phillips
NEWPORT BEACH BREAKERS: Kaes Van't Hof
SPRINGFIELD LASERS: Chani Scheepers
WASHINGTON KASTLES: Coco Vandeweghe
PHILADELPHIA FREEDOMS: Madison Keys
*^WASHINGTON KASTLES: *^Scott Oudsema
SACRAMENTO CAPITALS: Olga Puchkova
NEW YORK SPORTIMES: Ashley Harkleroad
KANSAS CITY EXPLORERS: Milagros Sequera
NEW YORK BUZZ: Evan King
ROUND 4:
ST. LOUIS ACES: Mislav Hizak
NEWPORT BEACH BREAKERS: Marie-Eve Pelletier
SPRINGFIELD LASERS: Raven Klaasen
*^BOSTON LOBSTERS: *^James Auckland
PHILADELPHIA FREEDOMS: Nathan Healey
BOSTON LOBSTERS: Raquel Kops-Jones (protection)
SACRAMENTO CAPITALS: Sam Warburg (protection)
NEW YORK SPORTIMES: Christina Fusano
KANSAS CITY EXPLORERS: Dusan Vemic (protection)
NEW YORK BUZZ: Alex Domijan
DRAFT NOTES:
^Newport Beach Breakers trade second round pick in Roster Exempt Draft to Springfield Lasers in exchange for the Springfield Lasers pick and financial consideration.
*St. Louis Aces trade first round draft position to New York Sportimes in exchange for the New York Sportimes first round draft position and financial consideration.
#St. Louis Aces trade second round draft position to Sacramento Capitals in exchange for the Sacramento Capitals second round draft position and financial consideration.
*^Boston Lobsters trade third round draft position to Washington Kastles in exchange for the Washington Kastles fourth round draft position and financial consideration.
2009Advanta WTT Pro League full rosters (including marquee and roster players)
BOSTON LOBSTERS: James Auckland, Stephanie Foretz, Jan-Michael Gambill, Raquel Kops-Jones, Martina Navratilova. Coach: Bud Schultz
KANSAS CITY EXPLORERS: Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, Kveta Peschke, Mike Russell, Milagros Sequera, Dusan Vemic. Coach: Brent Haygarth
NEW YORK BUZZ: Alex Domijan, Evan King, Christina McHale, Sloane Stephens. Coach: Roger Smith
NEW YORK SPORTIMES: Christina Fusano, Ashley Harkleroad, Robert Kendrick, John McEnroe, Jesse Witten. Coach: Chuck Adams
NEWPORT BEACH BREAKERS: Ramon Delgado, Julie Ditty, Kaes Van't Hof, Marie-Eve Pelletier, Maria Sharapova. Coach: Trevor Kronemann
PHILADELPHIA FREEDOMS: Andre Agassi, Nathan Healey, Madison Keys, Travis Parrott, Lisa Raymond, Venus Williams. Coach: Craig Kardon
SACRAMENTO CAPITALS: Michael Chang, Mark Knowles, Olga Puchkova, Rennae Stubbs, Sam Warburg. Coach: Wayne Bryan
SPRINGFIELD LASERS: Martin Damm, Liezel Huber, Vania King, Raven Klaasen, Chani Scheepers,. Coach: John-Laffnie de Jager
ST. LOUIS ACES: Kim Clijsters, Liga Dekmeijere, Olga Govortsova, Mislav Hizak, Anna Kournikova, Tripp Phillips, Sam Querrey. Coach: Roger Follmer
WASHINGTON KASTLES: Angela Haynes, Scott Oudsema, Leander Paes, Coco Vandeweghe, Serena Williams. Coach: Murphy Jensen
World TeamTennis Stories from March 31, 2009
- Springfield Lasers Draft Team, #1 World Player - Springfield Lasers
- Maria Sharapova Leads Breakers' New Stars Into 2009 - Orange County Breakers
- WTT Completes 2009 Roster Draft - WTT
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
