Tennis Industry News

The 2010 World TeamTennis Pro League season—which is the 35th season for the professional league—will be highlighted by head-to-head matches between five former and current world No. 1 players. Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters, Lindsay Davenport and current world No. 1 Serena Williams will meet during the 3-week season, which starts July 5.  League officials released the 73-match season schedule for the 10 WTT franchises last week.

Hingis, who plays for the New York Buzz, is scheduled to take on the Washington Kastles’ Serena Williams and Venus Williams, and Clijsters, who is a member of the New York Sportimes. Venus Williams and the St. Louis Aces’ Lindsay Davenport will face off in St. Louis.

Each of the 10 teams will play 14 matches—seven home, seven away. Eastern Conference teams are the 2009 WTT Champions Washington Kastles, Boston Lobsters, New York Buzz, New York Sportimes and Philadelphia Freedoms.  Western Conference teams are Newport Beach Breakers, Sacramento Capitals, St. Louis Aces, Springfield Lasers and Kansas City Explorers.  This summer marks the 35th season of the coed League, which was co-founded in the 1970s by Billie Jean King.

The Marquee Player lineup for 2010 includes some of the biggest names in tennis, including Serena Williams (Washington Kastles), Venus Williams (Washington Kastles), Andy Roddick (Philadelphia Freedoms), Kim Clijsters (New York Sportimes), John McEnroe (New York Sportimes), Martina Hingis (New York Buzz), Lindsay Davenport (St. Louis Aces), Anna Kournikova (St. Louis Aces), Maria Sharapova (Newport Beach Breakers) and James Blake (Boston Lobsters).

Hingis is returning to WTT action for the first time since 2006 and will face some of the WTA Tour’s biggest current stars this July.  Hingis, who is playing the entire season for the Albany-based New York Buzz, will try to even her head-to-head record with Serena Williams during a special road match at the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, N.Y., on July 9.   Hingis will play the remaining six home matches at the team’s regular home venue, SEFCU Arena at the University at Albany (July 5, 6, 13, 14, 16, 20).  Hingis, a former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, hits the road for seven matches including visits to Washington DC (July 7 vs. Venus Williams, July 12), Boston (July 11), Springfield (July 17), New York Sportimes (July 19 vs. Kim Clijsters), Philadelphia (July 21), and St. Louis (July 22).

Team lineups will be finalized at the WTT Roster Draft on Tuesday, March 16 at 11am EST on WTT.com. Marquee players typically play a limited schedule while roster players play the full 3-week season.