News

MIDDLETON, Mass. — The World TeamTennis Pro League franchise Boston Lobsters, New England’s professional tennis team, announced today that they have just drafted renowned tennis professional James Blake for their 2010 season.

“We are also quite excited to host Anna Kournikova, when the St. Louis Aces visit Boston this summer.”

Boston Lobsters CEO Bahar Uttam said, “We are really enthusiastic about having James playing for us in the upcoming season. He’s an amazing player, and one of the very top-ranked American professionals.” Lobsters Coach Bud Schultz added, “He has unbelievable speed, and a powerful, flat forehand.”

Blake has a career high ranking of four in the world, ten singles and five doubles titles and has played for the US Davis Cup Team for many years. He was a member of the winning team in 2007. He signed with IMG Models in 2002, had a 10-page pictorial in GQ in 2003, and was named 2005 ATP Comeback Player of Year. He was nominated for ESPN’s 2005 “ESPY” Award for Comeback Player of the Year and People Magazine’s 2006-2007 “Sexiest Man Alive”. In July 2007, he released a book co-authored by Andrew Friedman “Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life” which reached 15th on the New York Times Best Seller list. In support of the book, he appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “The Late Show with David Letterman.”

CEO Bahar Uttam added, “We are also quite excited to host Anna Kournikova, when the St. Louis Aces visit Boston this summer.” Kournikova has sixteen doubles titles, including the Australian Open (with Martina Hingis) and one singles title. She was ranked as high as No. 8 in singles and No. 1 in doubles. In 2000, she was one of five female tennis players named to Forbes magazine’s Power 100 in Fame and Fortune list. She is the recipient of the 1999 WTA Tour Doubles Team of the Year Award with Martina Hingis and 1996 WTA Tour Most Impressive Newcomer Award. She was selected to the 1998 People Magazine 50 Most Beautiful People list, one of only two athletes to make list (the other is the Lobsters’ own Jan-Michael Gambill)

“With former world No. 1 Martina Hingis just drafted by a team in the Eastern Conference, it is highly likely that she will play here when the Lobsters meet them during the season,” said Uttam. The 2010 schedule is due to be released shortly.

Regarding her play here against the Boston Lobsters last year, top-ranked Serena Williams said, “One thing I love about TeamTennis is that we get to travel to a lot of cities that don’t have [major] tennis in those cities, so it’s really exciting to be here. I come here and I look at the stadium and I see how kind of warm and intimate it is, it feels good. It’s so small and your fans are really close to you and they kind of get to know a little bit more of a sense of how you play and how you are. It’s awesome. I love it, actually.’’

Season tickets are now available. Please contact [email protected] or call (508) 435-6585.

About the Boston Lobsters

The Boston Lobsters are the New England professional tennis team within World TeamTennis Pro League (WTT). The Boston Lobsters bring tennis greats into the New England community each season with a fun, affordable, easily accessible and intimate, beautiful venue. These world class athletes are very approachable to the attendees. The Ferncroft Country Club in Middleton, MA, 19 minutes north of downtown Boston, is the official home court of the Boston Lobsters. For more information, visit http://www.bostonlobsters.net and for up to date postings become a Face book fan of the Boston Lobsters. On Twitter, see @BostonLobsters. For videos, please see youtube.com/BostonLobsters.

About WTT Pro League

The World Team Tennis (WTT) Pro League showcases the best in professional team tennis with the innovative co-ed team format co-founded by Billie Jean King in the 1970s. The WTT Pro League, which celebrates its 35th season in July 2010, is a showcase for three generations of tennis standouts, including legends, current tour players and future champions. Since the League’s debut, virtually every major champion of the Open era has played World TeamTennis. WTT is well known for showcasing and introducing innovative elements to tennis including instant replay, co-ed format, cumulative and no-ad scoring, on-court coaching, Overtime and Supertiebreakers, multi-colored courts and player names on the back of shirts.

Official WTT Pro League sponsors for the 2010 season include DecoTurf, GEICO, Novo Nordisk, Turfer Athletic and Wilson Racquet Sports. The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is a minority owner and promotional partner of World TeamTennis. WTT and the USTA are teaming up on number of initiatives, including development of the youth market through junior team tennis programs. For more information on the WTT Pro League, visit wtt.com.