But that’s not the only event just around the corner. The beginning of the Championships at the All England Club is the signal that World TeamTennis is making its final preparations to ensure that their season runs smoothly. And it’s not just any typical season – WTT is celebrating its 35th season. It’s a special year for a League that has provided tennis with numerous innovations, such as instant replay and on-court coaching. In hitting a milestone year, the League is celebrating by incorporating a commemorative logo and giving fans the power to vote online at http://www.WTT.com/35 and decide the top Impact Player in WTT history.

We’ll discuss some of the special promotions that teams will be offering in coming blogs, but we can’t forget about Wimbledon. A majority of players participating in the WTT Pro League presented by GEICO will be entered in one or more of the draws at Wimbledon, so it’s their final event before traveling to the United States for three weeks to play for their respective WTT team. Key an eye on the action across the pond for an indication of the type of form players will be in when they arrive to begin the season.

Last year, WTT hosted four 2009 Wimbledon Champions – Serena Williams (pictured to the left) won the Ladies’ Singles event and also partnered sister Venus (also pictured to the left) to the Ladies Doubles crown. WTT veteran Mark Knowles earned his first mixed doubles title partnering Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld. There were also five players in WTT action who were finalists in respective events. Venus finished as runner-up to her sister in Ladies’ Singles and Bob and Mike Bryan were finalists of the Gentlemen’s Doubles. The 2009 WTT Champions, the Washington Kastles, included Ladies’ Doubles Finalist Rennae Stubbs and Mixed Doubles runner up Leander Paes. This year, the Kastles return both Paes and Stubbs, and they will have Venus and Serena for half of their matches, making them a formidable favorite to repeat as champions.    

Quite a few 2010 Pro League players have been involved in Wimbledon qualifying matches.  The New York Sportimes had two Gentlemen’s Singles qualifying entrants advance to the main draw. Robert Kendrick (pictured to the right) edged past fellow American Ryan Sweeting 6-4, 6-7, 3-7, 7-6, 8-6 and Jesse Witten defeated Go Soeda 6-2, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to book their main draw slots.  Also advancing to main draw of Gentlemen’s Singles was Rik DeVoest of the Springfield Lasers.  He earned a comfortable 6-3, 7-6, 6-1 over Andre Begemann.  De Voest also came through in the Gentlemen’s Doubles qualification round, pairing with Mischa Zverev of Germany for a win over the Ratiwatanas, known on ATP Tour as the “Thai Twins.” Two members of the Philadelphia Freedoms narrowly missed out on making the main draw. Both Prakash Amritraj and Ramon Delgado lost in the final round of singles qualifying.