“10s Whenever” Newsletter Vol. 132

Written by: Staff on 13th February 2014

"10s Whenever" Newsletter Vol. 132

epa04070709 Sam Querrey of the US hits a return shot to Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia in their first round match in the US National Indoor Tennis Championships at the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, 11 February 2014. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

Mylan World Team Tennis Review: Roddick, Hingis, Querrey, Azeranka Playing by Francisco Resendiz

Mylan World TeamTennis has alignment its teams and reassigned some of its stars, in the process moving into three new cities and busting up one of professional sports best rivalries.

The first serves of the league’s 39th season are not until July but WTT used the gap between the Australian Open in January and Indian Wells in March to conduct it high profile “marquee” player draft as well as take care of any internal business, such as franchise relocation.

They have done both with zest and profound impact.

Gone are the New York Sportimes, one of the premier teams and home to some of the biggest names in professional tennis – crucially and part of the nail biting couple with the Washington Kastles as to the most heated rivalry in the league for several years. The Sportimes are now in San Diego – and there is no team in New York for one of the few times in WTT history.

That means the edge-of-the-seat conference matches between Washington and New York, which threatened the Kastles record setting win streak and saw Martina Hingis jump from New York to Washington, are a thing of the past. The Sportimes (now San Diego Aviators) are in the Western Conference.

Also vanished are the long-standing Orange County Breakers, now the Austin Aces. They were the 2004 champs as the Newport Beach Breakers and lost in the championship match the next two seasons.

Even the most winning franchise in WTT history, the Sacramento Capitals, was not sparred. They now will play in Las Vegas, now called the Neons, the first time that city has had a franchise. Sacramento moves to Las Vegas after playing 28 seasons in the California state capital. The Capitals won a league record six WTT championships, including four straight from 1997-2000.

Kolleen McNamee, who has served as Sacramento’s general manager since the fall 2012, will continue in the role for the Neon. “The Capitals franchise enjoyed many great years in Sacramento and we will miss our truly dedicated fan base there,” McNamee said. “But we can’t wait to start this new chapter and to bring a fun, exciting brand of tennis to the Las Vegas community.”

McNamee said the move was necessitated because the franchise was unable to find a permanent home in Sacramento. In past years, the team has constructed a temporary stadium and in 2013 played its home matches in a mall parking lot.

The moves were triggered by new owners taking over the franchises and relocating them to their own geographic preferences.

With the moves, the Neon will join the Western Conference with the Aviators, Aces and Texas Wild (which moved last season from Kansas City).

The 2013 Mylan WTT Western Conference champion Springfield Lasers will be moving to the Eastern Conference in 2014 to join the defending league champion Washington Kastles. Some hope that may emerge as a crowd-pleasing rivalry.

However, in the most significant trade of the off season so far, Andy Roddick moved from the Lasers to head up the lineup for the 2014 Austin Aces in their inaugural season. The 2003 US Open Champion and former world No. 1, is an investor in WTT and a Texas native. He will be joined by 2013 Wimbledon Champion Marion Bartoli who is making her Mylan WTT debut for the Aces – giving them a strong start.

Roddick and Bartoli are two of the “marquee players” that were either drafted or protected on February 11.

In that draft, WTA world No. 2 Victoria Azarenka will return to WTT for the first time in four years after being selected by Philadelphia Freedoms second overall in the marquee player draft. The Belarusian previously played for the Springfield Lasers in 2006, when she earned Female Rookie of the Year honors and later the Washington Kastles in 2010. Azarenka has since gone on to win two Australian Open singles titles, ascend to the top of the WTA Rankings and claim two Olympic medals in London.

Hingis, the 2013 Mylan WTT Female MVP, returns to the Kastles to lead the team’s campaign for their 4th consecutive championship. This will be Hingis’ 7thMylan WTT season. She will be joined by another former world No. 1 as longtime Kastles star Venus Williams returns to the team after missing the 2013 season due to injury. They were protected in the first and second rounds, respectively.

The Neon will have local favorite Sam Querrey on their roster this summer. Currently the No. 2 American player, Querrey finished 2013 in the top 50 for the 5th time in the past six years. He was won seven singles and four doubles titles on the ATP World Tour. This will be Querrey’s 4th Mylan WTT season.

The Lasers picked up James Blake in a pre-Draft trade with the Boston Lobsters. The former world No. 4 returns for his 8th Mylan WTT season. Blake has won 10 singles and seven doubles titles in his career.

The Aviators protected the rights to No.1-ranked men’s doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan in the first slot. The Bryans will be joined on the Aviators squad by WTA standout Daniela Hantuchova, who will make her Mylan WTT debut this summer. Currently ranked No. 30 in singles, Hantuchova has been ranked as high as No. 5 in the world in both singles and doubles. She has won six WTA singles titles including last year’s Birmingham tournament. Hantuchova, who is scheduled to play the full season for the Aviators, also owns a Career Grand Slam in mixed doubles.

The Boston Lobsters and Dallas Wild did not draft or protect any players in the two rounds.

Team rosters will be completed at the Mylan WTT Roster Player Draft on Tuesday, March 11, in Indian Wells, Calif. regular season starts on Sunday, July 6 and runs through Wednesday July 23.

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