Wikipedia

2015 World TeamTennis season

The 2015 World TeamTennis season was the 40th 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 2015.[1] The Washington Kastles defeated the Austin Aces in the WTT Final to win their fifth consecutive King Trophy.

2015 World TeamTennis season
40th season logo
LeagueWorld TeamTennis
SportTeam tennis
DurationJuly 12 – August 2, 2015
Number of matchesRegular season: 49 (14 for each team)
Postseason: 3
Number of teams7
TV partner(s)ESPN2
ESPN3
Tennis Channel
Altitude Sports and Entertainment
Comcast SportsNet affiliates
Mediacom Connections
MSG
World TeamTennis Player Draft
Top draft pickCanada Eugenie Bouchard
Picked byBoston Lobsters
Regular season
Top seedAustin Aces
Season MVPRussia Teymuraz Gabashvili (Male MVP) (Austin)
Spain Anabel Medina Garrigues (Female co-MVP) (California)
Australia Anastasia Rodionova (Female co-MVP) (Washington)
Eastern Conference
Season championsWashington Kastles
  Runners-upPhiladelphia Freedoms
Western Conference
Season championsAustin Aces
  Runners-upCalifornia Dream
Conference Championships
Eastern Conference championsWashington Kastles
Western Conference championsAustin Aces
World TeamTennis Final
VenueKastles Stadium at the Charles E. Smith Center
ChampionsWashington Kastles
  Runners-upAustin Aces
Finals MVPIndia Leander Paes (Washington)
World TeamTennis seasons

Competition format

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The 2015 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 2015, by the Eastern Conference champion. A Western Conference champion that is a higher seed than an Eastern Conference champion would 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 was awarded the King Trophy.

Franchise movement

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On February 23, 2015, WTT announced that a new ownership group had taken control of the Texas Wild and moved the team to Citrus Heights, California, renaming it the California Dream.[2]

Draft

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Unlike previous seasons in which WTT conducted its Marquee Player Draft and its Roster Player Draft on different dates about one month apart, the league conducted a single draft at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California on March 16, 2015.[3] The order in which teams selected was based on the results the teams achieved in 2014, with weaker teams selecting earlier and stronger teams selecting later. The team with the worst regular-season record selected first in each round, and the remaining nonplayoff teams followed in order based on their records. After the nonplayoff teams chose, the conference championship loser with the worse record of the two selected and was followed by the other conference championship loser. The WTT runner up selected after the conference championship losers, and the WTT champion selected last. The draft position for the relocated California Dream franchise was based on the results achieved as the Texas Wild.[4] Each team could protect certain players from its 2014 roster. Marquee players or doubles teams and wildcard players could be protected if they appeared in a match for the team in 2014. Exempt, roster and substitute players who appeared in at least three matches for the team in 2014, could also be protected.[5] Teams could also protect players who qualified for protection based on match appearances in 2013, but were unable to play in 2014, due to injury.[6] Teams holding the right to protect players could trade those rights before or during the draft.[7] In another change from previous seasons, WTT eliminated its separate roster-exempt player draft. Instead, roster-exempt players were chosen in the roster player portion of the draft.[8] Since roster-exempt players are not required to be full-time members of the team, the rule change makes it 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.[9] The selections made[3] are shown in the tables below.

Marquee draft – first round
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 Boston Lobsters   Eugenie Bouchard N
2 California Dream   Bob and Mike Bryan Y Doubles team
3 Austin Aces   Andy Roddick Y
4 Philadelphia Freedoms Pass –
5 San Diego Aviators   Madison Keys N Designated
6 Springfield Lasers   John Isner Y
7 Washington Kastles   Martina Hingis Y
Marquee draft – second round
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 Boston Lobsters Pass –
2 California Dream Pass –
3 Austin Aces Pass –
4 Philadelphia Freedoms Pass –
5 San Diego Aviators Pass –
6 Springfield Lasers Pass –
7 Washington Kastles   Venus Williams Y
Marquee draft – third round
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 Boston Lobsters Pass –
2 California Dream Pass –
3 Austin Aces Pass –
4 Philadelphia Freedoms Pass –
5 San Diego Aviators Pass –
6 Springfield Lasers Pass –
7 Washington Kastles   Serena Williams N Designated
Roster draft – first round
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 Boston Lobsters   Irina Falconi N
2 California Dream   Jarmila Gajdošová N
3 Austin Aces   Nicole Gibbs N
4 Philadelphia Freedoms   Taylor Townsend Y
5 San Diego Aviators   Taylor Fritz N Amateur
6 Springfield Lasers   Andre Begemann N
7 Washington Kastles   Sam Querrey N Exempt
Roster draft – second round
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 Boston Lobsters   Scott Lipsky N
2 California Dream   Anabel Medina Garrigues N
3 Austin Aces   Alla Kudryavtseva N
4 Philadelphia Freedoms   Robby Ginepri N
5 San Diego Aviators   Raven Klaasen Y
6 Springfield Lasers   Alison Riske N Exempt
7 Washington Kastles   Leander Paes Y
Roster draft – third round
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 Boston Lobsters   Chase Buchanan N
2 California Dream   Tennys Sandgren N
3 Austin Aces   Jarmere Jenkins N
4 Philadelphia Freedoms   Marcelo Melo Y
5 San Diego Aviators   Chanelle Scheepers N
6 Springfield Lasers   Anna-Lena Grönefeld Y
7 Washington Kastles Pass –
Roster draft – fourth round
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 Boston Lobsters   Arantxa Parra Santonja N
2 California Dream   Aisam Qureshi N
3 Austin Aces   Teymuraz Gabashvili N
4 Philadelphia Freedoms   Liezel Huber N
5 San Diego Aviators   Květa Peschke Y
6 Springfield Lasers   Michael Russell Y
7 Washington Kastles   Anastasia Rodionova Y
Roster draft – fifth round[Draft 1]
No. Team Player chosen Prot? Notes
1 Springfield Lasers Pass –
2 Washington Kastles Pass –

Notes:

  1. ^ The Springfield Lasers and Washington Kastles each drafted one exempt player during the first four rounds of the roster draft and could have selected another player in the fifth round.

Event chronology

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Off-season

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Regular season

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  • July 13, 2015: After opening the season with a loss on the road, the California Dream played its inaugural match at the new Dream Stadium at Sunrise Mall and defeated the Springfield Lasers, 23–18. Tennys Sandgren won the opening set of men's singles for the Dream in a tiebreaker. Jarmila Gajdošová and Anabel Medina Garrigues followed with a 5–2 set win in women's doubles to give the Dream a 10–6 lead. Anabel Medina Garrigues teamed with Neal Skupski in mixed doubles for another 5–2 set win to put the Dream was on top, 15–8. After Gajdošová lost the women's singles set in a tiebreaker, the Lasers took the final set of men's doubles, 5–3, to cut the Dream's lead to 22–18 and send the match to extended play. Sandgren and Skupski won the first game of extended play to secure the victory.[10]
  • July 24, 2015: The Washington Kastles earned a 22–14 road win over the Austin Aces, who entered the match with 8 wins and only 1 loss. The victory improved the Kastles' record to 7 wins and 3 losses and clinched their fifth consecutive playoff berth. The Kastles won four of the five sets in the convincing performance. Martina Hingis led the way, teaming with Leander Paes in the first set of mixed doubles and Anastasia Rodionova in the second set of women's doubles to give the Kastles an early 10–4 lead. Paes and Sam Querrey took the fourth set of men's doubles to extend the lead to 17–11, before Querrey took the final set of men's singles, 5–3, over Teymuraz Gabashvili to close out the match.[11]
  • July 25, 2015: With a record of 3 wins and 7 losses, the Springfield Lasers were eliminated from WTT playoff contention when the California Dream defeated the Boston Lobsters, 21–19, in extended play. The Lobsters' loss also clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference and home-court advantage for the Eastern Conference Championship Match for the Washington Kastles.[12]
  • July 26, 2015: With a record of 9 wins and 2 losses, the Austin Aces clinched the franchise's first playoff berth since 2012, with a 25–8 victory over the San Diego Aviators.[13]
  • July 26, 2015: With a record of 8 wins and 4 losses, the California Dream clinched a playoff berth with a 22–16 win over the Philadelphia Freedoms.[14] It is the first playoff berth for the franchise since 2013. The Dream's victory eliminated the San Diego Aviators, who had a record of 4 wins and 7 losses, from WTT playoff contention.
  • July 27, 2015: With a record of 9 wins and 2 losses, the Austin Aces clinched the top seed in the Western Conference and home-court advantage for the Western Conference Championship Match when the Washington Kastles defeated the California Dream, 19–17.[15]
  • July 28, 2015: The Austin Aces defeated the four-time defending WTT champion Washington Kastles, 19–16, to improve their record to 11 wins and 2 losses and clinch the best overall regular-season record in WTT for 2015. Trailing 10–7 after two sets, Teymuraz Gabashvili gave the Aces a 12–10 lead with a 5–0 set win over Sam Querrey in men's singles. After dropping the fourth set of mixed doubles, the Aces found themselves trailing, 15–14, heading into the final set of women's singles. Elina Svitolina, making her Aces home debut, topped Madison Brengle, 5–1, to give the Aces the victory.[16]
  • July 29, 2015: With an opportunity to clinch the final available playoff spot on the final day of the regular season, the Boston Lobsters fell to the Washington Kastles, 22–14, clinching a playoff berth for the idle Philadelphia Freedoms.[17] Since the Freedoms and Lobsters finished the regular season with identical 5–9 records, the WTT standings tiebreaker system was used to break the tie. The teams split their four regular-season meetings. So, the tie was broken by comparing games won in head-to-head matches, which favored the Freedoms, 78–71. The biggest contribution to this margin was made by the Freedoms' 24–14 road victory over the Lobsters on July 22.

Playoffs

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Standings

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Eastern Conference
Pos Team MP W L PCT MB GW GL
1 Washington Kastles 14 10 4 .714 0 289 228
2 Philadelphia Freedoms 14 5 9 .357 5 260 267
3 Boston Lobsters 14 5 9 .357 5 253 283
2015 Eastern Conference Playoffs
Philadelphia and Boston split their head-to-head meetings during the regular season, 2 matches each. Philadelphia wins the tiebreaker on games won in head-to-head meetings, 78–71.
Western Conference
Pos Team MP W L PCT MB GW GL
1 Austin Aces 14 12 2 .857 0 290 235
2 California Dream 14 9 5 .643 3 283 259
3 San Diego Aviators 14 5 9 .357 7 249 297
4 Springfield Lasers 14 3 11 .214 9 247 302
2015 Western Conference Playoffs
Boston swept both head-to-head meetings with San Diego during the regular season and wins the tiebreaker in the overall standings.

Results table

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Abbreviation and Color Key:
Austin Aces – AUS • Boston Lobsters – BOS • California Dream – CAL • 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 13 14
Austin Aces BOS WAS CAL CAL SPR CAL SDA SPR PHI WAS SDA SDA WAS SPR
22–18
(EP)		 22–17 20–19 22–16 19–18
(STB,
7–1)		 20–18 24–17 23–16 14–22
(EP)		 14–22 25–8 25–13
(EP)		 19–16 21–15
Boston Lobsters WAS AUS SPR SDA PHI CAL SDA WAS PHI WAS CAL PHI PHI WAS
17–20 18–22
(EP)		 25–18
(EP)		 25–13 21–17 17–20 20–19 13–25 14–24 14–25 19–21
(EP)		 17–20 19–17
(EP)		 14–22
California Dream SDA SPR PHI AUS AUS BOS AUS SPR SDA SDA BOS PHI WAS SDA
19–24 23–18
(EP)		 22–20 19–20 16–22 20–17 18–20 22–19 25–11 20–19 21–19
(EP)		 22–16 17–19 20–15
Philadelphia Freedoms SPR SDA CAL BOS WAS WAS SPR WAS BOS AUS SPR CAL BOS BOS
22–19 21–22
(STB,
5–7)		 20–22 17–21 20–21 6–23 19–20 18–16 24–14 22–14
(EP)		 18–21 16–22 20–17 17–19
(EP)
San Diego Aviators CAL PHI BOS WAS SPR BOS AUS CAL CAL SPR AUS AUS SPR CAL
24–19 22–21
(STB,
7–5)		 13–25 22–18 19–22 19–20 17–24 11–25 19–20 25–17 8–25 13–25
(EP)		 22–16 15–20
Springfield Lasers PHI CAL BOS WAS SDA AUS PHI CAL AUS PHI SDA WAS SDA AUS
19–22 18–23
(EP)		 18–25
(EP)		 16–21 22–19 18–19
(STB,
1–7)		 20–19 19–22 16–23 21–18 17–25 16–24
(EP)		 16–22 15–21
Washington Kastles BOS AUS SPR SDA PHI PHI PHI BOS BOS AUS SPR CAL AUS BOS
20–17 17–22 21–16 18–22 21–20 23–6 16–18 25–13 25–14 22–14 24–16
(EP)		 19–17 16–19 22–14

Playoff bracket

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Conference Championships
(July 30) 		WTT Final
(August 2)
      
E1 Washington Kastles 25
E2 Philadelphia Freedoms 9
2 Washington Kastles 24*
1 Austin Aces 18
W1 Austin Aces 25
W2 California Dream 14

* indicates match went to extended play.

Playoff match summaries

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Eastern Conference Championship Match

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July 30 at Kastles Stadium at Charles E. Smith Center, Washington, District of Columbia: Washington Kastles 25, Philadelphia Freedoms 9[18]

Western Conference Championship Match

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July 30 at Gregory Gymnasium, Austin, Texas: Austin Aces 25, California Dream 14[19]

WTT Final Match

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August 2 at Kastles Stadium at the Charles E. Smith Center, Washington, District of Columbia:[Final 1] Washington Kastles 24, Austin Aces 18 (extended play)[20]

Note:

  1. ^ Prior to the start of the season, WTT determined that the World TeamTennis Championship Match would be played on the home court of the Eastern Conference champion. Austin, as the higher seed, was treated as the "home" team under WTT rules for determining order of play.

Individual statistical leaders

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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.[21]

Mixed doubles
Rank Player Team GP GW GL PCT
1 Anabel Medina Garrigues California Dream 91 57 34 .626
2 Neal Skupski California Dream 80 46 34 .575
3 Alla Kudryavtseva Austin Aces 103 59 44 .573
4 Taylor Townsend Philadelphia Freedoms 85 48 37 .565
5 Teymuraz Gabashvili Austin Aces 96 54 42 .563
6 Marcelo Melo Philadelphia Freedoms 110 57 53 .518

Individual honors

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Reference: [20][22]

Award Recipient Team
Female Co-Most Valuable Players Anabel Medina Garrigues California Dream
Anastasia Rodionova Washington Kastles
Male Most Valuable Player Teymuraz Gabashvili Austin Aces
Female Rookie of the Year Alla Kudryavtseva Austin Aces
Male Rookie of the Year Neal Skupski California Dream
Coach of the Year Rick Leach Austin Aces
WTT Final Most Valuable Player Leander Paes Washington Kastles

Team statistics

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The tables below show the regular-season winning percentages of each team in each of the league's five events.[21][Stats 1]

Mixed doubles
Rank Team GP GW GL PCT
1 California Dream 104 61 43 .587
2 Austin Aces 103 59 44 .573
3 Philadelphia Freedoms 110 57 53 .518
4 Washington Kastles 108 53 55 .491
5 Boston Lobsters 113 52 61 .460
6 San Diego Aviators 111 50 61 .450
7 Springfield Lasers 115 50 65 .435

Notes:

  1. ^ Tim Smyczek's statistics are not included in the team totals shown on WTT's website. The Boston Lobsters' men's singles and men's doubles statistics shown in this section have been corrected to include Smyczek as described in the article about the 2015 Lobsters season.

Television

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The 2015 season was the second year of a four-year television rights contract between WTT and ESPN, Inc. The WTT Final was telecast live on ESPN2. ESPN3 streamed the conference championship matches along with one match each night during the regular season.[23]

In a June 2, 2015 press release, WTT announced that the WTT Final would start at 11:30 am EDT on August 2, and would be streamed from the start by ESPN3. Live television coverage would begin on ESPN2 at 1:00 pm with the match already in progress. The start times for the conference championship matches would be 7:00 pm local time on Thursday July 30.[24]

Four regular-season matches were nationally televised on the Tennis Channel as well as on regional sports networks Altitude Sports and Entertainment, Comcast SportsNet affiliates, Mediacom Connections and MSG. These matches were as follows:

Nationally televised matches were also streamed on ESPN3. In addition to the televised ones, the following regular-season matches were streamed exclusively on ESPN3:

  • 7:00 pm PDT, Monday, July 13: Philadelphia Freedoms at San Diego Aviators
  • 7:00 pm EDT, Tuesday, July 14: Austin Aces at Washington Kastles
  • 7:00 pm EDT, Monday, July 20: Washington Kastles at Philadelphia Freedoms
  • 7:00 pm CDT, Saturday, July 25: San Diego Aviators at Springfield Lasers
  • 8:00 pm EDT, Sunday, July 26: California Dream at Philadelphia Freedoms
  • 7:00 pm EDT, Monday, July 27: Philadelphia Freedoms at Boston Lobsters
  • 7:00 pm PDT, Tuesday, July 28: Springfield Lasers at San Diego Aviators
  • 7:00 pm EDT, Wednesday, July 29: Boston Lobsters at Washington Kastles[24]

Sponsorship

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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.[25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "World TeamTennis and Mylan Announce Three-Year Collaboration". World TeamTennis. October 16, 2012. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Mylan World TeamTennis Returns to Sacramento Area in 2015 with California Dream". World TeamTennis. February 23, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-02-24. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c "Serena Williams, Eugenie Bouchard Headline Mylan World TeamTennis Player Draft for Historic 40th Season". World TeamTennis. March 16, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  4. ^ "Player Draft". World TeamTennis. March 3, 2015. Archived from the original on March 22, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  5. ^ 2015 Mylan WTT Official Rules Guide (PDF). World TeamTennis. 2015. pp. 17–18. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  6. ^ 2014 Mylan WTT Official Rules Guide (PDF). World TeamTennis. 2014. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 27, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  7. ^ 2015 Mylan WTT Official Rules Guide (PDF). World TeamTennis. 2015. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  8. ^ 2015 Mylan WTT Official Rules Guide (PDF). World TeamTennis. 2015. p. 26. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  9. ^ 2015 Mylan WTT Official Rules Guide (PDF). World TeamTennis. 2015. p. 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  10. ^ "Mylan World TeamTennis – Final Results for Monday, 7/13/2015". World TeamTennis. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  11. ^ "Mylan World TeamTennis – Results for Friday, 7/24/2015". World TeamTennis. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  12. ^ "Mylan World TeamTennis – Results for Saturday, 7/25/2015". World TeamTennis. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  13. ^ "Aces Defeat Conference Rival San Diego Aviators 25–8". World TeamTennis. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  14. ^ "Mylan World TeamTennis – Results for Sunday, 7/26/2015". World TeamTennis. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  15. ^ "Mylan World TeamTennis – Results for Monday, 7/27". World TeamTennis. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  16. ^ "Austin Aces Defeat Defending Champions Washington Kastles at Home 19–16". World TeamTennis. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  17. ^ Kane, David. "MylanWTT StreamCap: BOS vs. WAS". World TeamTennis. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  18. ^ a b "Washington Kastles One Win Away From Record Fifth Straight Mylan WTT Title". World TeamTennis. July 30, 2015. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  19. ^ a b "Austin Aces Capture First Mylan WTT Western Conference Championship". World TeamTennis. July 30, 2015. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  20. ^ a b c "Washington Kastles Defeat Austin Aces 24–18 to Win Record 5th Consecutive Mylan World TeamTennis Title". World TeamTennis. August 2, 2015. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  21. ^ a b "2015 League Leaders". World TeamTennis. Archived from the original on 2016-09-07. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  22. ^ "Gabashvili, Rodionova and Garrigues Named Mylan World TeamTennis MVPs". World TeamTennis. July 31, 2015. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  23. ^ "Mylan WTT, ESPN Agree to Multi-Year Deal for Matches on ESPN2, ESPN3". World TeamTennis. June 24, 2014. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  24. ^ a b c "Mylan World TeamTennis – Facts & Figures" (PDF) (Press release). World TeamTennis. June 2, 2015. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 7, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  25. ^ "World TeamTennis and Mylan Announce Title Sponsorship Extension through 2017". World TeamTennis. December 8, 2014. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
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