Sports Media Report
The Mylan World TeamTennis (WTT) season begins Sunday, July 31, with 15 matches on ESPN3, concluding with the finals live on ESPN2 on Friday, Aug. 26. The season kicks off at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday with five-time defending champions – the Washington Kastles – facing off against a new team this year based in New York City – the New York Empire. The New York Empire will play their home matches throughout the season at the old US Open grounds in Forest Hills, NY, which is also where the World TeamTennis Championship will be held on Friday, Aug. 26.
The Kastles are looking to win their sixth straight season this year with an impressive team that includes top-ranked doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan, returning marquee player Martina Hingis, world top-20 Nick Kyrgios and American standout Sam Querrey. However, the New York Empire is headlined by former world No. 1 Andy Roddick with ESPN commentator and former tour player Patrick McEnroe coaching the team in their inaugural season.
The other teams for the 2016 season are the Philadelphia Freedoms owned by league co-founder Billie Jean King, the Missouri-based Springfield Lasers headlined by American top-20 player John Isner, the San Diego Aviators and the Orange County Breakers (formerly the Austin Aces).
The regular season closes out with the anticipated matchup between the Orange County Breakers and the Washington Kastles. The Breakers played in Newport Beach, Calif., from 2003 to 2013, before moving to Austin for the past two seasons, renaming the franchise the Austin Aces. Last year, the Aces made it into the final, only to be defeated by none other than the Washington Kastles. The team returns to Orange County this year at the Newport Beach Tennis Club.
The Mylan WTT Finals will air on Friday, Aug. 26, on ESPN3 at 3:45 p.m. with ESPN2 joining the coverage at 5 p.m. as the best in professional team tennis battle for the King Trophy, named after the league co-founder Billie Jean King.
Later this year, World TeamTennis Smash Hits returns to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Monday, Oct. 10. The annual charity tennis event will be co-hosted by Sir Elton John and Billie Jean King with John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Martina Navratilova and Lindsay Davenport headlining the tennis event. The action begins at 7 p.m. on a specially-constructed tennis court in the valet parking lot adjacent to Caesars Palace Drive.
