A largely forgotten two-year entry in Team Tennis. You won’t find much, if anything, that’s survived into the internet era about these Dallas Stars, who played the 1982 and 1983 seasons of Team Tennis at Reunion Arena. The Stars won the league title in 1982, defeating the Phoenix Sunsets in the playoff final. Read more…
TeamTennis (1982) Born: 1981 – Team Tennis expansion franchise Folded: March 1983 First Match: July 7, 1982 (W 28-27 vs. Oakland Breakers) Last Match: July
The Oakland Breakers were one of four original franchises in the low-key, California-only relaunch of World Team Tennis in 1981. The original World Team Tennis, founded in part by superstar Billie Jean King, existed from 1974 to 1978 and included a Bay Area franchise known as the “Golden Gaters”. The Breakers, like the Gaters before them, made their home at the Oakland Coliseum.
The Houston Astro-Knots were a short-lived franchise during the early 1980’s re-boot of World Team Tennis. The club was owned by long-time tennis promoter George Liddy, who also promoted the $100,000 Avon Tennis Championships of Houston that were staged at the Houston Summit in the early 1980’s. The Astro-Knots played their matches at the Woodlands Inn & Country Club during the summers of 1982 and 1983.
The Toronto-Buffalo Royals were one 16 original franchises in World Team Tennis (1974-1978) in the summer of 1974. The Royals’ star attraction was player-coach Tom Okker of the Netherlands, the 1968 U.S. Open finalist and a Top Ten-ranked singles player throughout the late Sixties and early Seventies. Other members of the Royals’ six-person co-ed roster included Mike Estep, Jan O’Neill, Wendy Overton and Laura Rossouw. The Royals, who split their home matches between Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and Toronto’s CNE Coliseum, disbanded after the 1974 season.
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