British No. 2 Anne Keothavong Tops WTT Roster Player Draft

Written by: Staff on 16th March 2011

British No. 2 Anne Keothavong Tops WTT Roster Player Draft

Anne Keothavong (GBR) |

Anne Keothavong, Great Britain’s second-ranked singles player, topped the 2011 WTT Roster Player Draft today when she was selected with the top overall pick by the Newport Beach Breakers. Players from 15 countries were chosen in Tuesday’s Roster Draft as teams completed their lineups for the League’s 36^thseason, which runs July 4-24.

In a special Roster Exempt Player Draft held before the start of the Roster Draft, three top Americans were added to team rosters. Lisa Raymond was selected by the Philadelphia Freedoms, 2009 Female MVP Vania King was protected by the Sacramento Capitals and the Boston Lobsters retained the rights for Coco Vandeweghe for the 2011 season.

The players added today join an all-star lineup of players selected in last month’s Marquee Draft including Serena Williams (Washington Kastles), Venus Williams (Washington Kastles), Kim Clijsters (New York Sportimes), John McEnroe (New York Sportimes), Martina Hingis (New York Sportimes), Lindsay Davenport (St. Louis Aces), Anna Kournikova (St. Louis Aces), Pete Sampras (Newport Beach Breakers), Sam Querrey (Washington Kastles), John Isner (Boston Lobsters), Mardy Fish (Sacramento Capitals), Mark Philippoussis (St. Louis Aces), Bob and Mike Bryan (Kansas City Explorers), James Blake (Boston Lobsters) and Melanie Oudin (Philadelphia Freedoms).

Americans led the way with a total of 19 players selected today including U.S. amateur Beatrice Capra who was Philadelphia’s first round pick. Other Americans selected in the first round include Liezel Huber, world No. 5 in doubles, who will join Davenport on the Aces’ roster. The duo paired together in 2010 to win a WTA doubles title at Stanford. Carly Gullickson returns to the Springfield Lasers as does Jan-Michael Gambill for the Boston Lobsters. Robert Kendrick returns to the New York Sportimes for his 5^th WTT season. The 2010 WTT Champion Kansas City Explorers added American Alex Kuznetsov to their squad.

In other first round action, the Sacramento Capitals are bringing back 3-time WTT MVP Mark Knowles of the Bahamas for the full season. The Washington Kastles used their first round to select Arina Rodionova of Russia.

Each of the nine teams in the WTT Pro League presented by GEICO will play a total of 14 matches during the three-week regular season, July 4-21. The top two teams from both the Western and Eastern Conferences advance to the WTT Conference Championships on July 22 with the winners playing in the WTT Finals on July 24. Teams in the Western Conference are the Kansas City Explorers, Newport Beach Breakers, Sacramento Capitals, St. Louis Aces and Springfield Lasers. Teams in the Eastern Conference are the Boston Lobsters, New York Sportimes, Philadelphia Freedoms and Washington Kastles.

The WTT Pro 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.

For details on the complete draft results and the 2011 schedule, visit www.WTT.com