Phoenix Racquets
 |
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| Sport | Team tennis |
|---|---|
| Founded | May 22, 1973 |
| Folded | March 1979 |
| League | World Team Tennis |
| Division | Western |
| Team history |
Denver Racquets 1974 Phoenix Racquets 1975–1978 |
| Based in | Phoenix, Arizona |
| Stadium | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum |
| Colors |
Golden Yellow, Black |
| Owner(s) |
Reggie Jackson, Gary K. Walker |
| President | Jimmy Walker |
| Head coach | Syd Ball |
| Championships | 1974 (as Denver Racquets) |
| Division titles |
1974 (as Denver Racquets) 1977 (as Phoenix Racquets) |
| Playoff berths |
1974 (as Denver Racquets) 1975, 1976, 1977 (as Phoenix Racquets) |
| Section titles | 1974 (as Denver Racquets) |
Golden Yellow, Black
The Phoenix Racquets were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT). The team was founded as the Denver Racquets and won the 1974 WTT championship in the league's inaugural season, before moving to Phoenix in 1975. Following the 1978 season, eight of the 10 WTT franchises folded leaving only the Racquets and the San Francisco Golden Gaters prepared to participate in the 1979 season. WTT suspended operations of the league in March 1979, ending the Racquets existence.
The Racquets were founded by San Diego businessmen Bud Fischer and Frank Goldberg along with Ben Press in 1973. The team began play in WTT's inaugural 1974 season, and played their home matches at the Denver Auditorium Arena in 1974. Press served as a nonplaying assistant coach for the Racquets.
The Racquets' inaugural match was a 35–26 loss at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena to the San Francisco Golden Gaters on May 8, 1974.
The team got off to a rough start in the inaugural season of WTT winning only two of their first 10 matches. However, the Racquets went 28–6 from there and won the Pacific Section Championship with a record of 30 wins and 14 losses.
WTT playoff series in the division semifinals and division championship series in 1974, were played over two legs, one match on the home court of each team. The team with the best aggregate score over the two matches was the winner. As the higher seed, the Racquets had the choice to play either the first or the second match at home. The Racquets met the San Francisco Golden Gaters in the Western Division Semifinals and won both matches, 29–17, at home and 32–24, in Oakland to advance to the Western Division Championship Series against the Minnesota Buckskins.
The Racquets chose to play the opening match at home and won it against the Buckskins, 29–18. Françoise Dürr of the Racquets beat Ann Haydon-Jones, 6–1, in women's singles and then teamed with Kris Kemmer Shaw to beat Wendy Turnbull and Mona Schallau in women's doubles by the same 6–1 score. The Buckskins came back in Minnesota to win the second match, 26–25. Despite the Buckskins' victory in the match, the Racquets kept the score close by winning three of the five sets. This gave the Racquets a victory in the series by a cumulative score of 54–44 and made them Western Division Champions.
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Wikipedia