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2016 World TeamTennis season

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2016 World TeamTennis season
LeagueWorld TeamTennis
SportTeam tennis
DurationJuly 31 – August 26, 2016
Number of matchesRegular season: 36 (12 for each team)
Postseason: 1
Number of teams6
TV partner(s)ESPN3
Tennis Channel
Altitude Sports and Entertainment
Comcast SportsNet affiliates
Mediacom Connections
MSG
World TeamTennis Player Draft
Top draft pickUnited States John Isner
Picked bySpringfield Lasers
Regular season
Top seedSan Diego Aviators
World TeamTennis Final
VenueForest Hills Stadium
ChampionsSan Diego Aviators
  Runners-upOrange County Breakers
World TeamTennis seasons

The 2016 World TeamTennis season will be the 41st season of the top professional team tennis league in the United States. Pursuant to a sponsorship agreement with Mylan N.V., the official name of the league is Mylan World TeamTennis in 2016.[1]

Competition format

The 2016 World TeamTennis season will include six teams. Unlike previous seasons, the teams will not be split into two conferences. Each team will play a 12-match regular-season schedule with six home and six away matches. The top two teams in the regular season will qualify for the World TeamTennis Final at Forest Hills Stadium in New York City. The higher seed will be treated as the "home" team in the WTT Final and have the right to determine order of play. The winner of the WTT Final will be awarded the King Trophy.

Franchise movement, contraction and expansion

On December 14, 2015, the Austin Aces announced that the team would move back to Orange County, California for the 2016 season and be renamed the Orange County Breakers.[2] On January 27, 2016, the Breakers announced that they would play their home matches at Breakers Stadium at the Newport Beach Tennis Club.[3]

In December 2015, Randy Peters Catering of Citrus Heights, California sued the California Dream and its three owners in Sacramento County Superior Court demanding US$19,249 for its unpaid bills as the team's food concessionaire. Also in December 2015, one of the Dream's minority owners, Bob Kaliski, told The Sacramento Bee that he had personally lost US$175,000 investing in the team and that majority owner Jeff Launius had told him the Dream owed its vendors US$192,000 at the end of the season. Kaliski said, "I don't know if the team is going to be back or not. I know I'm not going to be back. I don't know about the rest of the team." WTT said that the Dream had until the end of December to meet its financial commitments to the league in order to secure its spot for 2016.[4] On January 13, 2016, WTT announced that the Dream franchise had been terminated due to noncompliance with the team's obligations to the league.[5]

On February 17, 2016, WTT announced that the Boston Lobsters had folded. The team had been owned and operated by the league during the 2015 season after the retirement of its former owner Bahar Uttam, who walked away from it. WTT had been unable to find a new owner for the franchise. In a press release, WTT commissioner Ilana Kloss said, "We spent more than a year seeking a local owner or ownership group, but unfortunately we were not able to find the right fit." She went on to say that WTT was leaving the door open for a return to Boston if the right ownership could be found. Keith Callahan, general manager of the Manchester Athletic Club said that the club had been approached by WTT to take over ownership of the team but had turned it down. "We just made a decision not to do that," he said. "It would have taken an enormous amount of resources to take on an operation like that, and we made a decision to commit those resources to improving the business and to making improvements for our members to make the operation better for them and for the community." WTT's asking price for the Lobsters was US$1 million.[6][7][8][9]

Concurrent with the announcement of the folding of the Lobsters, WTT announced an expansion team for New York City to be named the New York Empire that will begin play in 2016. The team will play its home matches at Forest Hills Stadium in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, New York.[10]

Draft

WTT conducted its 2016 draft on March 25, in Key Biscayne, Florida.[11] The order in which teams selected was based on the results the teams achieved in 2015, with weaker teams selecting earlier and stronger teams selecting later. The draft order is ordinarily determined as follows:

  1. Nonplayoff teams ranked from worst regular-season record to best
  2. Conference championship loser with the worse record of the two
  3. Conference championship loser with the better record of the two
  4. WTT Final loser
  5. WTT champion

Expansion teams select in the middle of each round. If there is an even number of teams, an expansion team will select in the middle position that is closest to the first pick. There were three nonplayoff teams in 2015, and ranked from worst record to best record, they were

  1. Springfield Lasers
  2. San Diego Aviators
  3. Boston Lobsters

However, the Lobsters folded prior to the draft. Therefore, the Lasers and Aviators were the only two nonplayoff teams and assigned the preliminary first and second positions. The Philadelphia Freedoms lost the 2015 Eastern Conference Championship Match and had a worse record than the California Dream, which lost the Western Conference Championship Match. Therefore, the Freedoms were assigned the preliminary third position. Since the Dream franchise was terminated, it was not assigned a draft position. The Orange County Breakers, playing in 2015 as the Austin Aces, lost the WTT Final and were assigned the preliminary fourth draft position. The WTT Champion Washington Kastles were assigned the preliminary fifth draft position. The expansion New York Empire was assigned the third draft position by rule, since there was an even number of teams, and this is the middle position closest to the first position. This resulted in the Freedoms, Breakers and Kastles all moving down one position from their preliminary positions.[12] Each team could protect certain players from its 2015 roster. Marquee players or doubles teams and wildcard players could be protected if they appeared in a match for the team in 2015. Exempt, roster and substitute players who appeared in at least three matches for the team in 2015, could also be protected.[13] Teams could also protect players who qualified for protection based on match appearances in 2014, but were unable to play in 2015, due to injury.[14] Teams holding the right to protect players could trade those rights before or during the draft.[15] If a team chooses a roster-exempt player, one who is not required to be a full-time member of the team, it is possible for a team to make four selections in the roster player portion of the draft and not have two male and two female full-time players. In such cases, these teams are permitted to make selections in additional rounds of the roster player draft until they have a complete roster.[16] Teams that have two male and two female full-time players may select roster-exempt players in rounds past the fourth round. The selections made[12] are shown in the tables below.

Marquee draft - first round
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 Springfield Lasers United States John Isner Y
2 San Diego Aviators United States James Blake N Designated
3 New York Empire United States Andy Roddick Y
4 Philadelphia Freedoms Denmark Caroline Wozniacki N
5 Washington Kastles[Draft 1] United States Bob and Mike Bryan N Doubles team
6 Washington Kastles Switzerland Martina Hingis Y
Marquee draft - second round
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 Springfield Lasers Pass –
2 San Diego Aviators Pass –
3 New York Empire Pass –
4 Philadelphia Freedoms Pass –
5 Orange County Breakers Pass –
6 Washington Kastles United States Mardy Fish N
Roster draft - first round
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 New York Empire[Draft 2] United States Christina McHale N
2 San Diego Aviators United States Shelby Rogers N
3 Springfield Lasers[Draft 2] Canada Daniel Nestor N
4 Philadelphia Freedoms Slovakia Lukáš Lacko N
5 Orange County Breakers United States Nicole Gibbs Y
6 Washington Kastles United States Sam Querrey Y Exempt
Roster draft - second round
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 Springfield Lasers Germany Benjamin Becker N
2 San Diego Aviators South Africa Raven Klaasen Y
3 New York Empire Argentina Guido Pella N
4 Philadelphia Freedoms Russia Daria Kasatkina N
5 Orange County Breakers Russia Alla Kudryavtseva Y
6 Washington Kastles India Leander Paes Y Exempt
Roster draft - third round
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 Springfield Lasers Australia Daria Gavrilova N
2 San Diego Aviators United Kingdom Daniel Evans N
3 Springfield Lasers[Draft 2] Netherlands Michaëlla Krajicek N
4 Philadelphia Freedoms France Fabrice Martin N
5 Orange County Breakers United States Scott Lipsky N
6 Washington Kastles United States Madison Brengle Y
Roster draft - fourth round
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 New York Empire[Draft 2] Argentina María Irigoyen N
2 San Diego Aviators Croatia Darija Jurak Y
3 New York Empire Austria Oliver Marach N
4 Philadelphia Freedoms United Kingdom Naomi Broady N
5 Orange County Breakers United States Dennis Novikov N
6 Washington Kastles Australia Anastasia Rodionova Y
Roster draft - fifth round
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 Springfield Lasers Pass –
2 San Diego Aviators Pass –
3 New York Empire Pass –
4 Philadelphia Freedoms United States Donald Young N Exempt
5 Orange County Breakers Pass –
6 Washington Kastles Pass –

Notes:

  1. ^ The Orange County Breakers traded the fifth pick in the first round of the marquee player portion of the draft to the Washington Kastles in exchange for undisclosed consideration.
  2. ^ a b c d The Springfield Lasers traded the first pick in the first round and the first pick in the fourth round of the roster player portion of the draft to the New York Empire in exchange for the third pick in the first round and the third pick in the third round of the roster player portion of the draft.

Event chronology

Off-season

Regular season

  • July 31, 2016: The New York Empire made its debut with a home loss to the Washington Kastles, 22–15.[17]
  • August 4, 2016: The New York Empire secured the first win in franchise history, when it defeated the Springfield Lasers, 19–15, at Forest Hills Stadium.[18]
  • August 10, 2016: With a record of 2 wins and 7 losses, the New York Empire was eliminated from postseason contention when it lost to the Philadelphia Freedoms, 17–16, in a super tiebreaker (7–3).[19]
  • August 10, 2016: With a record of 2 wins and 7 losses, the Springfield Lasers were eliminated from postseason contention when they lost to the Orange County Breakers, 22–19, in extended play. It is the second consecutive season the Lasers have missed the postseason.[19]
  • August 11, 2016: With a record of 8 wins and 2 losses, the Orange County Breakers clinched a berth in the WTT Finals for the second consecutive season when they defeated the New York Empire, 19–17.[20]
  • August 12, 2016: With a record of 5 wins and 5 losses, the five-time defending champion Washington Kastles were eliminated from postseason contention, when they won the third set of men's doubles in their match against the Springfield Lasers, 5–3. At the start of play, the Kastles could only qualify for the postseason in the case of a three-way tie with the Philadelphia Freedoms and the San Diego Aviators. In games won in matches against common opponents, the Aviators led with 149 with one common-opponent match to play, the Freedoms had 136 with one common-opponent match to play, and the Kastles had 118 with two common-opponent matches to play. Therefore, the maximum number of games the Kastles could win in matches against common opponents was 168 at the start of play. The Aviators won 19 games in the first four sets of their match against the New York Empire, which started one hour earlier than the Kastles' match in Springfield, to reach 168 games won against common opponents. The Kastles still could have won the next step of the three-way standings tiebreaker on least games lost in matches against common opponents. However, after dropping the first two sets of the match, the only way the Kastles could still reach 168 games won against common opponents was by losing the first four sets and winning the match, 25–24, in a super tiebreaker. Therefore, in an odd set of circumstances, when the Kastles won the third set of their match, moments after the fourth set of the Aviators-Empire match was completed, the maximum number of games the Kastles could win against common opponents was reduced to 166, resulting in mathematical elimination. It is the first time the Kastles have missed the postseason since 2010. The Kastles went on to win the match in which their run of championships came to an end, 21–20.[21]
  • August 12, 2016: With a record of 8 wins and 3 losses, the San Diego Aviators clinched a berth in the WTT Finals with a 24–16 victory over the New York Empire. It is the Aviators' first postseason appearance since 2014, and first appearance in the WTT Finals for the franchise, since they lost in the 2010 Finals playing as the New York Sportimes. The Aviators victory also eliminated the Philadelphia Freedoms, who had won earlier in the evening to improve their record to 6 wins and 5 losses, from postseason contention. It is the first time the Freedoms have missed the postseason since 2013.[21]
  • August 13, 2016: With a record of 8 wins and 3 losses, the San Diego Aviators clinched the best regular-season record in WTT, when the Washington Kastles defeated the Orange County Breakers, 25–19, in extended play. This made the Aviators the top seed in the WTT Finals and gave them the option to set the order of play.[22]

Results table

Reference:[23]

Abbreviation and Color Key:
New York Empire - NYE • Orange County Breakers - OCB • Philadelphia Freedoms - PHI
San Diego Aviators - SDA • Springfield Lasers - SPR • Washington Kastles - WAS

Win  • Loss  • Home  • Away

Team Match
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
New York Empire WAS PHI WAS SPR SDA OCB WAS WAS PHI OCB SDA SPR
15–22 19–22
(EP)		 14–23 19–15 18–24 8–25 21–19 13–22
(EP)		 16–17
(STB,
3–7)		 17–19 16–24 19–22
(EP)
Orange County Breakers SDA SDA SDA SDA WAS NYE PHI SPR SPR NYE PHI WAS
19–20 22–20 15–23
(EP)		 21–19 25–10 25–8 23–17 24–17 22–19
(EP)		 19–17 18–21 19–25
(EP)
Philadelphia Freedoms SPR NYE SPR WAS SPR SPR OCB SDA NYE WAS OCB SDA
23–17 22–19
(EP)		 20–16 23–18 19–24 18–23
(EP)		 17–23 15–23
(EP)		 17–16
(STB,
7–3)		 18–24 21–18 25–9
San Diego Aviators OCB OCB OCB OCB NYE WAS SPR PHI WAS SPR NYE PHI
20–19 20–22 23–15
(EP)		 19–21 24–18 21–15 22–19
(EP)		 23–15
(EP)		 23–20 21–23
(EP)		 24–16 9–25
Springfield Lasers PHI WAS PHI NYE PHI PHI SDA OCB OCB SDA WAS NYE
17–23 16–22 16–20 15–19 24–19 23–18
(EP)		 19–22
(EP)		 17–24 19–22
(EP)		 23–21
(EP)		 20–21 22–19
(EP)
Washington Kastles NYE SPR NYE PHI OCB SDA NYE NYE SDA PHI SPR OCB
22–15 22–16 23–14 18–23 10–25 15–21 19–21 22–13
(EP)		 20–23 24–18 21–20 25–19
(EP)

Television

The 2016 season will be the third year of a four-year television rights contract between WTT and ESPN, Inc. The WTT Final will be streamed live on ESPN3, which will also stream one match each night during the regular season.[24]

The following regular-season matches will be streamed live on ESPN3 and rebroadcast the following day on the Tennis Channel:

  • 6:00 pm EDT, Sunday, July 31: Washington Kastles at New York Empire
  • 7:00 pm EDT, Monday, August 1: Springfield Lasers at Washington Kastles
  • 7:00 pm EDT, Tuesday, August 2: Springfield Lasers at Philadelphia Freedoms
  • 10:00 pm EDT, Wednesday, August 3: San Diego Aviators at Orange County Breakers
  • 7:00 pm EDT, Thursday, August 4: Springfield Lasers at Philadelphia Freedoms
  • 10:00 pm EDT, Friday, August 5: New York Empire at San Diego Aviators
  • 10:00 pm EDT, Saturday, August 6: Washington Kastles at San Diego Aviators
  • 10:00 pm EDT, Sunday, August 7: Philadelphia Freedoms at Orange County Breakers
  • 7:00 pm EDT, Monday, August 8: New York Empire at Washington Kastles
  • 7:00 pm EDT, Tuesday, August 9: Washington Kastles at New York Empire
  • 7:00 pm EDT, Wednesday, August 10: New York Empire at Philadelphia Freedoms
  • 8:00 pm EDT, Thursday, August 11: San Diego Aviators at Springfield Lasers
  • 7:00 pm EDT, Friday, August 12: San Diego Aviators at New York Empire
  • 5:00 pm EDT, Saturday, August 13: Orange County Breakers at Washington Kastles[25]

Select matches streamed live by ESPN3 will also be rebroadcast by regional sports networks Altitude Sports and Entertainment, Comcast SportsNet affiliates, Mediacom Connections and MSG.

Sponsorship

On December 8, 2014, WTT announced that its title-sponsorship agreement with Mylan N.V. was extended for two more years through the 2017 season. As part of its partnership with WTT, Mylan will continue to sponsor events at which children meet with WTT players and are introduced to tennis, charitable events and the Mylan Aces program which allows each team to select a local charity for which it can earn money donated by Mylan by recording the most aces in the league on a given day during the regular season.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "World TeamTennis and Mylan Announce Title Sponsorship Extension through 2017". World TeamTennis. December 8, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Shapiro, Sean (December 14, 2015). "Austin Aces to Move Back to California after Two Seasons". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  3. ^ "Breakers Finalize Home Venue, Return to Newport Beach Roots". World TeamTennis. January 27, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  4. ^ Kasler, Dale (December 16, 2015). "Sacramento's Pro Tennis Team Facing Financial Problems". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Kasler, Dale (January 13, 2016). "Sacramento Pro Tennis Team Folds". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  6. ^ Vaccaro, Adam (August 21, 2015). "You Could Own a Boston Professional Sports Team for Just $1 Million". Boston.com. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  7. ^ a b Frangolini, Christopher (February 17, 2016). "Boston Lobsters Not on Team Tennis's Plate This Season". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  8. ^ a b "WTT Updates Status of Boston Lobsters". Our Sports Central. February 17, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Lamont, Ray (February 18, 2016). "Lacking New Owner, Boston Lobsters Cease Operations". The Daily News of Newburyport. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  10. ^ a b "Mylan World TeamTennis 2016 Season Includes Return to New York City, Expanded Broadcast Coverage". World TeamTennis. February 17, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  11. ^ "2016 Mylan WTT Draft Recap & Season Preview". YouTube. March 30, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  12. ^ a b c "Mylan WTT Draft". World TeamTennis. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  13. ^ 2015 Mylan WTT Official Rules Guide (PDF). World TeamTennis. 2015. p. 17–18. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  14. ^ 2015 Mylan WTT Official Rules Guide (PDF). World TeamTennis. 2015. p. 18. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  15. ^ 2015 Mylan WTT Official Rules Guide (PDF). World TeamTennis. 2015. p. 28. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  16. ^ 2015 Mylan WTT Official Rules Guide (PDF). World TeamTennis. 2015. p. 27. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  17. ^ Milani, Jerry (July 31, 2016). "NY Empire Drop WTT Opener, 22-15". NY Sports Day. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  18. ^ "Empire Beat Lasers 19-15 to Notch First Win in Franchise History". Long Island Tennis Magazine. August 4, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  19. ^ a b "Mylan World TeamTennis presented by GEICO - Results for Wednesday, 8/10". World TeamTennis. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
  20. ^ "Mylan World TeamTennis presented by GEICO - Results for Wednesday, 8/10". World TeamTennis. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  21. ^ a b "Mylan World TeamTennis presented by GEICO - Results for Friday, 8/12". World TeamTennis. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  22. ^ "Mylan World TeamTennis presented by GEICO - Results for Saturday, 8/13". World TeamTennis. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  23. ^ "2016 Regular Season". World TeamTennis. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  24. ^ "Mylan WTT, ESPN Agree to Multi-Year Deal for Matches on ESPN2, ESPN3". World TeamTennis. June 24, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  25. ^ "Mylan WTT Live on ESPN3 All Season Long". World TeamTennis. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
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