NY Sportimes Select Groenefeld, Peschke, Kendrick, Witten In Mylan World TeamTennis Player Draft

NEW YORK - March 12, 2013 - PRLog -- German standout Anna-Lena Groenefeld, a former top-15 singles player currently ranked at No. 19 in the world in doubles, has been selected by the NY Sportimes in the Mylan WTT Roster Draft today in Indian Wells, Calif.  Groenefeld, who competed for the Orange County Breakers in 2012, will be joined by her doubles partner, Kveta Peschke, formerly No. 1 in doubles and now ranked at No. 17.  The Sportimes have also retained their two men's players from the past several years, Robert Kendrick and Jesse Witten.

The four join John McEnroe, the Sportimes' Captain and Marquee Player, who is scheduled to play three matches this season, as announced yesterday.  The team also announced today that it has sold the rights to Martina Hingis, who will play an abbreviated season for the Washington Kastles this summer after being inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

The Sportimes acquired the rights to Groenefeld, who played for Orange County last year, then selected her in the third round.  She ranked as high as No. 14 in the world in singles in 2006, finishing the year at No. 19 and winning a championship at Acapulco.  In  her career Groenefeld has had two semifinal and five quarterfinal singles appearances.  Groenefeld, 27, has won 11 WTA doubles crowns and has reached 14 other finals, including three in 2012.  She has one career Grand Slam win, in mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 2009 with Mark Knowles.

Peschke, 37, who served as a substitute for the Sportimes in last year’s WTT finals weekend, has won 23 career WTA doubles titles and was a member of the 2011 Fed Cup team representing her native Czech Republic.  Her most recent doubles championship was at Sydney in 2012.  She has one Grand Slam title, taking the 2011 doubles at Wimbledon with Katarina Srebotnik, and one career WTA singles crown, at Makarska, Croatia, in 1998.

Kendrick, a popular American player, will be competing for the Sportimes for the sixth year since 2002.  He was a member of the Sportimes’ WTT championship team in 2005 and was protected by New York in the first round of the draft.  Kendrick, 33, has been ranked as high as No. 69 on the ATP World Tour.

Witten, playing his seventh consecutive year with the Sportimes, was the team’s second-round selection.  Witten, 30, a five-time All American at the University of Kentucky, is in his seventh year on the ATP Tour and has been ranked as high as No. 163 in singles, reaching the 3rd round of the US Open in 2009.  Witten was WTT Rookie of the Year in 2007.

Claude Okin, team owner, speaking about the Sportimes’ 2013 squad explained, “We will miss Martina Hingis as a member of the Sportimes.  I will always consider her a Sportime, and I know that she will be a tough competitor to face when we compete against our rival Washington squad.  When the opportunity to get two current top 10 doubles stars for the full season was available, I had to make that call.  Kveta had been spectacular for us at last year’s finals and equally impressive in 2010 when she helped Kansas City beat us in the finals, and she and Anna are a top everyday doubles team on the WTA Tour.  Our goal is to win a WTT championship in 2013 and to beat Washington along the way, and this team is designed to accomplish that.”

The Sportimes open the home schedule on July 9 vs. Springfield (featuring Andy Roddick) at SEFCU Arena in Albany, N.Y.  New York will play four other matches in Albany, on July 12, 15 (featuring Sloane Stephens for Philadelphia), 16 and 18 (featuring McEnroe vs. Orange County) and two at Sportime Stadium on Randall's Island in New York City (July 22, 23).  McEnroe will be playing at Randall’s Island on one of those dates, which will be a special night to raise funds for the Johnny Mac Tennis Project, a charitable foundation established by McEnroe and Sportime to raise money to advance youth tennis in the NY Metropolitan area.  Additional special guests are expected to be announced along with the final date for McEnroe’s NYC appearance in the coming days.

Conference championships are scheduled for Thursday, July 25, at the higher of the top two seeds in each conference, and the season concludes with the Mylan WTT Finals presented by GEICO, on Sunday, July 28, at the site of the Eastern Division semifinal winner.

The Sportimes' 2013 partners include Adecco, DecoTurf, Geico, Mylan, USTA, Wilson, Price Chopper, Times Union, GE, UB Group, Northeast Orthopaedics, Copeland, Albany ENT, Clearly Yours, 15-Love, Ophthalmic Con., NAI Platform, USTA Northern, University of Albany Foundation, Albany Massage, Hilton Garden Inn and Lang Media.

Connect with the Sportimes at www.nysportimes.com or on Twitter at @nysportimes.