| The 2005 season marked 30 years of play for the | | | | in 1981 and has been a highlight in tennis news for the |
| World Team Tennis (WTT) Pro League. With tennis | | | | 25 years that followed. In 2006, the WTT Pro League |
| news surrounding the most popular players in the sport, | | | | will celebrate their 31st season of play. |
| Pro Leaguers are always in high demand with the | | | | Since it's debut, some of the greatest names in tennis |
| tennis news media. | | | | news have competed in the league, including Andre |
| The World Team Tennis Pro League is comprised of | | | | Agassi, Any Roddick, Anna Kournikova, Venus & |
| the Eastern and Western Conference, each of which | | | | Serena Williams, Monica Seles, John McEnroe, Chris |
| consists of 6 teams for a total of 12 in competition. It's | | | | Evert, Martina Navratilova and many others. As it's |
| regular season annually occurs during three weeks in | | | | popularity grew, and tennis news coverage increased, |
| the summer. The two best teams, one from each | | | | the World Team Tennis organization welcomed over |
| conference, will advance to the World Team Tennis | | | | 150,000 fans in annual attendance. There is a good |
| Finals. | | | | reason behind the fan craze and that is because |
| Each team consists of two mean, two women and | | | | WTT is all about the fans and serves up each |
| one coach. Team competitions feature a total of five | | | | experience with a side of excitement. Many of the |
| events, including one set of men's singles, women's | | | | rules governing the World Team Tennis association |
| singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed | | | | are designed in order to make the game a fan-friendly |
| doubles. The first team to reach five games wins | | | | sport, which seems to be working with attendance |
| each set. If a set reaches all four, a nin-point tiebreaker | | | | steadily rising each year. |
| is played. | | | | During each WTT event, fans are encouraged to |
| With competitions regularly televised on national tennis | | | | participate by being vocal about a great play. In |
| news programs, including ESPN2, World Team Tennis | | | | addition, they are free to enter and exit the stadium |
| is very popular among sports enthusiasts and tennis | | | | during the competition. But, for those who stay, music |
| news in general. The concept was developed in the | | | | is often played between games in order to keep the |
| early 1970s by Larry and Billie Jean King with the WTT | | | | crowd excitement intact. World Team Tennis is |
| Pro League first competing in 1974 with a 5-year | | | | regularly covered on tennis news programs, in tennis |
| contract. After a brief hiatus, the Pro League resumed | | | | news publications and on the internet. |