This July, the USTA National Campus will welcome one of its most anticipated events in the facility’s history when World TeamTennis (WTT) invades Lake Nona.
The Orlando Storm will make its debut as a WTT expansion franchise this year, playing all of its home matches at the USTA National Campus, led by Lake Nona resident and world No. 17 Madison Keys.
WTT introduced professional team tennis to the world in 1974 with Billie Jean King famously serving as its co-founder. WTT is one of five active U.S. pro sports leagues that have been in operation for more than 40 years, along with the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB.
The new teams in Orlando and Las Vegas join the league’s existing franchises – New York Empire, Orange County Breakers, Philadelphia Freedoms, San Diego Aviators, Springfield Lasers, and Washington Kastles – for play in July 2019.
“The addition of two new teams in two strong markets is a positive move for WTT for 2019 and for the future,” said King. “This expansion is not only good for the league, it also is another indication of the importance of bringing our brand of tennis to new audiences and our commitment to growing the sport at all levels.”
The WTT season consists of seven home matches and seven away matches for each team and will run from July 14-31. The Storm will begin with a pair of home matches on July 14 and 15 and will continue the home slate on July 17, 18, 24, 26 and 27.
In 2018, each of WTT’s teams incorporated select tennis stars from the ATP and WTA tours, including seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and 13-year WTT veteran Venus Williams, 2019 Australian Open and 2018 U.S. Open women’s singles champion Naomi Osaka, 2017 U.S. Open women’s champ Sloane Stephens, and twins Bob and Mike Bryan, the most decorated doubles team in tennis history.
Jocelyn Davie will serve as the Orlando Storm’s inaugural general manager, and the team will be coached by former ATP Tour player Scott Lipsky. The roster, led by Keys, includes fellow Americans Evan King and Whitney Osuigwe, as well as Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, Great Britain’s Ken Skupski and Croatia’s Darija Jurak.
“With the success that the USTA National Campus has had in Lake Nona the past two years, it made perfect sense for World TeamTennis to expand to the Orlando area,” said WTT CEO Carlos Silva. “Orlando is a great sports city, and we are excited to bring our high-level brand of professional team tennis to this growing market.”
For ticket and other event information, please visit either USTANationalCampus.com or OrlandoStorm.com.
