The New York Empire is 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 ...

(WTT) team that plays its home matches at the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York City. The team played its inaugural 2016 season at the Forest Hills Stadium in

Forest Hills, New York Forest Hills is a mostly residential neighborhood in the central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is adjacent to Corona to the north, Rego Park and Glendale to the west, Forest Park to the south, Kew Gardens to the southeas ...

, before moving to

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

in 2017.

Team history

Founding of franchise

On February 17, 2016, WTT announced that the league would return to New York City for the 2016 season. The Empire would play its home matches at historic Forest Hills Stadium. The 14,000-seat stadium was to be reconfigured to seat approximately 2,500 fans for Empire home matches. Concurrent with that announcement, the league also reported that the newly formed Empire had acquired the rights to former world number 1 male player

Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals ( Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Ope ...

in a trade with the

Orange County Breakers The Orange County Breakers are a World TeamTennis (WTT) franchise founded in 2003, owned by Laguna Beach businessman Eric Davidson. The Breakers won the WTT Championship in 2004, 2017 and 2021. In 2014, the franchise moved to Greater Austin, Texas, ...

Patrick McEnroe Patrick William McEnroe (born July 1, 1966) is an American former professional tennis player, broadcaster, and former captain of the United States Davis Cup team. Born in Manhasset, New York, he is John McEnroe's youngest brother. He won one ...

, who is from

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

, was named the team's head coach.

Inaugural season

The NY Empire recorded a record of 2 wins and 10 losses in its inaugural season and finished last in the WTT standings. The NY Empire debuted on July 31, 2016, with a home match against the five-time defending WTT champion

Washington Kastles The Washington Kastles is one of eight franchises that compete in World TeamTennis. Based in Washington, D.C., since 2008, the Kastles won the WTT championship in the 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons. The team is named for Kastle S ...

. The match opened with

Guido Pella Guido Pella (; born 17 May 1990) is an inactive Argentine professional tennis player. In August 2019, Pella reached his career best world No. 20 in singles. In July 2019, he peaked at No. 55 in doubles. Personal life His father, Carlos, taught ...

and

Neal Skupski Neal Skupski (born 1 December 1989) is a British professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 14 November 2022. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in mixed doubles, ha ...

dropping a men's doubles tiebreaker. The Empire managed to win only one set, when Pella took the men's singles, 5–2. The Kastles won the match, 22–15. Skupski had been signed to replace

Oliver Marach Oliver Marach (born 16 July 1980) is an Austrian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles. He achieved his highest singles ranking of world No. 82 in August 2005, but achieved most of his success in doubles where he reache ...

on the roster, after Marach was selected to represent

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

at the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

. The Empire also lost Pella, who represented

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

at the

, after he appeared in the first three matches of the season. He was replaced by

native Noah Rubin for one match,

Daniel Nguyen Daniel Nguyen (born October 16, 1990) is an inactive tennis player. He is the first Vietnamese American to play in the US Open tennis tournament. He has won a total of 15 singles and 5 doubles Futures titles and 2 doubles Challenger titles as ...

for two matches and

Marcus Willis Marcus Willis (born 9 October 1990) is a British professional tennis player. Willis made his tour debut at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships after qualifying for the main draw, where he gained recognition after playing against Roger Federer in t ...

for the remainder of the season. After opening the season with three straight losses, the Empire secured the first win in franchise history on August 4, 2016, when it defeated the

Springfield Lasers The Springfield Lasers are a World TeamTennis franchise. The franchise was purchased and donated to the city of Springfield, Missouri by the Cooper family in 1996. They play their home matches at Cooper Tennis Complex, Mediacom Stadium at Cooper ...

, 19–15, at Forest Hills Stadium. Rubin teamed with Skupski to take the opening set of men's doubles, 5–2. After dropping the second and third sets, the Empire found itself trailing, 12–9. In the fourth set,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

native

Christina McHale Christina Marietta McHale (born May 11, 1992) is an American former professional tennis player. Her highest-ever WTA rankings were No. 24 in singles and No. 35 in doubles. Known for an aggressive baseline game, McHale was recognized by ''The New ...

and

María Irigoyen María Irigoyen (born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine former tennis player. On 13 July 2015, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 147. On 13 June 2016, she peaked at No. 47 in the WTA doubles rankings. In her career, Irigoyen won t ...

held all three of their service games while breaking

Michaëlla Krajicek Michaëlla Krajicek ( cz, Michaela Krajíčková; born 9 January 1989) is a Dutch former tennis player. She won three singles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as one WTA 125 tournaments, WTA 125 doubles title, and 14 singles and ...

and

Pauline Parmentier Pauline Parmentier (; born 31 January 1986) is a French former tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking is world No. 40, which she attained on 21 July 2008. On 30 April 2012, she peaked at world No. 89 on the WTA doubles rankings. Sh ...

twice for a 5–1 women's doubles set win that gave the Empire a 14–13 lead heading to the final set. Irigoyen and Skupski held all four of their service games and managed a break to win the fifth set of mixed doubles, 5–2, and close out the victory.

appeared in two matches and lost both of his men's singles sets. Statistically, Pella was the team's strongest player, winning 65% of his men's singles games and 53% of his men's doubles games. Willis was also solid in men's singles, winning 54% of his games. After a difficult start during which McHale lost 36 of her first 48 women's singles games, she finished the season by winning 15 of her final 24 games. Playing men's singles and doubles in his only match appearance, Rubin recorded wins in 9 of his 16 games.

2017: A new look

The Empire had the first selection in each round of WTT's 2017

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

s due to finishing the 2016 season in sixth place. The Empire traded the first overall selection in the Marquee Draft to the

for the second overall pick and undisclosed consideration. The Lasers used that pick to select

Jack Sock Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American professional tennis player. He has won four career ATP singles titles and 17 doubles titles, and has career-high rankings of world No. 8 in singles (on 20 November 2017) and world No. 2 in dou ...

. With the second selection in the first round, the Empire chose

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 ...

and left

unprotected. In the second round, the Empire selected

John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...

, who had been left unprotected by the Lasers. The Empire's third round selection was

Mardy Fish Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.Fish won six tournaments on the ma ...

, who had been left unprotected by the

. After playing its inaugural season at Forest Hills Stadium, the Empire announced at the draft that its 2017 home matches would be played on Court 17 at the

USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is a stadium complex within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. It has been the home of the US Open Grand Slam tennis tournament, played every year in August ...

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the i ...

, New York City. The stadium has seating for 2,500 fans. The Empire also introduced its new general manager, Michele Cope, who said "Court 17 is a great showcase court for New York Empire matches. Fans will be close to great professional team competition, and also enjoy a fan-friendly and entertaining atmosphere." On March 1, the Empire named

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 ...

Gigi Fernández Beatriz "Gigi" Fernández (born February 22, 1964) is a Puerto Rican former professional tennis player. Fernández won 17 major doubles titles and two Olympic gold medals representing the United States, and reached the world No. 1 ranking in do ...

as the team's new head coach, replacing

. Fernández said, "This is going to be a fantastic summer for the New York Empire with a really strong team that already includes John sner Genie

ouchard Ouchard is a family of French violin bow makers. The principal figures were: * Émile François Ouchard (1872–1951), known as ''Ouchard Père'' * Émile Auguste Ouchard (1900–1969), his son * Bernard Ouchard (1925–1979), his so ...

and Mardy ish We'll finalize the remainder of the roster very soon, and then it's time to start thinking about match strategy. I really can't wait to work with these amazing athletes." McEnroe had recently taken a position with Sportime NY as co-director of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy. The Empire finished its second season in the league with a 7–7 record, more than tripling its win total from 2016. The team started off the season on July 16 with a thrilling home win over 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 original team starred tennis legend and social pioneer Billie Jean King, who h ...

, which marquee player

clinched with a 5–2 final set win in Men's Singles over Donald Young. The next night, the Empire traveled to Philadelphia and beat the Freedoms once again, with

taking down Young in a winner-take-all tiebreak in the final set. Having already achieved last season's win total after two matches, the Empire looked to keep the momentum going in Washington. Fish overcame a two-game deficit to push the match into a deciding supertiebreak, but came up short against

Frances Tiafoe Frances Tiafoe Jr. ( ; born January 20, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has ranked Tiafoe as high as world No. 17 in singles, on October 10, 2022, and world No. 160 in doubles, on No ...

to hand the Empire its first loss of the season. After a 25–13 loss at home to Philadelphia, the Empire was able to get back above .500 by winning at home against the

in a match that was moved indoors due to rain. The team then went on the road for a week, losing two matches in California before beating both Philadelphia and Washington. It returned home on July 27 with a 5–4 record, but despite the presence of

, it was again swept by the Breakers and

San Diego Aviators The San Diego Aviators are a World TeamTennis (WTT) team that plays at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California in the United States. The team is the successor to two WTT franchises. The first was created in 1995, as the New York O ...

. Knowing that it would need to win the rest of its matches to have a chance at qualifying for the WTT Finals, the Empire had a convincing 25–18 win over Washington before closing out its home schedule with a memorable win over the

, in which

saved a match point and defeated

Benjamin Becker Benjamin Becker (born 16 June 1981) is a German retired professional tennis player who is known for defeating former world No. 1 Andre Agassi in the third round at the 2006 US Open in what was Agassi's last match as a professional player. Bec ...

in a final-set tiebreak. At 7–6, the Empire's playoff hopes were slim, but still alive, as the team traveled to Springfield to play its final match of the season. Needing a win and losses from both the Aviators and Breakers, the Empire won two of the first three sets. The match was eventually decided in a Supertiebreak, where New York's

Kirsten Flipkens Kirsten "Flipper" Flipkens (; born 10 January 1986) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 13 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Flipkens has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, winning the 2012 T ...

lost to

Sorana Cîrstea Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea (; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. In singles, she achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 on 12 August 2013. In doubles, her career-high ranking is No. 35, which she reached on 9 March ...

, ending the Empire's playoff hopes but at the same time clinching the franchise's first top three finish. Orange County and San Diego’ s subsequent wins meant that the Empire finished the season 2 matches out of first place.

2018: Last season under Fernández

On March 6, 2018, the Empire announced that Fernández would return to coach the team for the second season in a row, in hopes of guiding the franchise to its first trip to the WTT Finals. "We were one match away from making the finals," said Fernández, "and we lost a few very close matches. This year, we hope to improve on that by making the finals and having a chance to bring the King Trophy to Billie Jean's home city." The following week, the team announced the protection of Franchise players Isner, Bouchard, and Fish, along with doubles specialist Skupski, the only remaining player from the team's inaugural season at Forest Hills. At the 2018 World TeamTennis Draft in

Indian Wells, California Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley. Incorporated in 1967, it lies in between the cities of Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 Census, the city population was 4,958. The city hosts the sixt ...

, the Empire filled out their roster by selecting

Tatjana Maria Tatjana Maria (née Malek; born 8 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player. In November 2017, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 46, and in June 2016, she peaked at No. 54 in the doubles rankings. She has won two singles ...

, Dennis Novikov, and doubles specialist

María José Martínez Sánchez María José Martínez Sánchez (; born 12 August 1982) is a Spanish retired professional tennis player. In singles, she has won five WTA singles titles, her biggest being a Premier 5 title at the 2010 Italian Open where she defeated two form ...

2019: Championship pursuit

Lead by new head coach

Luke Jensen Luke Jensen (born June 18, 1966) is an American former professional tennis player and Grand Slam doubles champion. Jensen won the 1993 French Open Doubles title with his younger brother Murphy Jensen. He attended the University of Southern C ...

, the team made its first trip to the WTT Playoffs falling to the

in the WTT Championship at

Orleans Arena Orleans Arena is a 9,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Paradise, Nevada, in the Las Vegas Valley. It is located at the Orleans Hotel and Casino and is operated by Coast Casinos, a subsidiary of Boyd Gaming Corporation. The arena is the home t ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

on August 3, 2019.

2020: First championship

Team rosters

2016 roster

* Noah Rubin *

* Head Coach,

2017 roster

Maria Sanchez Maria Victoria Sanchez (born November 26, 1989) is a former tennis player from the United States. In July 2013, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 107. On 22 April 2019, she peaked at No. 51 of the WTA doubles ranking. Sa ...

* Head Coach,

2018 roster

* Dennis Novikov *

* Head Coach,

2019 roster

Ulises Blanch Ulises Blanch (born 25 March 1998) is an American professional tennis player. As a junior, Blanch reached a career high ranking of World No. 2 achieved on 23 May 2016. His junior highlights include a final appearance at the Trofeo Bonfiglio, a G ...

* Head Coach,

2020 roster

Hailey Baptiste Hailey Baptiste (born November 3, 2001) is an American professional tennis player. Career On the junior tour, she reached a career-high ranking of No. 38 on January 29, 2018. She ended runner-up at the US Open junior doubles tournament in 2018. ...

Kim Clijsters Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. Clijsters reached the world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, having held both rankings simultaneously in 2003. She won six major titles, ...

Nicole Melichar Nicole Melichar-Martinez (née Melichar; cz, Nicole Melicharová, ) is an American tennis player who specializes in doubles. She has won twelve doubles titles on the WTA Tour and one WTA 125 doubles title as well as two singles and seven double ...

Sabine Lisicki Sabine Katharina Lisicki (; born 22 September 1989) is a German professional tennis player. Lisicki turned professional in 2006, and her breakthrough came in 2009 when she reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships, and also won ...

CoCo Vandeweghe Colleen "CoCo" Vandeweghe ( ) (born Colleen Mullarkey; December 6, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. A former Junior US Open champion and top 10 singles player, she has also won two WTA titles, both at the Rosmalen Grass Court C ...

* Head Coach,

References

External links

*
World TeamTennis official website
{{New York Sports World TeamTennis teams Tennis in New York City Sports teams in New York City Sports clubs established in 2016 2016 establishments in New York City

Team history

Founding of franchise

Inaugural season

2017: A new look

2018: Last season under Fernández

2019: Championship pursuit

2020: First championship

Team rosters

2016 roster

2017 roster

2018 roster

2019 roster

2020 roster

See also

References

External links