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World TeamTennis

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World TeamTennis

World TeamTennis (WTT) was a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973.

The league's season normally took place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA would often take a break from their tour schedules to partake in World TeamTennis.

WTT was the first professional sports league to grant equal status to each man and woman competing for their teams.

Many top tennis players have participated in the league over the years, including Billie Jean King, Rod Laver, Björn Borg, Ilie Nastase, Chris Evert, John McEnroe, Evonne Goolagong, Jimmy Connors, Martina Navratilova, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Kim Clijsters, Martina Hingis, John Isner, Sam Querrey, Sloane Stephens, Naomi Osaka, and Frances Tiafoe.

Originally played on a no-line court, each match consisted of five sets. Each set featured a different configuration (men's singles, men's doubles, women's singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles). Prior to each match, coaches would decide the order in which the sets would be played. Each player on a team usually played in at least one of the five sets. Scoring was no-advantage; there was no requirement to win a game by two points; at deuce, whoever scores the next point wins the game. The first team to reach five games wins each set. A nine-point tiebreaker is played if a set reaches four-all. One point is awarded for each game won. If necessary, extended play and a supertiebreaker were played to determine the winner of the match.

The original league format included a four-colored tennis court, a 44-contest season, and teams of at least two men and two women. A match consisted of the first player or team to win five games, with a nine-point tiebreaker at four-all, and no-ad scoring in women's singles and doubles, men's singles and doubles, and mixed doubles.

For much of World Team Tennis' history, its distinct court was an instant symbol for fans to recognize what they were watching. The iconic four-color (calico) court originated in the early 1970s and was unveiled for the third season in 1976. It was originally created to eliminate court lines (no-line court). Originally, the service boxes were blue and green, the baseline area brown and the doubles alleys maroon. These colors were chosen to represent the different tennis court surfaces: green for grass, blue for hard, maroon for clay and brown for dirt.

The league's technicolor playing surface served as a trendsetter for the rest of the tennis world. The Indian Wells Masters has purple courts.

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