1974 World Team Tennis season

January 2025 March 2026 May 6 – August 18, 1974 Eastern Division Champions Philadelphia Freedoms Western Division Champions Denver Racquets WTT Finals August 26, 1974 (Match 2) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Match 2) Denver Racquets 1975 WTT Seasons The 1974 World Team Tennis season was the inaugural season of the top professional team tennis league in the United States. The Denver Racquets defeated the Philadelphia Freedoms in the WTT Finals to win the league's first championship.https://www.facebook.com/WorldTeamTennis/info World Team Tennis Life Events World TeamTennis August 11, 2014http://www.oocities.org/colosseum/Arena/6925/wtt.html Steve Dimitry's Extinct Sports Leagues: World Team Tennis (1974–1978) Steve Dimitry 1998 August 11, 2014 Competition format The 1974 World Team Tennis season included 16 teams split into two divisions (Eastern and Western). The Eastern Division was further split into two sections (Atlantic and Central) which each had four teams. The Western Division was also split into two sections (Gulf Plains and Pacific) which also had four teams each. Each team played a 44-match regular-season schedule with 22 home and 22 away matches. The section champions and the two teams in each division with the best records among non section champions qualified for the division championship semifinals. The team with the best record among playoff qualifiers from the division played the team with the fourth best record in the semifinals. The teams with the second and third best records played each other in the semifinals. Teams were not given preference in seeding based on being champions of their section. The semifinal winners met the other semifinals winners from their own division to determine the division champions. The division champions met in the World Team Tennis Final.Nuzzo Andy Ready for a Best-of-Two Series?: World Team Tennis Does It Again https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2002&dat=19740802&id=V0UuAAAAIBAJ&pg=5938,359070 August 22, 2014 Beaver County Times B-2 August 2, 1974 At the start of the season, each match comprised two sets of men's singles, two sets of women's singles and two sets of mixed doubles. No men's doubles or women's doubles were played. The mixed doubles sets were played as the third and sixth sets. The coach of the home team decided whether to play men's or women's singles first and fourth or second and fifth. WTT changed the match format on May 18, 1974, to one set each of men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles, because of concern that the matches were taking too long.Cisco Dan 1999 Tennis Hawai'i Sports: History, Facts, & Statistics https://books.google.com/books?id=s4QWvle-CR8C&pg=PA332 Latitude 20 Book Series University of Hawai'i Press 332 0-8248-2121-1 98048396 August 11, 2014 Google Books 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. 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 often 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. Playoff matchups in the division semifinals and division championship series were played in two legs with each team hosting one match and the cumulative score determining the winner. The higher seed had the choice to host either the first or the second match. Should the cumulative score be tied after the conclusion of the second match, a series tiebreaker game was played to determine the series winner. The WTT Finals were a best-of-three series. The lower seed hosted the first match. The higher seed hosted the second match and the third, if necessary. Charter franchises and relocation On May 22, 1973, WTT announced the formation of the league with the following 16 franchises:Next in Pittsburgh Pro Sports—'Triangles': Net Loop Begins Play Next May https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19730523&id=d5xRAAAAIBAJ&pg=7060,3504233 August 20, 2014 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 30 May 23, 1973Janoff Murray Tennis: New Pro Circuit Sporting News July 7, 1973 Team Founder(s) Boston Raymond Ciccolo Chicago Jordon H. Kaiser, Walter Kaiser Cincinnati Bill DeWitt, Jr., Brian Heekin Denver Bud Fischer, Frank Goldberg, Ben Press Detroit Seymour Brode, Marshall Greenspan Houston E.Z. Jones, Betty Jones Los Angeles Dennis Murphy, Fred Barman, Jerry Fine, Jerry Buss Minnesota Lee Meade, Len Vannelli, John Finley New York Jerry Saperstein Philadelphia Dick Butera, Ken Butera Phoenix Gary Davidson Pittsburgh Triangles John H. Hillman, III, William Sutton, Chuck Reichblum St. Louis Ted Cohen, Butch Buchholz San Diego Dr. Leonard Bloom San Francisco Larry King, Cathie Anderson Buffalo John F. Bassett, John C. Eaton, III As shown in the above table, the Pittsburgh Triangles had a team name from the time the franchise was chartered. On May 30, 1973, the San Diego franchise announced that it had adopted the name San Diego Swingers.San Diego Team Obtains Franchise https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19730531&id=XWo0AAAAIBAJ&pg=4770,7254249 August 21, 2014 Star-News Wilmington, North Carolina 5C May 31, 1973 Before the WTT inaugural draft on August 3, 1973, the St. Louis franchise had relocated and was referred to as the Miami franchise at the draft.World Team Tennis Draft Gets Newcombe, King First https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19730804&id=YYQsAAAAIBAJ&pg=7170,708608 August 20, 2014 Spartanburg Herald-Journal B2 August 4, 1973 Also before the draft, the Cincinnati franchise had been sold to Joseph Zingale and relocated to Cleveland. Finally, by the time the inaugural draft took place, the San Francisco franchise had adopted the name the Golden Gate OttersChristine Bill Playing Games https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19730926&id=adpaAAAAIBAJ&pg=5137,3526171 August 20, 2014 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 25 September 26, 1973 and was referred to as the Golden Gate franchise during the draft. On August 21, 1973, the New York franchise announced it had adopted the name New York Sets.Wave Joseph Tennis League Begets the Sets The Kansas City Star August 22, 1973 8 By September 1973, the Los Angeles franchise had been named the Los Angeles Strings. Before the start of the 1974 season, the Phoenix franchise was sold to Howard Fine, Gerald Klauber, Joseph Rivkin and Robert E. Bradley, Jr. who moved it to Baltimore. Also before the start of the 1974 season, the San Diego Swingers were sold to Don Kelleher who moved them to Honolulu. Finally, before the start of the 1974 season, the Golden Gate Otters decided to simply call the team the Golden Gaters in dealings with the public. Since it would have been absurd to call the team the Golden Gate Golden Gaters, and the league used a location to identify all its teams, WTT reverted to using San Francisco, the location for which the original charter was issued, when referring to the team. They were listed in official WTT standings as the San Francisco Golden Gaters. The remaining charter franchises adopted names before the start of the 1974 season. The team identification and naming history of the 16 charter franchises from the founding of WTT to the start of the inaugural season is as follows: Boston → Boston Lobsters Chicago → Chicago Aces Cincinnati → Cleveland → Cleveland Nets Denver → Denver Racquets Detroit → Detroit Loves Houston → Houston E-Z Riders Los Angeles → Los Angeles Strings Minnesota → Minnesota Buckskins New York → New York Sets Philadelphia → Philadelphia Freedoms Phoenix → Baltimore Banners Pittsburgh Triangles St. Louis → Miami → Florida Flamingos San Diego → San Diego Swingers → Honolulu Swingers → Hawaii Leis San Francisco → Golden Gate Otters → San Francisco Golden Gaters Buffalo → Toronto-Buffalo Royals Inaugural draft WTT conducted a lottery to determine the order of selection for its inaugural draft held on August 3, 1973. The selection order determined as a result of the lottery was used for odd-numbered rounds, and it was reversed for even-numbered rounds. Each team was entitled to select 20 players. Teams that could sign players to contracts before the draft had to identify these players as preferential choices and use their earliest picks on the players signed. The players selected in the first 10 rounds of the draft are shown in the tables below. 100% 50% First round No. Selection number in round Team Name of team making selection Player chosen 1 Miami Chris Evert 2 Boston Kerry Melville 3 San Diego Swingers Rod Laver 4 Phoenix Jimmy Connors 5 Pittsburgh Triangles Ken Rosewall 6 Detroit Rosemary Casals 7 Houston John NewcombeDraft pref Preferential choice. 8 Golden Gate Otters Margaret Court 9 Los Angeles John Alexander 10 New York Roy Emerson 11 Minnesota Linda Tuero 12 Philadelphia Billie Jean KingDraft pref Preferential choice. 13 Cleveland Björn Borg 14 Chicago Marty Riessen 15 Toronto Tom Okker 16 Denver Tony Roche 50% Second round No. Selection number in round Team Name of team making selection Player chosen 1 Denver Françoise Dürr 2 Toronto Marita Redondo 3 Chicago Julie Heldman 4 Cleveland Nancy Gunter 5 Philadelphia Fred Stolle 6 Minnesota Owen Davidson 7 New York Pam Teeguarden 8 Los Angeles Valerie Ziegenfuss 9 Golden Gate Otters Frew McMillan 10 Houston Dick Stockton 11 Detroit Brian Gottfried 12 Pittsburgh Triangles Evonne Goolagong 13 Phoenix Betty Stöve 14 San Diego Swingers Karen Hantze Susman 15 Boston Nikola Pilić 16 Miami Roscoe Tanner 100% 50% Third round No. Selection number in round Team Name of team making selection Player chosen 1 Miami Frank Froehling 2 Boston Roger Taylor 3 San Diego Swingers Wendy Overton 4 Phoenix Janet Newberry 5 Pittsburgh Triangles Harold Solomon 6 Detroit Kerry Harris 7 Houston Karen Krantzcke 8 Golden Gate Otters Dennis Ralston 9 Los Angeles Julie Anthony 10 New York Sandy Mayer 11 Minnesota Stan Smith 12 Philadelphia Brian Fairlie 13 Cleveland Raymond Moore 14 Chicago Bob Lutz 15 Toronto Pierre Barthès 16 Denver Erik van Dillen 50% Fourth round No. Selection number in round Team Name of team making selection Player chosen 1 Denver Kris Kemmer Shaw 2 Toronto Lesley Hunt 3 Chicago Judy Tegart Dalton 4 Cleveland Clark and Carole Graebner 5 Philadelphia Cliff Drysdale 6 Minnesota Pat Walkden-Pretorius 7 New York Cliff Richey 8 Los Angeles Ross Case 9 Golden Gate Otters Tom Gorman 10 Houston Lesley Turner Bowrey 11 Detroit Phil Dent 12 Pittsburgh Triangles Vitas Gerulaitis 13 Phoenix Bob Carmichael 14 San Diego Swingers Ilie Năstase 15 Boston Sharon Walsh 16 Miami Marcie Louie 100% 50% Fifth round No. Selection number in round Team Name of team making selection Player chosen 1 Miami Adriano Panatta 2 Boston Paul Gerken 3 San Diego Swingers Jan Kodeš 4 Phoenix Barry Phillips-Moore 5 Pittsburgh Triangles Laura duPont 6 Detroit Virginia Wade 7 Houston Helen Gourlay 8 Golden Gate Otters Ann Kiyomura 9 Los Angeles Vijay Amritraj(ta விஜய் அம்ரித்ராஜ்) 10 New York Arthur Ashe 11 Minnesota Bob Hewitt 12 Philadelphia Laura Rossouw 13 Cleveland Peaches Bartkowicz 14 Chicago Ray Ruffels 15 Toronto Karl Meiler 16 Denver Andrew Pattison 50% Sixth round No. Selection number in round Team Name of team making selection Player chosen 1 Denver Colin Dibley 2 Toronto Raúl Ramírez 3 Chicago Janet Young 4 Cleveland Pancho Gonzales 5 Philadelphia Tory Fretz 6 Minnesota Brenda Kirk 7 New York Barbara Downs 8 Los Angeles Kathy Kuykendall 9 Golden Gate Otters Jürgen Fassbender 10 Houston Bill Bowrey 11 Detroit Allan Stone 12 Pittsburgh Triangles Mona Schallau 13 Phoenix Janice Metcalf 14 San Diego Swingers Alex Metreveli(ალექსანდრე მეტრეველი) 15 Boston Jeanne Evert 16 Miami Patrice Dominguez 100% 50% Seventh round No. Selection number in round Team Name of team making selection Player chosen 1 Miami Patti Hogan 2 Boston Mike Estep 3 San Diego Swingers Maria Bueno 4 Phoenix Joyce Williams 5 Pittsburgh Triangles Jeff Borowiak 6 Detroit Mary-Ann Beattie 7 Houston Ceci Martinez 8 Golden Gate Otters Jim McManus 9 Los Angeles Geoff Masters 10 New York Kazuko Sawamatsu(ja 沢松和子) 11 Minnesota Patrick Proisy 12 Philadelphia Laurie Fleming 13 Cleveland Bill Lloyd 14 Chicago Billy Martin 15 Toronto Helga Masthoff 16 Denver Alex Olmedo 50% Eighth round No. Selection number in round Team Name of team making selection Player chosen 1 Denver Stephanie Johnson 2 Toronto Laurie Tenney 3 Chicago Marie Neumanová 4 Cleveland Onny Parun 5 Philadelphia Buster Mottram 6 Minnesota Corrado Barazzutti 7 New York Haroon Rahim 8 Los Angeles Kathy May 9 Golden Gate Otters Ilana Kloss 10 Houston Bob McKinley 11 Detroit Corinne Molesworth 12 Pittsburgh Triangles Kathy Blake 13 Phoenix Dick Crealy 14 San Diego Swingers Roy Barth 15 Boston Ismail El Shafei(ar إسماعيل الشافعي) 16 Miami Mark Cox 100% 50% Ninth round No. Selection number in round Team Name of team making selection Player chosen 1 Miami Olga Morozova(ru no Ольга Васильевна Морозова) 2 Boston Patricia Bostrom 3 San Diego Swingers Ann Haydon-Jones 4 Phoenix Lost draft choice 5 Pittsburgh Triangles Pat DuPré 6 Detroit Jaime Fillol 7 Houston Ray Keldie 8 Golden Gate Otters Susan Mehmedbasich 9 Los Angeles Leif Johansson 10 New York Gene Scott 11 Minnesota Nathalie Fuchs 12 Philadelphia Dianne Fromholtz 13 Cleveland Katja Ebbinghaus 14 Chicago Bobby Riggs 15 Toronto Guillermo Vilas 16 Denver Pam Austin 50% Tenth round No. Selection number in round Team Name of team making selection Player chosen 1 Denver Jeff Austin 2 Toronto Mike Belkin 3 Chicago Andrés Gimeno 4 Cleveland Mal Anderson 5 Philadelphia John Paish 6 Minnesota Sue Stap 7 New York Manuel Santana 8 Los Angeles Jane Albert Willens 9 Golden Gate Otters Pancho Segura 10 Houston Daryl Gralka 11 Detroit Nancy Ornstein 12 Pittsburgh Triangles Jane Stratton 13 Phoenix Joaquín Loyo Mayo 14 San Diego Swingers Glynis Coles 15 Boston Ion Țiriac 16 Miami Neale Fraser Notes: Draft Standings and attendance Reference: 100% 50% Eastern Division Pos Position TeamMP Matches playedW Matches wonL Matches lostPCT Winning percentageMB Matches behind Atlantic Section 1 Philadelphia Freedoms 44 39 5 .886 0 2 Boston Lobsters 44 19 25 .432 20 3 Baltimore Banners 44 16 28 .364 23 4 New York Sets 44 15 29 .341 24 Central Section 1 Detroit Loves 44 30 14 .682 0 2 Pittsburgh Triangles 44 30 14 .682 0 3 Cleveland Nets 44 21 23 .477 9 4 Toronto-Buffalo Royals 44 13 31 .295 17 1974 Eastern Division Playoffs Detroit won a standings tiebreaker over Pittsburgh and was the Central Section Champion. 50% Western Division Pos Position TeamMP Matches playedW Matches wonL Matches lostPCT Winning percentageMB Matches behind Gulf Plains Section 1 Minnesota Buckskins 44 27 17 .614 0 2 Houston E-Z Riders 44 25 19 .568 2 3 Florida Flamingos 44 19 25 .432 8 4 Chicago Aces 44 15 29 .341 12 Pacific Section 1 Denver Racquets 44 30 14 .682 0 2 San Francisco Golden Gaters 44 23 21 .523 7 3 Los Angeles Strings 44 16 28 .364 14 4 Hawaii Leis 44 14 30 .318 16 1974 Western Division Playoffs Total attendance during the season was 833,966, for an average of 2,369 over 352 playing dates.http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1976/02/18/page/73/article/can-laver-evert-save-team-net Can Laver, Evert Save Team Net? February 18, 1976 Chicago Tribune July 10, 2016 Playoff bracket Reference: Racquets Rip Bucksins Daily Review Hayward, California 34 August 23, 1974Racquets Make WTT Playoff Finals Greeley Daily Tribune 16 August 24, 1974 Division Semifinals(August 19–20) Division Championships(August 22–23) WTT Finals(August 25–26) Eastern Division Western Division 175 E1 Philadelphia Freedoms 49 E4 Cleveland Nets 44 E2 Detroit Loves 27 E3 Pittsburgh Triangles 63 W1 Denver Racquets 61 W4 San Francisco Golden Gaters 41 W2 Minnesota Buckskins 48 W3 Houston E-Z Riders 47 E1 Philadelphia Freedoms 52 E3 Pittsburgh Triangles 45 W1 Denver Racquets 54 W2 Minnesota Buckskins 44 1 Philadelphia Freedoms 0 2 Denver Racquets 2 Playoff match results Reference: Home teams are in CAPS. 100% 50% Eastern Division semifinals (1) Philadelphia Freedoms vs. (4) Cleveland Nets Date Match Result August 19 1 Philadelphia Freedoms 26, CLEVELAND NETS 22 August 20 2 PHILADELPHIA FREEDOMS 23, Cleveland Nets 22 ** Series: Philadelphia Freedoms 49, Cleveland Nets 44 (2) Detroit Loves vs. (3) Pittsburgh Triangles Date Match Result August 19 1 Pittsburgh Triangles 31, DETROIT LOVES 10 August 20 2 PITTSBURGH TRIANGLES 32, Detroit Loves 17 ** Series: Pittsburgh Triangles 63, Detroit Loves 27 50% Western Division semifinals (1) Denver Racquets vs. (4) San Francisco Golden Gaters Date Match Result August 19 1 DENVER RACQUETS 29, San Francisco Golden Gaters 17 August 20 2 Denver Racquets 32, SAN FRANCISCO GOLDEN GATERS 24 ** Series: Denver Racquets 61, San Francisco Golden Gaters 41 (2) Minnesota Buckskins vs. (3) Houston E-Z Riders Date Match Result August 19 1 Houston E-Z Riders 28, MINNESOTA BUCKSKINS 19 August 20 2 Minnesota Buckskins 29, HOUSTON E-Z RIDERS 19 ** Series: Minnesota Buckskins 48, Houston E-Z Riders 47 100% 50% Eastern Division Championship (1) Philadelphia Freedoms vs. (3) Pittsburgh Triangles Date Match Result August 22 1 Philadelphia Freedoms 31, PITTSBURGH TRIANGLES 21 August 23 2 Pittsburgh Triangles 24, PHILADELPHIA FREEDOMS 21 ** Series: Philadelphia Freedoms 52, Pittsburgh Triangles 45 50% Western Division Championship (1) Denver Racquets vs. (2) Minnesota Buckskins Date Match Result August 22 1 DENVER RACQUETS 29, Minnesota Buckskins 18 August 23 2 MINNESOTA BUCKSKINS 26, Denver Racquets 25 ** Series: Denver Racquets 54, Minnesota Buckskins 44 100% 25% 50% WTT Finals (1) Philadelphia Freedoms vs. (2) Denver Racquets Date Match Result August 25 1 DENVER RACQUETS 27, Philadelphia Freedoms 21 August 26 2 Denver Racquets 28, PHILADELPHIA FREEDOMS 24 ** Series: Denver Racquets 2, Philadelphia Freedoms 0 25% Of the total of 14 playoff matches, home teams won only 6 and lost 8. The higher seeds had 3 wins and 4 losses in their 7 home matches. The higher seeds won 5 of the 7 series. 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. Event Player(s) Team Men's singles Jimmy Connors Baltimore Banners Women's singles Billie Jean King Philadelphia Freedoms Men's doubles John Newcombe and Dick Stockton Houston E-Z Riders Women's doubles Billie Jean King and Julie Anthony Philadelphia Freedoms Mixed doubles Kerry Harris and Allan Stone Detroit Loves Individual honors Reference: Award Recipient Team Most Valuable Player Billie Jean King Philadelphia Freedoms Coach of the Year Tony Roche Denver Racquets Playoffs Most Valuable Player Andrew Pattison Denver Racquets See also Tennis 1974 WTA Tour 1974 Men's Grand Prix circuit References External links World TeamTennis official website World Team Tennis season Category:World TeamTennis seasons Category:1974 in American tennis