2015 World TeamTennis season

2015 World TeamTennis season

40th season logo
League World TeamTennis
Sport Team tennis
Duration July 12 – August 2, 2015
Number of matches Regular season: 49 (14 for each team)
Postseason: 3
Number of teams 7
TV partner(s) ESPN2
ESPN3
Tennis Channel
Altitude Sports and Entertainment
Comcast SportsNet affiliates
Mediacom Connections
MSG
World TeamTennis Player Draft
Top draft pick Canada Eugenie Bouchard
Picked by Boston Lobsters
Regular season
Top seed Austin Aces
Season MVP Russia Teymuraz Gabashvili (Male MVP) (Austin)
Spain Anabel Medina Garrigues (Female co-MVP) (California)
Australia Anastasia Rodionova (Female co-MVP) (Washington)
Eastern Conference
Season champions Washington Kastles
  Runners-up Philadelphia Freedoms
Western Conference
Season champions Austin Aces
  Runners-up California Dream
Conference Championships
Eastern Conference champions Washington Kastles
Western Conference champions Austin Aces
World TeamTennis Final
Venue Kastles Stadium at the Charles E. Smith Center
Champions Washington Kastles
  Runners-up Austin Aces
Finals MVP India Leander Paes (Washington)

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.

Competition format

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

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

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

Off-season

Regular season

Playoffs

Standings

Eastern Conference
Pos TeamMPWLPCTMBGWGL
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 TeamMPWLPCTMBGWGL
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

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

TeamMatch
1234567891011121314
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 LobstersWAS AUS SPR SDA PHI CAL SDA WAS PHI WAS CAL PHI PHI WAS
17–2018–22
(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
22–1921–22
(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 AviatorsCAL 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 LasersPHI CAL BOS WAS SDA AUS PHI CAL AUS PHI SDA WAS SDA AUS
19–2218–23
(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
20–1717–22 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

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

Eastern Conference Championship Match

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

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

WTT Final Match

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)[21]

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

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.[22]

Men's singles
Rank Player Team GP GW GL PCT
1 Teymuraz Gabashvili Austin Aces 98 60 38 .612
2 Sam Querrey Washington Kastles 59 35 24 .593
3 Alex Kuznetsov Boston Lobsters 41 21 20 .512

Women's singles
Rank Player Team GP GW GL PCT
1 Jarmila Gajdošová California Dream 106 60 46 .566
2 Madison Brengle Washington Kastles 57 30 27 .526
3 Taylor Townsend Philadelphia Freedoms 66 34 32 .515

Men's doubles
Rank Player Team GP GW GL PCT
1 Leander Paes Washington Kastles 98 62 36 .633
2 Sam Querrey Washington Kastles 65 39 26 .600
3 Alex Kuznetsov Boston Lobsters 51 29 22 .569
4 Teymuraz Gabashvili Austin Aces 112 59 53 .527
Jarmere Jenkins Austin Aces 112 59 53 .527
6 Scott Lipsky Boston Lobsters 116 59 57 .509

Women's doubles
Rank Player Team GP GW GL PCT
1 Anastasia Rodionova Washington Kastles 97 59 38 .608
2 Madison Brengle Washington Kastles 56 34 22 .607
3 Arantxa Parra Santonja Boston Lobsters 100 57 43 .570
4 Irina Falconi Boston Lobsters 105 57 48 .543
5 Nicole Gibbs Austin Aces 77 41 36 .532
6 Alla Kudryavtseva Austin Aces 96 50 46 .521

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

Reference: [20][23]

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

The tables below show the regular-season winning percentages of each team in each of the league's five events.[22][Stats 1]

Men's singles
Rank Team GP GW GL PCT
1 Austin Aces 106 65 41 .613
2 Washington Kastles 104 58 46 .558
3 Philadelphia Freedoms 101 51 50 .505
4 California Dream 114 56 58 .491
5 San Diego Aviators 116 56 60 .483
6 Springfield Lasers 112 51 61 .455
7 Boston Lobsters 99 39 60 .394

Women's singles
Rank Team GP GW GL PCT
1 California Dream 106 60 46 .566
2 Austin Aces 108 57 51 .528
3 Philadelphia Freedoms 100 52 48 .520
4 Washington Kastles 101 52 49 .515
5 San Diego Aviators 109 54 55 .495
6 Boston Lobsters 103 46 57 .447
7 Springfield Lasers 109 47 62 .431

Men's doubles
Rank Team GP GW GL PCT
1 Washington Kastles 107 67 40 .626
2 Austin Aces 112 59 53 .527
3 Boston Lobsters 116 59 57 .509
4 Springfield Lasers 112 53 59 .473
5 California Dream 106 50 56 .472
6 Philadelphia Freedoms 107 48 59 .449
7 San Diego Aviators 108 48 60 .444

Women's doubles
Rank Team GP GW GL PCT
1 Washington Kastles 97 59 38 .608
2 Boston Lobsters 105 57 48 .543
3 Austin Aces 96 50 46 .521
4 California Dream 112 56 56 .500
5 Philadelphia Freedoms 109 52 57 .477
6 Springfield Lasers 101 46 55 .455
7 San Diego Aviators 102 41 61 .402

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

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.[24]

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.[25]

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:

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.[26]

See also

References

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

External links

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