The New York Apples were a charter franchise of
World Team Tennis (WTT). The team was founded by Jerry Saperstein, who sold it to New York businessman Sol Berg during its inaugural
1974 season. The team was originally known as the New York Sets to match the names of other successful New York sports teams including the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
baseball team, the
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
football team, and the
New York Nets
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
basketball team. They won the 1976 WTT championship under that name led by
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 ...
. Prior to the 1977 season, the defending champion Sets held a contest to choose a new name for the team, and Apples was selected. With their new name, the Apples produced the same results winning their second consecutive WTT title in 1977.
On October 27, 1978, Berg folded the Apples after their fifth season. WTT suspended operations of the league shortly thereafter.
Franchise history
Inaugural season
On May 7, 1974, the Sets lost their inaugural match on their home
court
A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...
at the
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in the
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
of
Uniondale in the
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
of
Hempstead, New York to the
Hawaii Leis, 29–25.
After opening the season with two losses at home, the Sets got their first victory in franchise history on the road beating the
Cleveland Nets, 31–30, on May 12, 1974. Following the win over the Nets, the Sets lost 10 straight matches to fall to 1–12. The Sets finished the season in last place in the Atlantic Section with a record of 15 wins and 29 losses.
See also
*
World TeamTennis
*
New York Sets - Previous NY Team
*
New York Sportimes - Successor NY Team
*
New York Empire - Current NY Team
References
{{World TeamTennis
World TeamTennis teams