2014_World_TeamTennis_season

2014 World TeamTennis season

2014 World TeamTennis season

Tennis league season


The 2014 World TeamTennis season was the 39th 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 was Mylan World TeamTennis in 2014.[1] The Washington Kastles defeated the Springfield Lasers in the WTT Final to win their fourth consecutive King Trophy.[2]

Quick Facts Duration, Eastern Conference Champions champions ...

Competition format

The 2014 World TeamTennis season included seven teams split into two conferences (Eastern and Western). The Eastern Conference had three teams and the Western Conference had four teams. Each team played a 14-match regular-season schedule with seven home and seven away matches. The top two teams in each conference qualified for the conference championship matches hosted by the first-place finishers. The conference champions met in the World TeamTennis Final hosted in 2014, by the Western Conference champion. An Eastern Conference champion that is a higher seed than a Western Conference champion is treated as the "home" team and has the right to determine order of play. The winner of the WTT Final is awarded the King Trophy.

Franchise movement and contraction

On November 21, 2013, WTT announced that entrepreneur Lorne Abony had purchased the Orange County Breakers and relocated the team to Cedar Park, Texas, renaming it the Austin Aces. Immediately after the transaction, the Aces acquired the rights to Austin's hometown hero Andy Roddick in a trade with the Springfield Lasers in exchange for financial consideration.[3] The team remains in the Western Conference.

On January 6, 2014, WTT announced that San Diego businessman Russell Geyser had purchased the New York Sportimes and relocated the team, renaming it the San Diego Aviators.[4] The team was moved by WTT from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference.

On February 4, 2014, after 28 years in Sacramento, the Sacramento Capitals announced the team was moving to Las Vegas for the 2014 season and would be renamed the Las Vegas Neon. The Capitals cited dissatisfaction with the team's stadium, a temporary facility on the parking lot of a mall. Management made plans for the team to play the 2014 season in the Darling Tennis Center, a permanent 3,000-seat stadium about 11 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip in the Summerlin community within the Las Vegas city limits.[5] On February 20, Neon principal owner Deepal Wannakuwatte was arrested on federal fraud charges. The assets of his Sacramento-based medical supply company, International Manufacturing Group Inc., were frozen by a federal judge. Wannakuwatte's family had owned the Capitals/Neon franchise since 2011. International Manufacturing Group Inc. was the parent company of Capital Sports Management LLC which was the legal owner of the Neon. With the assets frozen, Neon ownership was unable to meet its financial obligations to the WTT, and on March 5, the league contracted the franchise.[6]

With the Sportimes moving from New York and becoming the San Diego Aviators and changing conferences, WTT had originally planned to move the Springfield Lasers from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference and have four teams in each conference.[7] After the contraction of the Las Vegas Neon, WTT decided to keep the Lasers in the Western Conference.

Drafts

Marquee player draft

The 2014 World TeamTennis Marquee Player Draft was conducted in New York City on February 11, 2014. The order in which teams selected was based on the results the teams achieved in 2013 with weaker teams selecting earlier and stronger teams selecting later. The order for relocated franchises was based on the results achieved in their previous city. Teams could protect up to two marquee players or doubles teams to which they held the rights from the previous season or acquired in a trade. These protected players could not be chosen by other teams unless the team protecting them failed to choose them in the draft. Rights to marquee players can be traded from one team to another before or during the draft, and the acquiring team may protect and then select those players. The selections made[8] are shown in the tables below.

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Roster player draft

The 2014 World TeamTennis Roster Player Draft was conducted in Indian Wells, California on March 11, 2014. The order in which teams selected was based on the results the teams achieved in 2013 with weaker teams selecting earlier and stronger teams selecting later. The order for relocated franchises was based on the results achieved in their previous city. Teams could protect up to four players to which they held the rights from the previous season or acquired in a trade. These protected players could not be chosen by other teams unless the team protecting them failed to choose them in the draft. Rights to roster players can be traded from one team to another before or during the draft, and the acquiring team may protect and then select those players. In addition, the rights to make a selection in a particular position within the draft can be traded from one team to another. The selections made[9] are shown in the tables below.

Notes:

  1. The Washington Kastles traded the seventh pick in the first round to the Springfield Lasers in exchange for the sixth pick in the third round and financial consideration.
  2. The San Diego Aviators traded the first pick in the third round to the Springfield Lasers in exchange for the sixth pick in the fourth round and financial consideration.

Event chronology

Regular season

Playoffs

Standings

Eastern Conference
PosTeamMPWLPCTMBGWGL
1Washington Kastles14104.7140303213
2Philadelphia Freedoms1495.6431284254
3Boston Lobsters14113.0719189322
2014 Eastern Conference Playoffs
Western Conference
PosTeamMPWLPCTMBGWGL
1San Diego Aviators14104.7140287236
2Springfield Lasers1477.5003270239
3Austin Aces1468.4294232290
4Texas Wild1468.4294263274
2014 Western Conference Playoffs
  • Austin won 2 of the 3 matches it played against Texas placing it third in the Western Conference.
  • San Diego won the only match it played against Washington and thus finished with the league's best record.

Results table

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Playoff bracket

Conference Championships
(July 24)
WTT Final
(July 27)
      
E1 Washington Kastles 21*
E2 Philadelphia Freedoms 16
2 Washington Kastles 25
4 Springfield Lasers 13
W1 San Diego Aviators 17
W2 Springfield Lasers 22

* indicates match went to overtime.

Playoff match summaries

Eastern Conference Championship Match

July 24 at Kastles Stadium at Charles E. Smith Center, Washington, D.C.: Washington Kastles 21, Philadelphia Freedoms 16, overtime[25]

  • Men's singles: Bobby Reynolds (Kastles) def. Frank Dancevic (Freedoms), 5–3
  • Women's singles: Taylor Townsend (Freedoms) def. Martina Hingis (Kastles), 5–2
  • Mixed doubles: Martina Hingis and Leander Paes (Kastles) def. Liezel Huber and Marcelo Melo (Freedoms), 5–2
  • Women's doubles: Martina Hingis and Anastasia Rodionova (Kastles) def. Liezel Huber and Taylor Townsend (Freedoms), 5–1
  • Men's doubles: Frank Dancevic and Marcelo Melo (Freedoms) def. Leander Paes and Bobby Reynolds (Kastles), 5–3
  • Overtime – Men's doubles: Leander Paes and Bobby Reynolds (Kastles) def. Frank Dancevic and Marcelo Melo (Freedoms), 1–0

Western Conference Championship Match

July 24 at Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, California: Springfield Lasers 22, San Diego Aviators 17[25]

WTT Final Match

July 27 at Mediacom Stadium at Cooper Tennis Complex, Springfield, Missouri:[Final 1] Washington Kastles 25, Springfield Lasers 13[2]

Note:

  1. Prior to the start of the season, WTT determined that the WTT Final Match would be played on the home court of the Western Conference champion. Washington, as the higher seed, was treated as the "home" team under WTT rules for determining order of play.

Individual statistical leaders

The tables below show the WTT players who had the highest regular-season winning percentages in each of the league's five events. Only players who played in at least 40% of the total number of games played by their team in a particular event are eligible to be listed among the official WTT league leaders for that event.[26]

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Mixed doubles
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Individual honors

Reference: [2][27]

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Note:

  1. In past years, the equivalent of this award was called Championship Most Valuable Player, when WTT held what it called Championship Weekend with all postseason matches played at the same site.

Team statistics

The tables below show the regular-season winning percentages of each team in each of the league's five events.[26]

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Mixed doubles
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Television

The Tennis Channel broadcast four matches nationally. However, only one was shown live; the other three were shown on tape delay. The matches shown by the Tennis Channel[28] were

The WTT Final between the Washington Kastles and the Springfield Lasers on July 27 at 4:00 pm CDT was broadcast live by ESPN2, but was scheduled to be joined in progress at 6:00 pm EDT, approximately one hour after the match's scheduled starting time. However, ESPN2's coverage of the 2014 Atlanta Open ended earlier than expected, and the network went to coverage of the WTT Final earlier than originally planned, joining the match during the first set.

In addition to the five national telecasts described above, several matches were shown by regional sports networks, and many of these were made available to affiliated channels in other markets.

See also


References

  1. "World TeamTennis and Mylan Announce Three-Year Collaboration". World TeamTennis. October 16, 2012. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  2. "Washington Kastles Four-Peat as Mylan WTT Champions". World TeamTennis. July 27, 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-01-07. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  3. "Mylan World TeamTennis Team Relocates to Austin; Andy Roddick to Star on Team". World TeamTennis. November 21, 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  4. "Mylan World TeamTennis Team Headed to San Diego". World TeamTennis. January 16, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  5. Kasler, Dale (February 4, 2014). "After 28 seasons, Sacramento Capitals Moving to Las Vegas". The Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on July 6, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  6. Carp, Steve (March 5, 2014). "League Pulls Plug on Las Vegas Tennis Franchise". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  7. "Mylan World TeamTennis – Facts & Figures" (PDF). World TeamTennis. February 1, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 7, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  8. "Devvarman, Zvonareva, Duval Top Mylan WTT Roster Draft". World TeamTennis. March 11, 2014. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  9. "72 Hours in Mylan WTT - July 8, 2014". World TeamTennis. July 8, 2014. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  10. "72 Hours in Mylan WTT - July 9, 2014". World TeamTennis. July 9, 2014. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  11. "72 Hours in Mylan WTT - July 15, 2014". Mark McCormick. World TeamTennis. July 15, 2014. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  12. "72 Hours in Mylan WTT - July 16, 2014". World TeamTennis. July 16, 2014. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  13. "Mylan World TeamTennis - Results for Friday, 7/18/2014". World TeamTennis. July 18, 2014. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  14. "Mylan World TeamTennis - Results for Saturday, 7/19/2014". World TeamTennis. July 19, 2014. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  15. "Mylan World TeamTennis - Results for Sunday, 7/20/2014". World TeamTennis. July 20, 2014. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  16. "Mylan World TeamTennis - Results for Tuesday, 7/22/2014". World TeamTennis. July 22, 2014. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  17. "2014 League Leaders". World TeamTennis. Archived from the original on 2016-09-07. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  18. "Tennis Channel National Television Series Schedule". World TeamTennis. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.

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