The 1975

World Team Tennis World TeamTennis (WTT) was a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973. The league's season normally took place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA would ...

season was the second

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of the top

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

team tennis Team tennis is a tennis tournament which consist of matches between different groups of players each competing to win the tournament for their team. The format is usually an altered version of the professionally played World TeamTennis format; con ...

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

in the United States. The

Pittsburgh Triangles The Pittsburgh Triangles were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT). The Triangles won the 1975 WTT Championship. The team folded after the 1976 season. Team history The Triangles were founded in 1973 as a charter member of WTT by Centur ...

defeated the

San Francisco Golden Gaters The San Francisco Golden Gaters were a charter franchise of World TeamTennis, World Team Tennis (WTT). The Golden Gaters won two Western Division Championships and lost in the WTT Finals both times. The team was founded in 1973 and made the playo ...

in the WTT Finals to win the league championship.

Competition format

The 1975 World Team Tennis season included 10

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...

s split into two

divisions Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 t ...

(Eastern and Western). The league intended for each team to play a regular-season schedule of 44

matches A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

. However, WTT scheduled neutral-site matches to cut down on travel and create events where fans could see multiple teams either with one admission or over the course of a few days. These special events were called WTT Spectaculars. Because of these and because of scheduling challenges created when the Houston E-Z Riders suspended operations just days before the season started, the 10 teams in the league did not play an equal number of matches. Seven of them played 44 matches, while three played 46 matches. The top three teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. The second and third-place teams met in division semifinal matches hosted by the second-place teams. The winners of those matches met the first-place team in the best-of-three division championship series. The division semifinal winners hosted the first match of the division championship series. The first-place team hosted the second and third (if necessary) matches. The division champions met in the best-of-three World Team Tennis Final with the lower seed hosting the first match and the higher seed hosting the second and third (if necessary) matches. Each match comprised one set each of men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles. The order of play was women's doubles first, men's doubles third and mixed doubles fifth. The coach of the home team decided whether men's or women's singles would be played second or fourth. Games were decided by the first player or doubles team to reach four points with no-ad scoring. Each set ended when one team had won either six or seven games and had an advantage over its opponent of at least two games. Sets that were tied 6–6 were decided by a

tiebreaker In games and sport, a tiebreaker or tiebreak is any method used to determine a winner or to rank participants when there is a tie - meaning two or more parties have achieved a same score or result. A tiebreaker provides the additional criterion ...

. Set tiebreaker games were nine total points with the first player or doubles team to reach five the winner. An advantage of only one point was needed to win a tiebreaker game. Matches could end when one team built an insurmountable lead. For example, if a team had a 24–17 lead after four sets, the fifth set (mixed doubles) would not be played. If a team had a 22–19 lead after four sets, the match could end if the leading team won four games in the fifth set, since it would be impossible for the trailing team to make up the three-game deficit that existed when the set started. If the match was tied at the end of five sets, a super tiebreaker game was played between the mixed doubles teams using the same format as the set tiebreaker games. Teams sometimes agreed to play dead sets even if the outcome of the match had already been decided or to play sets to completion when the outcome of the match was decided within that set.

Franchise movement, expansion and contraction

On October 16, 1974, Toronto-Buffalo Royals president John F. Bassett announced that the team had been sold to Herbert S. Hoffman and Phyllis Morse who said that they would move it to

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. On October 25, 1974, the Chicago Aces ownership announced that the team was up for sale, and there were ongoing negotiations with several groups of investors including one in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. The team acknowledged some player salaries were late in being paid and said that the statuses of player contracts would be settled after the team was sold. On November 18, 1974, Seymour Brode and Marshall Greenspan sold the Detroit Loves to a new ownership group led by William H. Bereman and Dan Domont who moved the team to Indianapolis and changed its name to the Indiana Loves. Burt McGlynn tried to sell the Minnesota Buckskins to local investors after the 1974 season ended. On November 6, 1974, McGlynn announced that the local interest in the Buckskins had dried up, and the team would either fold or be sold and moved. He mentioned that there was interest from investor groups in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

The investor group from Indianapolis ended up buying the Loves, and the group from Washington decided not to buy the team. On November 26, 1974, WTT announced at its annual meeting that the Buckskins had become the first team in the league to fold. In late 1974, it was reported that owner Ray Ciccolo had lost about $300,000 operating the

Boston Lobsters The Boston Lobsters were a World TeamTennis team based in Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Lobsters played home matches at the Walter Brown Arena, Boston University, in Boston, MA. The most recent Boston Lobsters were a ...

. In early 1975, he was forced to declare bankruptcy. At the WTT owners meeting on February 1, 1975, each team was required to post a $500,000

letter of credit A letter of credit (LC), also known as a documentary credit or bankers commercial credit, or letter of undertaking (LoU), is a payment mechanism used in international trade to provide an economic guarantee from a creditworthy bank to an exp ...

. Teams that failed to do so—the Baltimore Banners, the Boston Lobsters, the Chicago Aces, the

Florida Flamingos The Florida Flamingos were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT) founded by Ted Cohen and Butch Buchholz. The Flamingos played only one season before folding after the 1974 season. The Flamingos had 19 wins and 25 losses and finished in ...

and the Hartford Royals—were contracted. A dispersal draft was conducted to distribute the players from those five teams among the remaining teams in the league. On February 6, 1975, Bud Fischer, Frank Goldberg and Ben Press sold the defending WTT champion Denver Racquets to a new ownership group that included

Reggie Jackson Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Cal ...

and his agent Gary K. Walker who moved the team to

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

and changed its name to the Phoenix Racquets. A group of investors that included Bob Mades, Paul Slater, Herbert S. Hoffman, Robert K. Kraft and Harold Bayne emerged as a potential owner for the franchise in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. However, the Lobsters had already been contracted by WTT. The group purchased the

Philadelphia Freedoms The Philadelphia Freedoms was a tennis team currently competing in World TeamTennis. Overview The team traces its origins to WTT's inaugural season, in 1974. The original team starred tennis legend and social pioneer Billie Jean King, who h ...

on March 27, and moved the team to

. In order to claim the name of the original Lobsters, the new ownership group would be required to settle some of the debts of the former team. The new owners decided to do this and renamed the Freedoms the

. Shortly before the start of the 1975 season, WTT granted an expansion franchise to Frank Mariani to play in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. Mariani named the team the San Diego Friars. While several of the original 16 WTT franchises from 1974, had financial difficulties resulting in six of them not returning for and four of them moving before the 1975 season, the Houston E-Z Riders had made plans to go forward in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. The team was to play its 1975 home matches in the brand new

Astroarena The NRG Arena (formerly the Astroarena and Reliant Arena), is a sports center in NRG Park, in Houston, Texas, USA. Building format The main partition on the first floor is the "Arena Proper", a 24,000 gross square foot arena that seats up to 8, ...

. However, just before the season started, on May 2, 1975, team president and vice-president E.Z. and Betty Jones announced that the E-Z Riders were suspending operations for the 1975 season. Players under contract with the team could be loaned to other WTT teams, and the E-Z Riders had the right to protect four players to return for the 1976 season. There were rumors that the E-Z Riders were behind on their financial obligations. However, E.Z. Jones said, "We are 100% current with our league obligations and our player salaries and have even made salary advances." In order to return to WTT in 1976, the E-Z Riders would need to meet certain league financial requirements and exercise an option by September 15, 1975. The suspension of operations was so sudden and unexpected that newspaper advertisements for E-Z Riders home matches continued to run after the announcement. The E-Z Riders did not exercise their option to return to the league in 1976, and the team folded on September 15, 1975.

Player draft

Several high-profile public figures were selected in the 1974 WTT draft. These included comedians

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, and writer best known as the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson is a cultural phenomenon and w ...

and

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

, Stan Malless, president of the

United States Lawn Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tenn ...

which objected to WTT, 11-year-old

Tracy Austin Tracy Ann Austin Holt (born December 12, 1962) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Austin won 30 WTA Tour-level singles tit ...

, Dean Paul Martin, Jr., two-sport star John Lucas and

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

. Perhaps the most noteworthy selection occurred when Freedoms player-coach

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...

used the team's seventh round pick to select

Bobby Riggs Robert Larimore Riggs (February 25, 1918 – October 25, 1995) was an American tennis champion who was the world No. 1 amateur in 1939 and world No. 1 professional in 1946 and 1947. He played his first professional tennis match on December ...

whom she had beaten 14 months earlier in the Battle of the Sexes.

Stan Smith Stanley Roger Smith (born December 14, 1946) is an American former professional tennis player. A world No. 1 player and two-time major singles champion (at the 1971 US Open and 1972 Wimbledon Championships), Smith also paired with Bob Lutz t ...

and

Ilie Năstase Ilie Theodoriu Năstase (; born 19 July 1946) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the inaugural world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 40 weeks. Năstase is one of ten play ...

were chosen by the

New York Sets The New York Apples were a charter franchise of World TeamTennis, World Team Tennis (WTT). The team was founded by Jerry Saperstein, who sold it to New York businessman Sol Berg during its inaugural 1974 World Team Tennis season, 1974 season. The ...

Ken Rosewall Kenneth Robert Rosewall (born 2 November 1934) is an Australian former World number one male tennis player rankings, world No. 1 professional tennis player. Rosewall won 147 singles titles, including 23 majors: a record 15 Major professional te ...

Manuel Santana Manuel Santana Martínez (10 May 1938 – 11 December 2021), also known as Manolo Santana, was a Spanish tennis player. He was ranked as amateur world No. 1 in 1965 by Ned Potter and in 1966 by Lance TingayPancho Gonzales Ricardo Alonso "Pancho" González (May 9, 1928 – July 3, 1995), known sometimes as Richard Gonzales, was an American tennis player. He won 15 major singles titles, including two U.S. National Championships in 1948 and 1949, and 13 Professi ...

Andrés Gimeno Andrés Gimeno Tolaguera (3 August 1937 – 9 October 2019) was a Spanish tennis player. His greatest achievement came in 1972, when he won the French Open and became the oldest first-time Grand Slam champion in the Open era at 34 years of age. ...

Pierre Barthès Pierre Barthès (born 13 September 1941) is a retired French tennis player. Career Born in Béziers, Barthès was one of the Handsome Eight, a group of players signed by Lamar Hunt in 1968 for the newly formed professional World Championshi ...

and

Alex Metreveli Alexander Irakliyevich Metreveli ( ka, ალექსანდრე მეტრეველი, tr, ; ; born 2 November 1944) is a retired Soviet tennis player of Georgian background. Personal info Metreveli is an honorary citizen of Aust ...

( ka, ალექსანდრე მეტრეველი) were selected by the Hartford Royals.

Roy Emerson Roy Stanley Emerson (born 3 November 1936) is an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, for a total of 28 Grand Slam titles. All of his singles Grand Slam victories and 14 of his ...

and

Vijay Amritraj Vijay Amritraj (; born 14 December 1953) is an Indian sports commentator, actor and retired professional tennis player from Madras. He was awarded the Padma Shri, the government of India's fourth-highest civilian honour, in 1983. In 2022, ...

() were chosen by the

Los Angeles Strings The Los Angeles Strings were a team tennis franchise in TeamTennis. They were the namesake of the original Los Angeles Strings (1974–78) and were owned by Jerry Buss, who also owned the original team. The Strings played their home matches at ...

Olga Morozova Olga Vasilyevna Morozova ( rus, Ольга Васильевна Морозова, , ˈolʲɡə mɐˈrozəvə, a=Ru-Olga_Morozova.ogg, links=no; born 22 February 1949) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Competing for the Soviet Uni ...

() was selected by the Houston E-Z Riders.

Clark Graebner Clark Edward Graebner (born November 4, 1943) is an American former professional tennis player. He was four times a world top ten ranked player each year from 1966 to 1969, reaching world No. 3 in 1967 and world No. 7 the following year. He was ...

and

Ove Bengtson Ove Nils Bengtson (born 5 April 1945) is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. He enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career, he won five doubles titles. Bengtson was a member of the Swedish Davis Cup t ...

were chosen by the

Cleveland Nets Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania stat ...

Joaquín Loyo-Mayo Joaquín Loyo-Mayo (August 16, 1945 – December 27, 2014) was a Mexican tennis player active from 1961 to 1982; he won 21 career singles titles. Career Born in Veracruz, Mexico, he played his first tournament at the Washington State Championship ...

was selected by the

Jeff Borowiak Jeff Borowiak (born September 25, 1949) is a former professional tennis player from the United States, who won five singles and three doubles titles during his professional career, reaching a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP ...

was chosen by the

Hawaii Leis Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...

Julie Heldman Julie Heldman (born December 8, 1945) is an American tennis player who won 22 singles titles. In 1968 and 1969, she was ranked No. 2 in the U.S. She was Canadian National 18 and Under Singles Champion at age 12, U.S. Champion in Girls' 15 Singl ...

was selected by the Chicago Aces.

Jan Kodeš Jan Kodeš (born 1 March 1946) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time major singles champion, Kodeš was one of the premier players in the early 1970s. Kodeš's greatest success was achieved on the clay courts of the French ...

was chosen by the Baltimore Banners.

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful players of all time, she was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 2 ...

was selected by the

. The top overall selection was

Colin Dibley Colin Dibley (born 19 September 1944) is a former tennis player from Australia. Dibley once held the title for the fastest serve in the world at 148 m.p.h. During his professional career, he also won four singles and seventeen doubles titles. ...

who was chosen by the original

. The San Diego Friars did not make any selections, because the team had not yet been founded.

Standings and attendance

''Reference:'' * Hawaii won a standings tiebreaker over San Diego. Total attendance during the season was 503,858, for an average of 3,053 over 165 playing dates.

Playoff bracket

''Reference:''

Playoff match results

''Reference:'' * Home teams are in CAPS.

Eastern Division semifinal match

Western Division semifinal match

Eastern Division Championship

Western Division Championship

WTT Finals

Of the total of 9 playoff matches, home teams won 6 and lost 3. The higher seeds had 5 wins and 1 loss in their 6 home matches. The higher seeds won 4 of the 5 matchups.

Individual statistical leaders

The table below shows the individual players and doubles teams who had the best winning percentages in each of the five events in WTT.

Individual honors

''Reference:''

All-Star Match

WTT held its inaugural All-Star Match on July 13, 1975, at the

Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was a multi-purpose arena at Exposition Park, in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was located next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and just south of the campus of the University of ...

as part of the evening session of a WTT Spectacular in front of 7,112 fans. The afternoon session drew a crowd of only 1,159. The East defeated the West, 28–21.

References

External links

Official WTT website
{{DEFAULTSORT:1975 World TeamTennis season World Team season World Team Tennis season World TeamTennis seasons