© 2012
Daily
Tennis News Wire -
Identical
twin sisters Karolina and Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech
Republic topped the 2012 WTT Roster Player Draft today
when the 19-year-olds were selected with the top overall
pick by the Philadelphia Freedoms. Players from 11
countries were chosen in Tuesday’s Roster Draft as teams
completed their lineups for the League’s 37th season,
which runs July 9-28.
In a special Roster Exempt Player Draft held before the
start of the Roster Draft, the Sacramento Capitals
picked up American Coco Vandeweghe who will play a
limited season for the 6-time WTT Champions.
The players added today join an all-star lineup of
players selected in last month’s Marquee Draft including
Serena Williams (Washington Kastles), Venus Williams
(Washington Kastles), John McEnroe (New York Sportimes),
Martina Hingis (New York Sportimes), Lindsay Davenport
(Orange County Breakers), John Isner (Boston Lobsters),
Mardy Fish (Sacramento Capitals), Mark Philippoussis
(Philadelphia Freedoms), Bob and Mike Bryan (Kansas City
Explorers), and James Blake (Philadelphia Freedoms).
Each of the eight teams in the WTT Pro League presented
by GEICO will play a total of 14 matches during the
three-week regular season, July 9-28. The top two teams
from both the Western and Eastern Conferences advance to
the WTT Finals Weekend presented by GEICO, Sept. 14-16,
in Charleston, S.C. Teams in the Western Conference are
the Kansas City Explorers, Orange County Breakers,
Sacramento Capitals and Springfield Lasers. Teams in the
Eastern Conference are the Boston Lobsters, New York
Sportimes, Philadelphia Freedoms and Washington Kastles.
The WTT Pro League was co-founded by Billie Jean King in
the early 1970s. Each team has a coach, two male and two
female players who play singles, doubles and mixed
doubles matches.
Check out the complete 2012 WTT Team Lineups. For
details on the complete draft results and the 2012
schedule, visit www.WTT.com.
Here’s a team-by-team recap of the 2012 WTT Roster
Draft.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
SACRAMENTO CAPITALS
After drafting top-ranked American Mardy Fish in the
Marquee Player Draft, the Sacramento Capitals used their
first round roster draft pick to protect WTT veteran
Mark Knowles, who’s played all 11 of his WTT seasons in
Sacramento. The Capitals added another doubles great and
2011 WTT Rookie of the Year Jean-Julien Rojer to the
lineup in the second round and American Asia Muhammed in
the third. Rounding out their picks with their fourth
round selection, the Capitals protected Yasmin Schnack
whose success in women’s doubles helped the team advance
to the Western Conference final in 2011.
ORANGE COUNTY BREAKERS:
With WTT veteran Lindsay Davenport leading their team
this season after her selection in last month's Marquee
Draft, the Orange County Breakers have added a strong
supporting cast in today’s Roster Player Draft. In round
one, the Breakers took Anna-lena Groenefeld, an 11-time
doubles champion from Germany. For their second and
third round picks, Orange County added John-Patrick
Smith, a former University of Tennessee standout, and
Travis Parrott, who will play his sixth season in the
League, to complete their roster. Together, Davenport,
Groenefeld, Smith and Parrott could prove to be a
significant contender for the Western Conference title.
KANSAS CITY EXPLORERS:
After retaining the Bryan Brothers in last month’s
Marquee Player Draft, the Kansas City Explorers made a
strong showing today selecting some of the top players
available in the Roster Player Draft. With their first
round pick, the Explorers took Chanel Simmonds, an
on-the-rise South African who will make her WTT debut in
July. In the second round, Kansas City scored
Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, a top-ranked doubles player from
Pakistan. To fill out their roster, the Explorers added
Nick Monroe in the third round and Tetiana Luzhanska in
the fourth. Monroe played one WTT season for the
Springfield Lasers in 2006 and Luzhanska will make her
WTT debut in 2012.
SPRINGFIELD LASERS:
This season, the Springfield Lasers have fielded a
strong team of new names, with only one player having
played WTT in the past. With their first-round pick, the
Lasers took Timea Babos, a rising Hungarian, who reached
a career-high ranking in singles (No. 68) at the end of
last month. Round two allowed Springfield to pick up
former University of Southern California standout Maria
Sanchez who played WTT last season. For their third and
fourth round selections, the Lasers chose Amir Weintraub,
a top-ranking Israeli player, and former NCAA Champion
Devin Britton. Both Weintraub and Britton will be
playing their first WTT season this July.
EASTERN CONFERENCE:
BOSTON LOBSTERS
This season, the Boston Lobsters are determined to
return to the Eastern Conference championship match
again this summer, and they started their campaign by
protecting three players in today’s draft. After
retaining John Isner in the Marquee Draft, Boston used
their first three picks to protect Jan-Michael Gambill,
Eric Butorac and Irina Falconi, all fan favorites and
returning members from last year’s team. With their
round four selection, the Lobsters picked up American
veteran Carly Gullickson.
NEW YORK SPORTIMES:
In the first three rounds of the draft, the New York
Sportimes protected Robert Kendrick, Jesse Witten and
Ashley Harkleroad, respectively. The trio of returning
Sportimes stars will join former world No. 1s John
McEnroe and Martina Hingis, who were drafted as marquee
players last month.
PHILADELPHIA FREEDOMS:
With the No. 1 overall pick, the Philadelphia Freedoms
drafted Karolina Pliskova, a rising Czech star, to set
the tone for their 2012 roster. In the following round,
the Freedoms were able to add Karolina’s identical twin
sister, Kristyna Pliskova, through a strategic doubles
protection draft choice. The sisters have quickly moved
up the WTA rankings and will be playing their first WTT
season. In the third round, the Freedoms added Luka
Gregorc of Slovenia and doubles standout Jordan Kerr
from Australia. The roster players drafted today will
join marquees Mark Philippoussis and James Blake for the
Freedoms this July.
WASHINGTON KASTLES:
With a championship title to defend, the Washington
Kastles went with what worked to create their
unprecedented and undefeated title run in 2011 and
brought back the core of their team for 2012. After
protecting their rights to Serena and Venus Williams in
the February Marquee Player Draft, the Kastles rounded
out their roster with Arina Rodionova, the 2011 Female
Rookie of the Year; Leander Paes, the 2011 WTT Male MVP;
Bobby Reynolds, a former WTT Rookie of the Year and
leading singles players; and Anastasia Rodionova,
Arina’s sister, who’s currently ranked No. 101 in
women’s singles and No. 22 in doubles on the WTA Tour.
2012 WTT Roster Player Draft
Roster Exempt Draft Selections (Roster Exempt players
play a limited season)
Sacramento Capitals: Coco Vandeweghe
2012 WTT Roster Draft - March 13, 2012
Round One
1. PHILADELPHIA: Karolina Pliskova
2. SPRINGFIELD: Timea Babos
3. ORANGE COUNTY: Anna-lena Groenefeld
4. NEW YORK: Robert Kendrick (protection)
5. KANSAS CITY: Chanel Simmonds
6. BOSTON: Jan-Michael Gambill (protection)
7. SACRAMENTO: Mark Knowles (protection)
8. WASHINGTON: Arina Rodionova (protection)
Round Two
1. PHILADELPHIA: Kristyna Pliskova
2. SPRINGFIELD: Maria Sanchez
3. ORANGE COUNTY: John-Patrick Smith
4. NEW YORK: Jesse Witten (protection)
5. KANSAS CITY: Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi
6. BOSTON: Eric Butorac (protection)
7. SACRAMENTO: Jean-Julien Rojer
8. WASHINGTON: Leander Paes (protection)
Round Three
1. PHILADELPHIA: Luka Gregorc
2. SPRINGFIELD: Amir Weintraub
3. ORANGE COUNTY: Travis Parrott
4. NEW YORK: Ashley Harkleroad (protection)
5. KANSAS CITY: Nick Monroe
6. BOSTON: Irina Falconi (protection)
7. SACRAMENTO: Asia Muhammed
8. WASHINGTON: Bobby Reynolds (protection)
Round Four
1. PHILADELPHIA: Jordan Kerr
2. SPRINGFIELD: Devin Britton
3. ORANGE COUNTY: PASS
4. NEW YORK: PASS
5. KANSAS CITY: Tetiana Luzhanska
6. BOSTON: Carly Gullickson
7. SACRAMENTO: Yasmin Schnack (protection)
8. WASHINGTON: Anastasia Rodionova (doubles protection)