Chicago Aces
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The Chicago Aces were a charter franchise of
World Team Tennis 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 ...
(WTT) founded by Jordon Kaiser. The Aces played only one season before being contracted by WTT on February 1, 1975. The Aces had 15 wins and 29 losses and finished in last place in the Gulf Plains Section.


Team history

The Aces were founded as a WTT charter franchise in 1973, by
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
brothers Jordon H. and Walter Kaiser who were involved in general contracting and
real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parcels ...
. The team began play with the league's inaugural season in 1974 season. The Aces played their home matches in at the Lakeshore Racquet Club in Chicago which was built and owned by the Kaiser brothers. In addition to his responsibilities with the Aces, Jordon Kaiser was initially executive vice-president of WTT. He later became league president and then resigned from that position on August 30, 1974. WTT teams each had the opportunity to draft 20 players before the inaugural season. The Aces' top draft choice was
Marty Riessen Marty Riessen (born December 4, 1941) is an American former amateur and professional tennis player active from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was ranked as high as No. 11 in the world in singles on the ATP rankings in September 1974, though was rank ...
who was from
Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,395 at the 2020 census, most of whom lived in DuPage County. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The town ...
. As a high school player, Riessen became the first player to win the state of
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
singles title four times. He played collegiate tennis for the
Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern ...
and reached the NCAA singles final three times, losing all three. He also reached the NCAA doubles semifinals twice with partner
Clark Graebner Clark Graebner (born November 4, 1943) is a retired American professional tennis player. Early life Graebner was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the only child of Paul Graebner, a doctor, and his wife, the former Janice Clark. Paul had been a moderat ...
. Between 1963 and 1973, Riessen had been a member of the
United States Davis Cup team The United States men's national tennis team represents the United States in Davis Cup tennis competition, and is governed by the United States Tennis Association. The U.S. competed in the first Davis Cup in 1900, when a group of Harvard Univer ...
four times. The Aces were counting on Riessen to be their player-coach and the centerpiece of their team. Less than a week before the start of the season, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Riessen was going to sign with the Aces. While the team did not officially disclose what offer it had made to Riessen, Aces public relations Ralph Leo representative said, "Marty is a good guy. I’ve known him since he was a small child. He wants to play for us, but there are lawyers involved, and you know what that means. He may sign today, he may sign tomorrow. I have been told, unofficially — I haven’t seen the contract — that Marty has been offered a half-million dollar contract over three years. Now that’s pretty good money." Riessen's attorney had prepared his own contract for the team to sign. Days before the season started, Riessen said, "They have a contract in their office. If they sign it, they can have me. Actually, I’d love to be the player-coach for the Aces. All they have to do is agree to terms." Riessen would not disclose the terms of the contract he had submitted to the Aces. But he did say, "The top players are getting between $50,000 and $100,000 for three months, and I consider myself a top player." Despite the enthusiasm he seemed to display for the role of player-coach, Riessen did not sign with the Aces. The team was so certain he would sign that it used his name and image to promote its matches. Donald Dell, Riessen's attorney, said that he advised his client to sue the Aces over this. Without Riessen, the Aces turned to
Butch Buchholz Earl Henry "Butch" Buchholz, Jr. (born September 16, 1940) is a former professional tennis player from the United States who was one of the game's top players in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Tennis career Juniors Buchholz was an outstanding ...
whom they had signed on May 1, to be their player-coach. Including Riessen, the Aces failed to sign any of their top four draft choices and only signed three of their 20 total picks. Players in the fold for the Aces included
Ray Ruffels Raymond Owen "Ray" Ruffels (born 23 March 1946) is an Australian former professional tennis player and coach. Playing career Ruffels was an Australian Open semi-finalist in 1968, 1969 and 1975, and a quarter-finalist in 1970 and 1977. In 1978, ...
, Janet Young, Sue Stap,
Kim Warwick Kim Warwick (born 8 April 1952) is an Australian former professional male tennis player who competed on the ATP Tour from 1970–1987, reaching the singles final of the Australian Open in 1980. He defeated over 35 players ranked in the top ten ...
,
Graham Stilwell Graham Stilwell (15 November 1945 – 31 January 2019) was a professional tennis player from the United Kingdom. He was born in Denham, Buckinghamshire Denham is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, Engla ...
and
Tam O'Shaughnessy Tam Elizabeth O'Shaughnessy (born January 27, 1952) is an American children's science writer and former professional tennis player who co-founded the science education company Sally Ride Science together with her partner, astronaut Sally Ride, ...
. Stap was 19 years old at the time and expected to be the Aces' top female player and shoulder most of the women's singles burden. The Aces struggled all season and finished with 15 wins and 29 losses, last place in the Gulf Plains Section. In addition to the poor showing on the court, the Aces didn't fare well at the gate. There were complaints from players that they were owed salary payments. The team announced that it was up for sale, and there were ongoing negotiations with several groups of investors including one in Atlanta. The team acknowledged the late payment of salaries and said that the statuses of player contracts would be settled after the team was sold. At the WTT owners meeting on February 1, 1975, each team was required to post a $500,000
letter of credit A letter of credit (LC), also known as a documentary credit or bankers commercial credit, or letter of undertaking (LoU), is a payment mechanism used in international trade to provide an economic guarantee from a creditworthy bank to an exp ...
. Since the Aces failed to do so, the team was contracted by WTT. A dispersal draft was conducted to distribute the players among the remaining teams in the league. At least one player, Stap, ended up in litigation with the Aces over non payment of compensation. Portions of the court's decision in the case were precedent-setting. As of 2014, the case has been cited at least nine times by Illinois courts.


1974 roster

Chicago Aces roster for the 1974 season: *
Butch Buchholz Earl Henry "Butch" Buchholz, Jr. (born September 16, 1940) is a former professional tennis player from the United States who was one of the game's top players in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Tennis career Juniors Buchholz was an outstanding ...
, Player-Coach *
Tam O'Shaughnessy Tam Elizabeth O'Shaughnessy (born January 27, 1952) is an American children's science writer and former professional tennis player who co-founded the science education company Sally Ride Science together with her partner, astronaut Sally Ride, ...
*
Ray Ruffels Raymond Owen "Ray" Ruffels (born 23 March 1946) is an Australian former professional tennis player and coach. Playing career Ruffels was an Australian Open semi-finalist in 1968, 1969 and 1975, and a quarter-finalist in 1970 and 1977. In 1978, ...
* Sue Stap *
Graham Stilwell Graham Stilwell (15 November 1945 – 31 January 2019) was a professional tennis player from the United Kingdom. He was born in Denham, Buckinghamshire Denham is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, Engla ...
* Janet Young *
Kim Warwick Kim Warwick (born 8 April 1952) is an Australian former professional male tennis player who competed on the ATP Tour from 1970–1987, reaching the singles final of the Australian Open in 1980. He defeated over 35 players ranked in the top ten ...
Buchholz is the only Aces player enshrined in the
International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...
.


References


External links


Official World TeamTennis Website
{{World TeamTennis Defunct World TeamTennis teams 1973 establishments in Illinois Tennis in Chicago
Aces ACeS (PT Asia Cellular Satellite) was a regional satellite telecommunications company based in Jakarta, Indonesia. It offered GSM-like satellite telephony services to Asian market. The coverage area included Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Phili ...
Sports clubs established in 1973 1975 disestablishments in Illinois Sports clubs disestablished in 1975