Category: World Team Tennis

Philadelphia Freedoms Billie Jean King

Philadelphia Freedoms (1974)

November 12, 2019

The Philadelphia Freedoms were the showcase franchise of World Team Tennis when the co-ed tennis promotion debuted in the spring of 1974. The team’s calling card was 31-year old Billie Jean King. The 10-time Grand Slam singles champion and league co-founder was riding a wave of notoriety following her “Battle of the Sexes” exhibition victory over Bobby Riggs the previous fall, a made-for-TV spectacle that drew a U.S. broadcast audience of 50 million people. Elton John’s 1975 hit single “Philadelphia Freedom” was named in honor of the team and his friend King, but by the time it was released, the Freedoms were kaput after just one season of play.

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Tampa Bay Action

June 27, 2019

The Tampa Bay Action were a failed entry in Billie Jean King’s World Team Tennis promotion that lasted only one season during the summer of 1992. In fact, the entirety of the Action’s existence was seven home matches held at the 3,000-seat Tampa Bay Convention Center over the course of two-and-a-half weeks in July 1992. The highlights of the Action’s brief run were the appearances by aging superstars such as Martina Navratilova and Jimmy Connors who came to town on the rosters of opposing WTT clubs. The Action’s top player was Mikael Pernfors of Sweden, a 1986 French Open singles finalist.

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Seattle Cascades World Team Tennis

Sea-Port Cascades / Seattle Cascades

May 28, 2019

The Cascades were a co-ed tennis promotion that arrived in the Pacific Northwest in the spring of 1977 after relocating from Honolulu. Known at first as the “Sea-Port” Cascades, the team split their 1977 home dates between the NBA arenas in Seattle and Portland. Though the team had relatively few stars of its own, opposing World Team Tennis clubs brought major stars of the day such as Chris Evert, Billie Jean King and Bjorn Borg to town for league competition. The Cascades committed more fully to Seattle for their second and final season in 1978, dropping the “Port” from their name. The team disbanded along with the rest of World Team Tennis in late 1978.

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Phoenix Racquets World Team Tennis

Phoenix Racquets (1975-1978)

May 28, 2019

The Phoenix Racquets were a popular entry in the original World Team Tennis league of the 1970’s. The co-ed promotion lured top tour pros into hockey & basketball arenas for an ambitious 44-match spring/summer schedule. The Racquets signature attraction was American superstar Chris Evert, the world’s #1 ranked female player, who signed a two-year contract with the team in November 1975.

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Minnesota Penguins

October 31, 2018

The Minnesota Penguins were a One-Year Wonder that existed for one season in the co-ed World Team Tennis promotion during the summer of 1993. The Penguins’ top attraction was two-time Australian Open champion Johan Kriek, a former Top 10 ranked singles player. The Flagship Athletic Club hosted the Penguins’ home matches. The Penguins did not return for the 1994 World Team Tennis season.

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