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The countdown continues - VOTE NOW!!!
Which player has made the biggest impact in WTT's 35 seasons? It's now up to the fans to decide.
Visit www.WTT.com/35 to cast your vote for your favorites. Since the League's debut in 1974, virtually every major champion of the Open era has played World TeamTennis. Cast your vote each week for the Top Impact Player as we count down the final 10. To vote now, click HERE.
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Longshots a sure bet in Las Vegas Las Vegas Longshots wins WTT Open Championship for 4th consecutive year
Rob Kinas is the guy you want to take to Las
Vegas.
For the fourth consecutive year, Kinas
captained the winning team in the World TeamTennis Rec League Open Division
Championship at the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas, April 16-18. The
Open Division Championship was part of the World TeamTennis Rec League National
Qualifier, the largest Rec League qualifier in WTT history with more than 530 players
and 71 teams. Kinas led the Las Vegas Longshots - Purple to
the 2010 title, edging out Lisa's Crew of Pasadena, Calif., with a higher
percentage of games won. Both the Longshots and Lisa's Crew posted 5-1
round robin records but the Longshots won 62% of their games compared to the
Crew's 52%. The teams split their head to head series with Lisa's
Crew winning the first match-up 27-22 before the Longshots rebounded with a
dom inating 33-12 victory. While the Open Division Championship title
was decided over the weekend, teams in the other six divisions were competing for the opportunity to advance to the World TeamTennis Rec League National
Finals, November 5-7 in Indian Wells, Calif. Recreational tennis
teams from Hawaii and Puerto Rico won regional titles and will advance to the
WTT National Finals, where they will battle champions from six other qualifying
events. For full results from the Las Vegas National Qualifier . . . click HERE.
The next WTT Rec League National Qualifier will be July 23-25 in Kansas
City. For more information, visit HERE. photo: Paraiso of Puerto Rico captured the 3.0 Division title in Las Vegas.
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No place like home for Billie Jean King
W TT co-founder Billie Jean King chats with ESPN's Rick Reilly during the taping of ESPN's Homecoming series at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Long Beach, Calif. The BJK episode airs on ESPN on Sunday, July 3.
photos: Travis VanDenBerg
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WILSON: Hit with Juan Martin Del Potro

Want to hit with 2009 US Open Champion Juan Martin Del Potro? Wilson is giving fans that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with a
new promotion. It's easy to do. Just play test a BLX racket, take a picture
and post it to Wilson's Facebook page at www.Wilson.com/tennisfacebook.
Don't forget to tell your friends and family to vote for your photo. The
top 5 photos with the most votes will be the finalists for a chance to hit with
Del Potro. Wilson will also be announcing weekly winners for rackets and
other accessories. The promotion ends June 27.
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Acura named official automobile of WTT Pro League
Acura
was recently named as the official automobile of the
World TeamTennis (WTT) Pro League. Acura will be present at all 73 WTT matches
scheduled for this summer. WTT co-founder Billie Jean King and WTT CEO/Commissioner Ilana Kloss made the announcement at the New York Auto Show in
early April with Steve Center of Acura(pictured).
"World TeamTennis is a fast paced, creative approach
to the traditional game of tennis," said Steve Center, vice president of advertising
and public relations for Acura. "At Acura, we applaud this type of innovative
thinking and feel it's a perfect match with the brand."
Read more about the announcement HERE. For more information on Acura, visit www.Acura.com.
Photo:
America Honda Motor Co.
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WTT TENNIS TIPS . . . David Martin
Where do you
aim returns when playing doubles? By David
Martin - Newport Beach Breakers
Return
of serve in doubles is a big key to success.
If you are able to break serve, it takes pressure off your own service
games, and you will be a threat to win any match. Doubles returning is different from singles
returning, since in doubles there is a player at the net, threatening to pick
off any ball within reach. So the
question, where should you aim the return in doubles?
A large part of where you aim in doubles will depend on how active your
opponents are at net and who is the better volleyer. But in general, you want to be able to
establish a solid, low, cross court return, out of reach of the net player. This will force the server to hit up on the
first volley, and allow your partner to threaten to pick off your opponents'
first volley. This one-two combination
is fundamental for doubles teams.
If your opponent is often trying to poach, a well-struck return (even if cross court)
will still be effective if it has some pace on it. At best, the volleyer will hit a weak volley
trying to get out of the way of the return.
However,
if your opponent at the net is beating you by successfully intercepting and
putting away your returns, deliberately play returns down
the line - even on consecutive points. Not only will you probably hit some clean
winners, but you will cause the other team to question how much they poach. Do
this until the net player stops moving completely or looks confused. If they begin to poach again, start the cycle
over. Even if your opponents aren't hurting you by poaching, a solid return down the
line (aiming for the singles line) is a good play if the net player is the
weaker volleyer. A well hit return down
the line can also surprise your opponent once in a while, hopefully
catching them unprepared to volley.
If you simply are not able to get a return in play cross court or down the line,
a chip lob return is a great way to get in the point. Aim to land your lob within 3-4 feet of the
baseline, and make sure to aim high so your opponents must let the ball bounce.
The goal is not to hit a winner on this
shot, but rather to get into the point and potentially break your opponents'
rhythm by making them hit an awkward shot.
Whichever
of these strategies works in a match, stick with it until your opponents
adjust. It
could be that one type of return will be successful for an entire match;
on other occasions you will need to mix up the returns you hit. In any case, practice so that you have a
number of options at your disposal. David Martin
was named the 2006 WTT Male Rookie of the Year while playing for the New York
Sportimes. This summer, David will play for the Newport Beach Breakers (www.newportbeachbreakers.com). David is ranked in the top 100 in doubles on
the ATP Tour, having reached a career high ranking of No. 38 in 2008. He played four years at Stanford and led his
team to the 2000 NCAA title.
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CUSOLITOS SHARE PASSION FOR REC TEAMTENNIS
by Billy O'Malley
It takes hard work and dedication to be great at
what you do. For some, that could be
being CEO of their own company. For
others that could be being a professional athlete. However, for one couple it means running
their own World TeamTennis (WTT) Recreational League.
Bob and Joanne Cusolito have
been running a WTT Rec League for two decades, ever since August 1990. The Cusolito league has been averaging about
500 players per year and has had more than 10,000 participants in 20
years.
Running the only WTT Recreational League in Massachusetts is
certainly one feat but to keep it successful for so long is another in its
o wn. Bob Cusolito got the idea from a
tennis magazine in the fall of 1989 and with past experience running a softball
league and his love for the game of tennis, he thought he would give it a shot. Bob Cusolito says "I put a notice in the
sports plus section of the Boston Globe. By August 1990 I had about 70 interested
people so I decided, what the heck, I'll give it a shot." What Bob didn't know at the time was how much work he had in store
for him. "Everyone came at me and it was
a little overwhelming. I told them to go out and hit and I would watch them and
when they were done I would tell them how the teams would be formed. I was
really just trying to buy myself some time on what I was really going to do." The original home to the Cusolito league was the Winchester Court
Club, where Dominoes sponsored the league giving them a discounted price on
pizza for the players to enjoy after they were done playing. The first night included some great
cooperation from players as eight teams of three boys and three girls were
formed. All that was left was creating
a schedule and creating divisions. By
January, the league had expanded to 14 teams, and grew to 18 by the end of the
year. With this many teams, it was time
to get an upgrade on court time, which is when the league moved to Woburn. When the league topped out at 26 teams, they
were virtually allowed to get whatever hours they wanted, and to this day the
league runs September to December and January to April. So the question becomes, well he must be getting paid to do this
and be the best marketer in the business?
Bob by day is a mailman, so it isn't a surprise that his way of
advertising is word of mouth. "I have never paid a cent for
any advertising. I run this as a hobby and keep the costs
affordable. We have three food parties
each season, and we subsidize any teams that go to a National Qualifier." The food parties are the biggest events of
the year where getting a prime spot to watch people play is almost as challenging
as getting tickets to the US Open.
People go the food parties to hopefully support their cause to go to a
WTT National Qualifier which can take place anywhere from Missouri to Las
Vegas. Their passion and perseverance finally paid off in 2002 when after
24 seasons, one of the League's teams finally made it to a National Qualifier
in Hartford, Conn. "We lost but had a
blast." So if they aren't traveling around the country winning national
qualifiers and it is all volunteer work, then what is keeping them so deeply
involved with Rec TeamTennis? "I love
the friendly competition and the many friendships I've made over the years," said
Bob. Bob and Joanne met during the first season of league play and now their
son Mark is playing varsity No. 3 singles tennis at Reading Memorial High
School. Their daughter Lorraine is in 5th
grade who picked up the sport and hopes to play for the Meadowbrook Country
Club girls tennis team this summer.
Tennis is now a big part of the Cusolito family lives but wasn't until
Bob was in college. "I never picked up a racket until I watched the Bobby Riggs vs. Billie Jean King match. I was in
college." The Cusolitos have certainly made not just tennis, but WTT a big
part of their lives as they continue to play in league play to this day. Even with the great amount of work 20 years
later Bob still enjoys it very much. It
wouldn't be a surprise to anyone if they are still running the league 20 years
from now.
photo: The Cusolito Family - Bob and his wife Joanne, with their children, Lorraine and Mark.
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START YOUR CAREER IN SPORTS It's
never too early to start planning your Sports Marketing career.
W orld
TeamTennis is offering internship opportunities this summer at our Corporate
Headquarters in New York City as well as field locations across the country. Gain hands on experience in marketing, communications, film/video editing,
sales, sponsorships, event operations, and advanced media.
Work with our ten
Pro League franchises and countrywide recreational league programs and
tournaments.
Go to WTT.com/Internships for more information. As WTT co-founder
Billie Jean King likes to say, "Go for it!"
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GO ONLINE WITH WTT
Connect
with World TeamTennis online to keep up with the latest WTT news and announcements. Check out our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages.
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2010 WTT PRO LEAGUE CALENDAR
JULY 5-22 Pro League Regular Season
JULY 23 WTT Conference Championships Location TBD
JULY 25
WTT Pro League Finals Location TBD
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Pro Tour Results
ATP Tour results |
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