N.Y. Sportimes Select McEnroe, Clijsters, Hingis in WTT Marquee Player Draft

Feb. 15, 2011 - PRLog -- NEW YORK – The New York Sportimes, the 2010 World TeamTennis Eastern Conference Champions, today drafted three of the sports’ biggest names in the 2011 Marquee Player Draft, by protecting John McEnroe, Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis in rounds one through three respectively.  McEnroe will return to the Sportimes for his tenth year as the team’s captain and Clijsters will be returning to the Sportimes for a second season.  Hingis played last season for the Albany-based New York Buzz and will back for her second tour with the Sportimes this July.  Hingis helped lead the Sportimes to the 2005 WTT Championship before returning to the WTA Tour in early 2006.  The Buzz and Sportimes have consolidated operations for the 2011 season, with the NY Sportimes playing five matches at Sportime Randall’s Island, the 20-court club that is home to the John McEnroe Tennis Academy, and two matches at in Albany.  The schedule will be announced in March.

“The marquee players we selected today, our great leader John McEnroe, former world Number One Martina Hingis and current world Number One Kim Clijsters, will bring a lot of star power to Sportimes’ matches this summer, and a lot of great tennis.  We are elated to have all three on our team, in addition to our great group of active tour players who will fill out our 2011 roster,” said Sportime CEO Claude Okin. “Our goal is to bring world class tennis and family fun to die-hard tennis fans and to brand new ones in two of the best tennis communities in NY State: New York City and the Capital Region. If the rest of the season goes as well as today’s marquee player draft, we will be coming home with the King Cup this year!”

The WTT Pro League, co-founded by Billie Jean King, is a professional co-ed sports league featuring three generations of tennis stars playing in a team format in 9 U.S. markets.  Match dates and complete team rosters for the 2011 WTT season, including the two Albany matches and the five at Sportime Randall’s Island, Manhattan, will be determined over the next several weeks.  The WTT Roster Player Draft takes place on March 15th and the 2011 schedule is expected to be released prior to the draft.  

Okin also announced yesterday that the USTA Eastern Section has signed on as the host sponsor of the Sportimes as part of a cooperative marketing effort to support USTA programs in the Metro and Northern regions of the Section.  The partnership will also launch a new player drive around the WTT season and every New York Sportimes match night will promote USTA programs, with emphasis on 10-and-under tennis and Junior TeamTennis.

2011 Sportimes’ partners include host sponsor USTA Eastern Section, ACURA, GEICO, Pershing Capital, Principal Funds, SPORTIME Clubs, PowerAde, Deuce Brand, Zurita Architects and Lippolis Electric.

Visit http://www.nysportimes.com for more info.

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The World TeamTennis N.Y. Sportimes compete at the new Sportime tennis facility on Randall's Island in Manhattan, in July. Visit http://www.nysportimes.com for more info.