2008 World TeamTennis season
The 2008 World TeamTennis season was the 33rd season of the top professional team tennis league in the United States. The New York Buzz defeated the Kansas City Explorers, 21–18, in the WTT Final to win the King Trophy as WTT champions. Competition format. The 2008 World TeamTennis season included 11 teams split into two conferences (Eastern and Western). The Eastern Conference had six teams, and the Western Conference had five teams. Each team played a 14-match regular-season schedule with seven home and seven away matches. The top teams in each conference were the  conference champions. WTT Championship Weekend matches were played at Allstate Stadium at Westfield Galleria at Roseville in Roseville, California. The conference champions and runners-up qualified for the playoffs. In addition, there was a wild-card team that was either the host team (the Sacramento Capitals) or the team with the best record among teams that did not finish first or second in their conference, if the Capitals qualified based on finishing first or second. The teams were seeded 1 through 5, regardless of conference, with the top three seeds getting a bye to the WTT Semifinals. The fourth seed  and the wild card met in a wild card match with the winner facing the number 1 seed in the semifinals. The other semifinal match pitted the number 2 seed against the number 3 seed. The winners of the semifinal matches met in the WTT Final to decide the winner of the King Trophy and the league championship. Higher seeded teams were treated as "home" teams in playoff matches and had the right to determine order of play. Franchise contraction and expansion. The Houston Wranglers folded following the 2007 season. Owner Linda McIngvale said, "This is not the right type  of community for the Wranglers. We're just too big of a city with too many options. There's a jillion other things to do in the summertime in Houston." The team sold fewer than half of the 4,500 available tickets for a match that featured Anna Kournikova playing for the visitors. Late in the 2007 season, attendance at Wranglers' home matches was typically less than 1,000. The Washington Kastles joined the league as an expansion franchise, making their debut in 2008. The team was founded by a group led by venture capitalist and entrepreneur Mark Ein, a native of  Washington. At the press conference announcing the team's creation, Ein said, "I am thrilled to bring World TeamTennis to our area. WTT tennis is great entertainment emphasizing fan interaction, and it is the only major sport with men and women playing together on the same team. The Washington Kastles season will be an exciting summertime addition to our local economy and a fun activity for our entire community." The team was named after Kastle Systems, LLC, a provider of building and office security systems, of which Ein is the majority owner and managing member. Drafts. Marquee player draft. The  2008 WTT Marquee Player Draft was conducted in New York City on March 19, 2008. The order in which teams selected was based on the results the teams achieved in 2007 with weaker teams selecting earlier and stronger teams selecting later. The draft order is ordinarily determined as follows: Expansion teams select in the middle of each round. If there is an even number of teams, an expansion team selects in the middle position that is closest to the first pick. There were seven nonplayoff teams in 2007, and ranked from worst record to best record, they were However, the  Wranglers folded prior to the draft. Therefore, the Breakers, Aces, Lobsters, Sportimes, Smash and Explorers were assigned the preliminary first through sixth draft positions. The Philadelphia Freedoms lost the 2007 Eastern Conference Championship Match and had a worse record than the Springfield Lasers, who lost the Western Conference Championship Match. Therefore, the Freedoms were assigned the preliminary seventh draft position and the Lasers the eighth. The New York Buzz lost the 2007 WTT Final and were assigned the preliminary ninth draft position. The 2007 WTT champion Sacramento Capitals were assigned the preliminary tenth draft position. The addition of the expansion  Washington Kastles resulted in 11 teams in the league, and the Kastles were assigned the sixth draft position putting them in the middle with five teams drafting before them, and five teams drafting after them. This resulted in the Explorers, Freedoms, Lasers, Buzz and Capitals each moving down one position. Teams could protect up to two marquee players or doubles teams to which they held the rights from the previous season or acquired in a trade. Rights to marquee players could be traded from one team to another before or during the draft, and the acquiring team could protect and  then select those players. The selections made are shown in the tables below. Roster player draft. The 2008 WTT Roster Player Draft was conducted in Miami, Florida on April 1, 2008. Teams selected in the same order as was determined for the Marquee Player Draft. Teams could protect up to four players to which they held the rights from the previous season or acquired in a trade. Rights to roster players could be traded from one team to another before or during the draft, and the acquiring team could protect and then select those players. In addition, the rights to  make a selection in a particular position within the draft could be traded from one team to another. The selections made are shown in the tables below. Notes: Roster-Exempt Player Draft. WTT conducted its 2008 Roster-Exempt Player Draft on the same day as its Roster Player Draft. Teams drafted in the same order as in the Marquee Player Draft and the Roster Player Draft. Teams were permitted to select part-time players classified by the league as either roster-exempt based on their recent appearances in international team events or featured roster players based on WTT's discretion . The selections made are shown in the table below. Standings. "Reference": Playoff bracket. <nowiki>*</nowiki>Indicates match went to overtime Playoff match summaries. All playoff matches were played as part of WTT Championship Weekend at Allstate Stadium at Westfield Galleria at Roseville in Roseville, California. Higher seeded teams (shown in CAPS below) were treated as "home" teams and had the right to determine the order of play. Wild Card Match. July 24: #4 SACRAMENTO CAPITALS 22, #5 Boston Lobsters 15 WTT Semifinals. July 25: #1 KANSAS CITY EXPLORERS 21, #4 Sacramento Capitals 10 July 26: #2 NEW YORK BUZZ  25, #3 New York Sportimes 17 (overtime) WTT Final. July 27: #2 New York Buzz 21, #1 KANSAS CITY EXPLORERS 18 Individual honors. "Reference:" Television. There were seven WTT regular-season matches telecast nationally on the Tennis Channel. These matches all featured marquee players and were recorded and premiered between two and eight days after they were played. The WTT Final was telecast live on Versus. It was the first live telecast of the WTT Final since 2004. Select matches shown on the Tennis Channel were also rebroadcast by regional sports networks.