The Boston Lobsters were a
World TeamTennis
World TeamTennis (WTT) is 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 takes place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA take a ...
team based in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
. The Boston Lobsters played home matches at the
Walter Brown Arena
Walter Brown Arena is a 3,806-seat multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Boston University Terriers women's ice hockey team and hosted the men's team before they moved to Agganis Arena. It is named in honor of Walter A. ...
,
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
, in Boston, MA.
The most recent Boston Lobsters were a reincarnation of two previous WTT teams. The
original Lobsters were a charter member of the league in
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
, and folded after just one season. The
second Lobsters team were also a charter member of WTT in 1974, founded as the
Philadelphia Freedoms
The Philadelphia Freedoms is a tennis team currently competing in World TeamTennis.
Overview
The team traces its origins to WTT's inaugural season, in 1974. The Philadelphia Freedoms (1974), original team starred tennis legend and social pi ...
. After the original Lobsters folded, businessman
Robert Kraft
Robert Kenneth Kraft (born June 5, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, ...
purchased the Freedoms and moved them to Boston, renaming them the Lobsters. The second Lobsters team played in Boston for four seasons (1975–1978) before folding at the end of the 1978 season. WTT suspended operations shortly thereafter.
In 2005, local Boston businessman Bahar Uttam relaunched the team. The Lobsters made the Mylan WTT league's playoffs four times. In 2015, Uttam retired from the ownership position and the league took over operations of the Lobsters while seeking new local ownership. On February 17, 2016, WTT announced that the Lobsters would cease operations and were subsequently replaced with a new franchise called the
New York Empire.
2015 squad
* Jan-Michael Gambill, Head Coach
*
Eugenie Bouchard
Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (; french: Eugénie Bouchard, ; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian tennis player. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player representing Canada to reach the final of a Grand Slam t ...
*
Chase Buchanan
Chase Buchanan (born June 4, 1991) is an inactive American male tennis player. Buchanan grew up and attended grade school and high school in New Albany, Ohio and attended Ohio State University as a member of the tennis team.
Career
Buchanan rea ...
*
Irina Falconi
Irina Falconi ( es, Falconí; born May 4, 1990) is an Ecuadorian-born American former tennis player. She moved to Manhattan, New York, as a toddler.
Her highest WTA singles ranking is world No. 63, which she reached in May 2016. Her career-high ...
*
Scott Lipsky
Scott Lipsky (born August 14, 1981 in Merrick, New York) is an American former professional tennis player and coach. As a player, Lipsky was primarily a doubles specialist.
As a junior, Lipsky was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in singles in 1995, a ...
*
Arantxa Parra Santonja
Arantxa Parra Santonja (; born 9 November 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She turned pro in 2000 and retired in 2019.
In her career, Parra Santonja won eleven doubles titles on the WTA Tour
The WTA Tour is a worldwide ...
See also
*
World TeamTennis
World TeamTennis (WTT) is 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 takes place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA take a ...
*
Boston Lobsters (1974)
*
Boston Lobsters (1974–1978)
References
External links
Official Team WebsiteTennisopolis Profile PageBoston Lobsters on facebookBoston Lobsters on TwitterBoston Lobsters Youtube Channel
2005 establishments in Massachusetts
2016 disestablishments in Massachusetts
Defunct sports teams in Massachusetts
Defunct World TeamTennis teams
Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts
Sports clubs established in 2005
Sports clubs disestablished in 2016
Tennis in Massachusetts
{{Massachusetts-sport-team-stub