The Indiana Loves were a charter franchise of

World Team Tennis World TeamTennis (WTT) was 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 took place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA would ...

(WTT). The team was founded as the Detroit Loves and moved to

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

for the 1975 season. Following the 1978 season, Loves president Larry Noble announced that the team was folding.

Team history

Inaugural season

The Loves were founded by Seymour Brode and Marshall Greenspan as a charter franchise of WTT in 1973, and played their home matches at

Cobo Arena Huntington Place (formerly known as Cobo Hall, Cobo Center, and briefly TCF Center) is a convention center in Downtown Detroit, owned by the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority (DRCFA) and operated by ASM Global. Located at 1 Washi ...

in downtown

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, starting with the league's inaugural season 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; ...

. The team was led by Rosie Casals, one of the top American female players at the time, and Kerry Harris and Allan Stone, who teamed up to lead WTT in game-winning percentage in mixed doubles. Other players on the inaugural Loves team were Phil Dent, Mary-Ann Beattie and Lenny Simpson. In their franchise opener, on May 9, 1974, before 3,611 fans at Detroit's Cobo Hall, The Loves defeated the Toronto-Buffalo Royals, 28-19. Rosie Casals defeated Wendy Overton 6-2 and then Overton (retired at 4-0) and substitute Laura Rossouw, 6-0. The Loves' Phil Dent split with

Tom Okker Thomas Samuel Okker (born 22 February 1944), nicknamed "the Flying Dutchman", is a Dutch former tennis player who was active from the mid-1960s until 1980. He won the 1973 French Open Doubles, the 1976 US Open Doubles, and two gold medals at the ...

, 1-6 and then 6-3, while the Mixed Doubles teams split their two sets. Detroit would go on to win the Central Section championship with a record of 30 wins and 14 losses; the Pittsburgh Triangles also finished 30-14, but Detroit was awarded the section title on a tiebreaker. The first two rounds of the WTT playoffs in 1974 were held on a best-of-two, home-and-home basis, with the team with the best aggregate score over the two matches declared the winner. Detroit was set to play division rival Pittsburgh in the Eastern Division semifinals; as the higher seed, the Loves elected to meet the Triangles in the first match at home and the second on the road. Pittsburgh got their revenge on the Loves by thrashing them, 31–10 in Detroit, and 32–17 in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. Cobo Arena held 11,000 in its tennis configuration, and Loves management figured they needed 4,200 fans per home date to break even. They did not come close; the 3,611 for their home debut would be their biggest crowd ever, and they drew just 2,213 fans per match for the entire season (their one home playoff match drew a dismal 1,622). After losing a reported $300,000, Brode and Greenspan sold the team to a group led by William H. Bereman and Dan Domont on November 18, 1974, who moved the franchise to

and renaming them the Indiana Loves.

Move to Indiana

The Loves moved into the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis for the 1975 season. Led by coach Allan Stone who was a key member of their previous season's section championship team, the Loves struggled to a record of 18 wins and 26 losses, fourth place in the Eastern Division and missed the playoffs. In 1976, the Loves featured Ann Kiyomura and

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 1976, and a quarter-finalist in 1970 and 1977. In 1978, ...

who teamed up to have WTT's best game-winning percentage in mixed doubles. The overall results were not much better than the previous season. The Loves finished with 19 wins and 25 losses, fourth place in the Eastern Division and missed the playoffs again.

Return to the playoffs

Before the 1977 season, Dan Domont sold out his interest in the Loves, and Larry Noble became the principal owner. William H. Beremen remained part of the ownership group and team president. The Loves added

Vitas Gerulaitis Vytautas "Vitas" Kevin Gerulaitis (July 26, 1954 – September 17, 1994) was an American professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1978. Gerulaitis won the men's si ...

and

Sue Barker Susan Barker (born 19 April 1956) is a British former television presenter and professional tennis player. During her playing career, Barker won 15 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including a major at the 1976 French Open. She reached a career- ...

who went on to win the Female Rookie of the Year Award. The Loves committed themselves to a $250,000 contract over two years for Gerulaitis. While they still had a losing record, the Loves improved enough to qualify for the playoffs with a record of 21 wins and 23 losses, third place in the Eastern Division. The Loves met the defending WTT champion New York Apples in the best-of-three Eastern Division Semifinals. The Apples took the opening match, 33–21. The Loves won the second match, 27–25, to force a deciding third match which the Apples won in dominant fashion, 31–15, to end the Loves' season.

Final season

In 1978, the Loves moved into the larger

Market Square Arena Market Square Arena (MSA) was an indoor arena in Indianapolis. Completed in 1974, at a cost of $23 million, it seated 16,530 for basketball and 15,993 for ice hockey. Seating capacity for concerts and other events was adjusted by the use of larg ...

. The team struggled to a record of 13 wins and 31 losses, last place in the Eastern Division. On November 9, 1978, Loves principal owner Larry Noble announced that the team was folding.

Season-by-season records

The following table shows regular season records, playoff results and titles won by the Indiana Loves franchise since its founding in 1974.

Home courts

The following table shows home courts used by the Indiana Loves franchise.

Individual honors

was awarded the 1977 Female Rookie of the Year.

Hall of Fame players

The following players who are 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, 13 grass tennis courts, an ...

played for the Indiana Loves franchise: * Rosie Casals

Final roster

The Indiana Loves final roster for the 1978 season was * Allan Stone, Player-Coach *

Dianne Fromholtz Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat (née Fromholtz; born 10 August 1956) is an Australian former professional tennis player who reached a highest singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1979. Career Fromholtz began playing tennis at the age of seven. She ...

* Tanya Harford * Sue Mappin *

Geoff Masters Geoff Masters (born 19 September 1950) is an Australian former tennis player. He was part of doubles winning pairs in the US Open, Australian Open & Wimbledon tournaments during the 1970s, currently Masters is a commentator for international te ...

* John Whitlinger

References

External links

Official World TeamTennis Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indiana Loves (1974-1978) World TeamTennis teams 1973 establishments in Michigan 1975 establishments in Indiana Tennis in Indiana Tennis in Detroit 1978 disestablishments in Indiana Sports clubs and teams established in 1973 Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1978 Sports clubs and teams in Indianapolis Tennis tournaments in Michigan