Black Tennis Pros

The Washington Kastles's home schedule this season will feature uncommon star wattage, including a match between former world No. 1 players Venus Williams and Martina Hingis, who faced off for the 1997 U.S. Open title, clashing for the first time since 2006.

Venus was added to the roster of the defending World TeamTennis champion Kastles in the offseason, joining sister Serena, who has played for Washington's franchise its first two years.

As the Kastles' designated "marquee players," the Williams sisters make just one home appearance, each on different nights.

Venus will lead the Kastles against Hingis and the New York Buzz in a home match on July 7 and play for the squad the next night in Philadelphia.

Serena will join the Kastles at home for a July 14 match against the Kansas City Explorers and play three matches on the road.

Anchored by the strong doubles play of Leander Paes and Rennae Stubbs, the Kastles won the World TeamTennis championship in their second season last year.

Team owner Mark Ein re-signed Paes, ranked sixth in the world in doubles, and Stubbs, ranked 7th in doubles, along with current world No. 1 Serena Williams. To round out the roster, Ein traded for the No. 1 pick in Tuesday's draft. The Kastles used that pick to select Bobby Reynolds, who ranked as high as 63rd in the world in 2009, to shoulder the men's singles duties. Ein also acquired the rights to Angela Haynes from Sacramento.

All told, Kastles players have won 61 Grand Slam event titles among them.

The Kastles will play seven away matches and seven at home from July 5 through July 22, with John McEnroe and Anna Kournikova as the headliners scheduled to visit Washington.

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FINAL RESULTS: Advanta WTT Roster Draft – March 31 – Miami, Florida


Round 1

New York Buzz - Sloane Stephens

Round 2

Washington Kastles - Angela Haynes

Boston Lobsters - Stephanie Foretz

Round 3

Philadelphia Freedoms - Madison Keys

(Joins Venus Williams)

Kansas City Explorers - Milagros Sequera

New york Buzz - Evan King

Round 4

Springfield Lasers - Raven Klaasen

Boston Lobsters - Raquel Kops-Jones (protection)

About Advanta WTT Pro League:

WTT is well known for introducing innovative elements to tennis including instant replay, co-ed format, multi-colored courts, cumulative and no-ad scoring, on-court coaching, Supertiebreakers and player names on back of their shirts.

Team matches consist of five events, with one set each of men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles. 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, Overtime and a Supertiebreaker are played to determine the winner of the match.

Advanta is the title sponsor of the Advanta WTT Pro League and the official business credit card of WTT. Official Advanta WTT Pro League sponsors for the 2009 season include FirmGreen Energy, GEICO and Wilson Racquet Sports.

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