Taylor Fritz, a native of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., will lead the San Diego Aviators in their 2018 World TeamTennis home opener against the Springfield Lasers on Sunday, July 15 at 6 p.m. at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, 2100 Costa Del Mar Rd, Carlsbad, CA 92009.
The 20-year-old Fritz, who now lives in Palos Verdes, Calif., is currently ranked No. 68 in the world. He reached the second round at Wimbledon last week before falling to fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany 6-4, 5-7, 6-7 (0), 6-1, 6-2.
San Diego’s home opener marks the first of two WTT appearances this season for Fritz, who is also scheduled to play for the Aviators in their second home match at 7 p.m. on Monday, July 16 against the Philadelphia Freedoms.
In addition to having Fritz for the first two home matches, the Aviators 2018 roster includes Great Britain’s Naomi Broady, who helped the Aviators reach the 2017 WTT Finals, and Marcus Willis along with doubles specialists Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Marcin Matkowski of Poland.
The Springfield Lasers are making the first of two visits to Carlsbad to face the Aviators this season. They will field a strong team that includes Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, American Vania King, Canada's Daniel Nestor and Abigail Spears, a former San Diego County resident who was born in Valley Center.
“It’s going to be a great evening of World TeamTennis as the players look forward to playing their home opener,” said San Diego Aviators General Manager Jim Ault. “Having Taylor in our line-up will give us a strong start to the season as we try to make it to the WTT Finals for the third straight year. I encourage fans to come have fun and watch some very entertaining tennis.”
Officiating at Aviators home matches will take on a new look during the 2018 WTT season as the league will adopt the use of the electronic line-calling system Hawk-Eye Live for all matches.
Hawk-Eye Live will make the on-court calls, supported by only two officials – the chair umpire and a review official in the Hawk-Eye booth to monitor foot faults. The real-time ball-tracking technology determines whether a shot is in or out immediately after it has landed.
The electronic line-calling system will use 12 ball-tracking cameras and six foot fault cameras. With 43 matches over 22 days in six team markets, the utilization of Hawk-Eye Live will be the most extensive implementation of electronic line-calling in tennis.
The automated line-calling technology is also expected to help streamline play, building on a trend with WTT matches. With the addition of coach’s timeouts in 2012 and the 25-second service clock in 2015, WTT match times have been reduced by approximately 30 minutes over the past five seasons.
The San Diego Aviators will play the following seven home matches this summer at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad.
Sunday, July 15 San Diego Aviators vs. Springfield Lasers 6 p.m.
Monday, July 16 San Diego Aviators vs. Philadelphia Freedoms 7 p.m.
Monday, July 23 San Diego Aviators vs. Orange County Breakers 7 p.m.
Saturday, July 28 San Diego Aviators vs. Orange County Breakers 7 p.m.
Monday, July 30 San Diego Aviators vs. New York Empire 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 1 San Diego Aviators vs. Washington Kastles 7 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 2 San Diego Aviators vs. Springfield Lasers 7 p.m.
(All Times PDT)
For the San Diego Aviators complete schedule, go to: http://www.sandiegoaviators.com/schedule
The San Diego Aviators are offering fans a variety of season ticket packages for the 2018 World TeamTennis season at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. Individual match tickets start at just $35. For additional ticket information, go to: http://www.sandiegoaviators.com/pages/ticket-options
About the San Diego Aviators:Owned by local residents Fred Luddy and Jack McGrory, the Aviators return for their fifth World TeamTennis season. For the fourth consecutive year, they will make their home on Center Court at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. In 2016, the Aviators captured their first WTT championship as they defeated the Orange County Breakers 25-14 in the WTT Finals at the historic Forest Hills Stadium at The West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hill, N.Y.
After finishing the 2017 WTT regular season with a 9-5 record, the Aviators advanced to the WTT Finals for the second straight year. They fell to their Southern California rival 22-18 last August before a capacity crowd at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. For additional information on the San Diego Aviators, visit www.sandiegoaviators.com.
About World TeamTennis: World TeamTennis (WTT) showcases the best in professional tennis with the innovative team format co-founded by Billie Jean King in the 1970s. Recognized as the leader in professional team tennis competition, WTT features many of the world's best players competing annually for the King Trophy, the league's championship trophy named after King. In July 2015, WTT became the fifth major professional team sports league in the U.S. to reach the 40th season milestone. In 2017, team owners Mark Ein and Fred Luddy acquired majority ownership of the organization. The 43rd season of WTT presented by GEICO begins July 15 and concludes with the WTT Finals on August 5. On the recreational side of the sport, WTT Community Tennis operates team leagues and events, providing grassroots programming throughout the year. For more information, visit www.WTT.com. To watch World TeamTennis action this summer, visit www.WTT.tv.
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