Mylan World TeamTennis celebrates its 40th birthday this year. For more on WTT, including this season's schedule, click here.
Mylan World TeamTennis may be in the midst of its 40th season, but Billie Jean King’s vision of a league that combines the past, present, and future of tennis remains as strong as ever. Fans of the professional team tennis league have the opportunity to see household names like Andy Roddick, but it was just fifteen years ago that the former world No. 1-turned-commentator made his Mylan WTT debut at 17 years old.
“It was a huge developmental tool for me,” Roddick told wtt.com. “I learned how to be a good teammate. Getting exposure to top players over a three-week period was huge. You just can't get that when you're a struggling young player, so it actually helped me build rhythm.”
The American livewire had won the Australian Open boy’s singles title, but a stint with the Idaho Sneakers put him in good stead to finish the 2000 season -- and his junior career -- with another major title at the US Open, a tournament he went on to win as a pro just three years later.
Now a part owner of Mylan WTT, Roddick has passed the torch to the next generation of exciting young Americans, none more promising than a similarly big serving 17 year old in Taylor Fritz. The world’s No. 1 ranked junior has already earned a main draw victory on the ATP World Tour in Nottingham -- over an established Top 70 opponent, at that -- and will make his Mylan WTT debut for the San Diego Aviators on Monday night.
“I like the team aspect because it is different from what we are normally used to in tennis,” the experienced singles and doubles competitor said ahead of the Aviators’ home match against the Philadelphia Freedoms. “It’s cool because fans can get behind a team and support their favorite team.”
Fritz began this spring with a bang when he won the prestigious Easter Bowl, parlaying the momentum into a fruitful European spring by reaching the finals of the French Open and the semifinals at Wimbledon -- capturing the top spot on the ITF rankings after his run in Paris.
“I believed the French Open would be my best opportunity to close in on the World No. 1 ranking. After I made the final, it was overwhelming thinking about reaching the spot I had been trying to get to for two years after first starting ITF juniors.”
Playing on a team with fellow rising American Madison Keys, doubles specialists Raven Klaasen and Darija Jurak, and Chani Scheepers, Fritz feels the gravity of playing for Mylan WTT during such an auspicious summer -- both for himself and the league.
“That this is the 40th season of WTT means that the competition has to be really good and everything is ran well. It also shows that people everywhere enjoy it. It is really special that my first season in WTT can be at such an important milestone.”
Standing at 6’4”, the San Diego native is looking forward to playing at home after nearly four months abroad -- particularly in front of an enthusiastic Aviators audience.
“After being in Europe for so long it will be great to have the crowd on my side for once, and it will be a lot of fun to entertain my home crowd.”
For fans yet to see the lanky teenager in action, Fritz plans to employ every bit of his power game in the hopes of leading the Aviators into a second straight Western Conference Championship -- providing fans and teammates with a rather wry sense of humor along the way.
“I would say my strengths are my serve, forehand, and my competitiveness, I would tell Aviators fans to expect a lot of energy and big hitting, and also some very bad misses I may send flying to the fence!”
Fresh from the lawns of London, Taylor Fritz flies for the San Diego Aviators’ second home match of Mylan WTT’s 40th season. With a strong junior past behind him and a bright future ahead, all signs point to one exciting present.