Misplaced Pages

#42957

59-514: The team traces its origins to WTT's inaugural season, in 1974. The original team starred tennis legend and social pioneer Billie Jean King , who had beaten Bobby Riggs in the " Battle of the Sexes " the previous year. Other members of the team were: Fred Stolle (Australia), Brian Fairlie (New Zealand), Buster Mottram (UK), Julie Anthony (US), Tory Ann Fretz (US), Betsy Nagelsen (US) and Kathy Kuykendall (US). Julie Anthony later married

118-684: A Conservative candidate for the British Parliament. Stolle was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985. Fretz was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999. Pop singer Elton John was a friend of Billie Jean King's, and was invited to participate in a promotional match during one of the team's games. In return, he was later inspired to write a song about King, also called " Philadelphia Freedom ." In 1974,

177-651: A Major, which is his best result at a Grand Slam. He lost to 17th seed Gaël Monfils in straight sets in the fourth round. At the 2022 Rio Open he reached the quarterfinals as a qualifier defeating sixth seed Lorenzo Sonego . He lost to Francisco Cerúndolo in a second consecutive match, the first loss coming at the previous tournament, the 2022 Argentina Open . At the BNP Paribas Open , Kecmanović reached his 2nd career Masters 1000 quarterfinal. He defeated Liam Broady , 24th seed Marin Čilić , Botic van de Zandschulp , and 6th seed Matteo Berrettini , earning

236-461: A different talented young player to practice with regular players and gain necessary experience. Kecmanović credited this experience for finishing the year as junior world No. 1 and said that he is looking forward to one day make the team and play for Serbia. In January 2017, Kecmanović won his first singles ITF pro circuit title in Sunrise, Florida , US. In March, he received a wild card entry for

295-556: A dominating woman's singles performance by Taylor Townsend. The championship came down to the final set in the form of men's singles where Kevin King took a 3–1 lead over Miomir Kecmanović . However, Kecmanović stormed back and won four straight games including a break of King twice to give Lasers a 19–18 victory and a Championship. Led by 2017 US Open (tennis) champion Sloane Stephens , 2017 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Andy Roddick and returning fan favorite Donald Young ,

354-711: A force to be reckoned with in Women's doubles. Freedoms fans were also thrilled by a visiting appearance from tennis great Andy Roddick ( New York Empire (tennis) ). Once again, the Freedoms hosted seven home matches at the Villanova Pavilion. Serena Williams was drafted to play for the Washington Kastles at Philadelphia on July 20, 2015, but sustained an elbow injury that prevented her from playing. The Bryan brothers and Eugenie Bouchard played for

413-542: A lucky loser. He defeated 30th seed Laslo Djere on his way to the quarterfinals, before losing to in straight sets to Milos Raonic . This result meant that Kecmanović was ranked in the top 100 for the first time. In Miami , he beat former top-10 player Ernests Gulbis in the first round before losing to Frances Tiafoe in two tiebreak sets. At the French Open , Kecmanović played in the main draw, beating Denis Kudla in five sets before losing to David Goffin . This

472-498: A member of the team, including by its 21st century namesake, this is untrue. Nagelsen was not listed on the roster in the game program for the Freedoms' match against the Baltimore Banners on May 17, 1974. After working under King's tutelage for three weeks during the summer of 1974, Nagelsen lost to her in straight sets in the third round of the 1974 US Open . After the match, Nagelsen said she hoped to play with King on

531-602: A new member to their team. They unveiled their new mascot, Nettie, at their home opener against the Springfield Lasers with the help of World TeamTennis co-founder Billie Jean King . The Philadelphia Freedoms competed in the 2012 World TeamTennis season. The Freedoms hosted seven home matches at the Villanova Pavilion and competed in seven away matches. This season featured marquee players including: James Blake , Ryan Harrison , John McEnroe , Mark Philippoussis , Bob and Mike Bryan , and Martina Hingis . This

590-569: A plan for growth of the league. Many were of the opinion that it would be in all their interests to have a successful franchise in New York City. With some encouragement from his fellow owners, Dick Butera traded King to the New York Sets in a complicated deal, on February 5, 1975. Upon announcing the trade, Butera said, "It's not an easy thing to let Billie Jean go. I feel like King Faisal giving away his oil wells ." After King

649-475: A temporary tennis stadium that seated 3,000 in a parking lot outside the King of Prussia mall in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (located near Philadelphia ) from 2008 to 2009. From 2010 to 2016, the Freedoms played their home matches at The Pavilion on the campus of Villanova University . In 2017, the Freedoms home court moved to Hagan Arena on the campus of Saint Joseph's University , returning to play within

SECTION 10

#1732780860043

708-493: A top ten player by beating 7th seed Alexander Zverev in three sets. This victory ensured that Kecmanović would break into the top 50 for the first time. He then lost in straight sets to Roberto Bautista Agut . Kecmanović started off the new decade by participating in the ATP 250 Qatar Open. He defeated Australian Jordan Thompson before defeating third seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the round of sixteen. He won his first ATP title at

767-665: A wild card for Panamá Cup Challenger , he instead chose to play in his first career challenger and lost in the first round to top seed and world No. 86 Horacio Zeballos in 3 sets, 6–2, 4–6, 2–6. He next played in San Luis Potosí Challenger in Mexico and had his first wins on the Challenger level after defeating 3rd seed and world No. 135 Stefan Kozlov in straight sets, Emilio Gómez in three sets and 7th seed Marcelo Arévalo in straight sets, before losing in

826-537: Is a Serbian professional tennis player. Kecmanović reached his best singles ranking of world No. 27 on 16 January 2023 and he peaked at world No. 127 on 24 April 2023 in the doubles rankings. He has won one singles and one doubles ATP titles. He is currently the No. 2 Serbian player. In December 2015, Kecmanović won the Orange Bowl in a 3-set match against Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece, 6–3, 2–6, 7–6 . He reached

885-806: The Boston Lobsters . Led by WTT Most Valuable Player Billie Jean King , the Freedoms posted the best regular-season record in WTT's inaugural season with 39 wins and 5 losses. The Freedoms won the Eastern Division Championship and reached the WTT Finals where they lost to the Denver Racquets . The Freedoms were founded by Dick and Ken Butera as a charter member of WTT in 1973. The team began play in WTT's inaugural 1974 season . The Freedoms played their home matches at

944-673: The Austrian Open Kitzbühel in September. After reaching the second round at the Australian Open , losing to Adrian Mannarino , and following a semifinal run at the 2021 Argentina Open , Kecmanović achieved his best singles ranking of world No. 38 on 8 March 2021. During the Latin American Swing, he hired former World No. 3 player David Nalbandian as his coach for a trial period. Kecmanović

1003-482: The Battle of the Sexes 14 months earlier. In announcing the selection, King said, "We haven't made up our mind in which division we'll play him." The following day, Riggs was quoted as saying, "It sounds like a great idea, but is the money right?" He added that he didn't know how King "plans to use me—as a mixed doubles partner or as a ladies' doubles partner." Since they had been unable to sign her after selecting her in

1062-544: The City of Philadelphia for the first time since 1974. During the 2019 WTT draft, the Freedoms protected Taylor Townsend, Fabrice Martin and Raquel Atawo. The Freedoms also drafted Adrian Menendez-Maceiras with the 7th pick in the first round. Later, the Freedoms signed Donald Young who was the 2017 French Open men's doubles finalist, Danielle Collins who was a Seminfalist at the 2019 Australian Open , Grigor Dimitrov who has eight ATP Tour titles to his name, and Tommy Paul, who

1121-485: The Spectrum . The centerpiece of the team was tennis legend Billie Jean King who served as its player-coach. King became the first woman to coach a professional sports team that included male players. Once King was signed on with the Freedoms, her good friend Elton John decided to write and record the song " Philadelphia Freedom " to wish her luck on her new venture with WTT and for the team to use as an anthem. John

1180-625: The Stockholm Open , defeating Karl Friberg in the first round, top seed and defending champion Holger Rune in the second and Elias Ymer in the quarterfinals, all in straight sets. In the semifinals, he lost to Pavel Kotov . Born in Belgrade, to Dragutin Kecmanović and Maja Pavlov, both doctors, specialists in general and abdominal surgery. Miomir began playing tennis at the age of 6 with his maternal grandfather, Jovan Pavlov, who

1239-489: The 1973 draft, the Freedoms also chose Nagelsen in order to protect their rights to her. The Freedoms had previously rejected an offer from the Houston E-Z Riders who sought to acquire Nagelsen in a trade. Many WTT teams selected celebrities such as Johnny Carson and Bill Cosby at the 1974 draft. The Freedoms' colorful draft choice was Elton John. Following the 1974 season, WTT owners were looking to develop

SECTION 20

#1732780860043

1298-476: The 2013 World TeamTennis season. They hosted seven home matches at the Villanova Pavilion featuring marquee players including: Andy Roddick , Sloane Stephens , John McEnroe , Martina Hingis and Bob and Mike Bryan . Coached by Josh Cohen , the Freedoms fell short of a playoff run and ended the 2013 season with a record of 5–9. During the 2013 season, the Philadelphia Freedoms also welcomed

1357-691: The California Dream and the Boston Lobsters, respectively, at Philadelphia in the last two home matches. The Freedoms made it into the Eastern Conference Finals against the Washington Kastles. In a game played on the Kastles' home court, the Freedoms lost 25-9 and fell short of making it into the championship match. The Philadelphia Freedoms played 14 regular season matches in the 2014 season, and hosted 7 of them at

1416-547: The Freedom's played their home games at Hagan Arena at St. Joe's, the championship game was held at the Daskalakis Athletic Center at Drexel University . The Freedoms took on the Springfield Lasers and lost the first two sets of the match in men's and women's doubles and went down 10–5 at the half. However, the Freedoms managed to re-take the lead 15-14 following two convincing wins in mixed doubles and

1475-516: The Freedoms finished with a winning record once again in 2016. Led by fifth-year Head Coach Josh Cohen and returning Director of Player Development Craig Kardon , the towering tandem of 6’5" Fabrice Martin and 6"2’ Naomi Broady were the top mixed doubles combination in World TeamTennis while Martin, Young, and Lukáš Lacko combined for the second-best men's doubles record in the league. Broady and rookie American Samantha Crawford were

1534-537: The Freedoms had the league's best regular-season record, but were upset by the Denver Racquets in the championship game. The following year, the Freedoms merged with the Boston Lobsters . The current team joined WTT in 2001. Before the beginning of the 2008 season, the Philadelphia Freedoms announced they would be leaving their previous home at Cabrini College . Their home matches would be played at

1593-718: The Freedoms in 1975. On the same date the Freedoms were playing in the Match 2 of the WTT Finals, Nagelsen was playing in the final of the Virginia Slims of Newport in what was her first professional tournament. King's performance on the court earned her the WTT Most Valuable Player Award as she led the Freedoms to 39 wins and 5 losses, first place in the Atlantic Section and the best regular-season record in WTT. WTT playoff series in

1652-470: The Freedoms played competitively, going into the final weekend of the season in playoff contention. Led by returning championship-winning coach Craig Kardon , the 2017 squad also featured familiar faces like Taylor Townsend (tennis) , in her third season with the Freedoms, and 2016 World TeamTennis Male Rookie of the Year Fabrice Martin , returning to dominate in men's and mixed doubles for

1711-559: The Freedoms won the Eastern Division Championship and advanced to the WTT Finals. In the WTT Finals, the Freedoms met the Denver Racquets . The Racquets swept the best-of-three series, winning 27–21 in Denver and 28–24 in Philadelphia, to win the title and end the Freedoms' season. At the 1974 WTT draft, player-coach King made the selections for the Freedoms. In the seventh round, she chose Bobby Riggs , against whom she had won

1770-601: The Villanova Pavilion. Victoria Azarenka played for the Freedoms against the San Diego Aviators; Andy Roddick also made an appearance at a home match, playing for the Austin Aces. The Freedoms made it into the playoffs but lost to the Washington Kastles before they could reach the Eastern Conference Finals, achieving their best season since 2007. Team member Marcelo Melo was named the 2014 WTT MVP. The Philadelphia Freedoms competed in 14 matches throughout

1829-624: The best result coming in August in Chengdu , where he was stopped in the quarterfinals. In September, Kecmanović was again in the plans to be a fifth player in 15–17 September Davis Cup semifinal against France, but as he received a wildcard for Banja Luka Challenger , he chose to play it in order to improve his ATP ranking, and again lost in the first round. He next played three futures in Italy, getting to one semifinal and two quarterfinals. He finished

Philadelphia Freedoms - Misplaced Pages Continue

1888-669: 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 Freedoms had the choice to play either the first or the second match at home. The Freedoms met the Cleveland Nets in the Eastern Division Semifinals and won both matches, 26–22 in Cleveland and 23–22 at home. The Freedoms clinched

1947-404: The final in singles at 2016 Junior US Open where he was defeated by Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime . He finished the year 2016 as ITF Juniors number 1 ranked tennis player. Kecmanović was a fifth (reserve) player on a Serbian Davis Cup team in their quarterfinal tie against Great Britain in the 2016 Davis Cup – a standard practice of Tennis Federation of Serbia for each tie to invite

2006-522: The first round. In July and August, Kecmanović played World TeamTennis league and helped Springfield Lasers win its first ever championship after losing five times in the finals between 1999 and 2014. They defeated Philadelphia Freedoms , 19–18 in the final, after Kecmanović rallied from a 1–3 deficit in the final set to defeat Kevin King , 5–3, and earn Finals MVP honors. On the strength of three semifinal and one quarterfinal appearance in challenger events in September and October, Kecmanović reached

2065-531: The first two rounds before losing to the number 1 seed and eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the third round. In January, in Adelaide , Miomir won in the first round by beating Christopher O'Connell in straight sets. In the round of 16, he lost to third seed Daniil Medvedev . The following week, at the Adelaide International 2 , he beat Kyle Edmund in the first round, Jason Kubler in

2124-545: The owner of the team, Dick Butera, and they settled in Aspen, Colorado, where she practices as a sports psychologist. Nagelsen married the late Mark McCormack, the founder and chairman of International Management Group. McCormack who represented Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan amongst others, was often referred to as one of the most powerful men in sports. Mottram was a controversial figure who spoke publicly about his extreme right wing views and made unsuccessful attempts to become

2183-425: The previous week's Indian Wells quarterfinal. He lost to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinal in a final set tie-breaker. Due to this result, Kecmanović tied his career high ranking of World No. 38. He made his debut in the top 30 on 13 June 2022 following a third round showing for the first time in his career at the 2022 French Open . At Wimbledon , he beat Alejandro Tabilo and John Millman in

2242-411: The qualifying draw at Miami Masters and defeated 22nd seed and world No. 117 Henri Laaksonen in straight sets in the first round, before losing the deciding qualifying match to 11th seed and world No. 114 Lukáš Lacko . Serbian Davis Cup captain, Nenad Zimonjić , planned to include Kecmanović as a fifth player for Serbia's 7–9 April Davis Cup quarterfinal tie versus Spain, but as Kecmanović received

2301-669: The quarter-finals to eventual finalist and 2nd seed Taylor Fritz . In the Citi Open , he beat Alexei Popyrin and Pierre-Hugues Herbert before losing to Norbert Gombos . Having missed the Roger's Cup Masters Tournament, Kecmanović's breakthrough came at the Western and Southern Open . In the qualifying rounds, he beat Antoine Hoang and Feliciano López in straight sets. In the first round, he beat fellow 19 year old Félix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets. He then gained his first win over

2360-567: The season playing in three challengers in China and had his biggest achievement to date in October in Suzhou , when he won the first challenger title of his career by beating 3rd seed and world No. 113 Radu Albot , 6–4, 6–4, in the final. After reaching two quarterfinals in three challengers to start the season, Kecmanović broke into the top 200 for the first time in his career on 5 February, when he

2419-460: The second Top 10 win of his career. He lost in the quarterfinals in three sets to eventual champion Taylor Fritz . The following week at the Miami Open , Kecmanović reached his 2nd consecutive Masters 1000 quarterfinal and 3rd overall. He defeated Jack Sock , 7th seed and 9th ranked Félix Auger-Aliassime for his third Top 10 win, Sebastian Korda , and 11th seed Taylor Fritz in a rematch of

Philadelphia Freedoms - Misplaced Pages Continue

2478-540: The second consecutive season. The 2017 season also featured the WTT debut of sensational rookie Darian King , the highest-ranked professional tennis player in the history of Barbados. Freedoms fans were thrilled by a visiting appearance from tennis great Venus Williams ( Washington Kastles ), who played in Philadelphia just weeks after reaching the final of the 2017 The Championships, Wimbledon . Led by recent world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki , past junior world no. 1 Donald Young , and returning fan favorite CoCo Vandeweghe ,

2537-526: The second round in straight sets and Jiří Lehečka in the quarterfinals, again in straight sets, before losing to compatriot and eventual champion Dušan Lajović in three tight sets, after exactly 3 hours of play. In July, seeded fourth Kecmanovic reached his fourth ATP semifinal of the season at the Swiss Open Gstaad . He defeated Dominic Stricker in the second round, Zizou Bergs in the quarterfinals, before losing to Albert Ramos Viñolas in

2596-498: The second round, before being beaten in three sets by the defending champion, Thanasi Kokkinakis . With this result, Kecmanovic reached his career best singles ranking at No. 27 on 16 January 2023. At the Australian Open , seeded No. 26, he surprisingly lost in the first round against Chilean Nicolás Jarry . In February, Kecmanovic, as the fourth seed, reached his first final of the year at Delray Beach Open with wins over Nuno Borges and Marcos Giron , both in straight sets, and in

2655-443: The semifinals he scored his 100th ATP tour victory by defeating Radu Albot . In the final, Kecmanovic lost in three sets to the top seed Taylor Fritz . In Estoril he reached his second final of the season defeating Luca Nardi , Jurij Rodionov , Bernabé Zapata Miralles and Marco Cecchinato before losing to top seed Casper Ruud . In April, he reached the semifinals of Banja Luka , where he defeated Abedallah Shelbayh in

2714-756: The semifinals to 8th seed Adrián Menéndez Maceiras . At Sarasota Kecmanović played in his third successive challenger, losing in the second round to 7th seed and world No. 114 Laaksonen . Kecmanović received a wild card for the qualifying draw of another ATP tournament, Istanbul Open , where he defeated 2nd seed Mirza Bašić in the opening round, but lost to 8th seed Daniel Brands in the deciding qualifier. Between May and July, Kecmanović played in four futures tournaments in Turkey and Belgium, respectively, winning two and reaching another final and one semifinal. He then resumed playing in challengers, playing three in Asia, with

2773-575: The semifinals. In September, during the Davis Cup Finals in Valencia , Kecmanovic was paired in doubles with Nikola Ćaćić and it was Serbian Davis Cup team that emerged victorious against South Korean pair Song Min-kyu and Nam Ji-sung , same duo they fell to last year. In the tie against Spain , paired again with Nikola Ćaćić, they won in straight sets against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Marcel Granollers , helping Serbia win

2832-690: The series when Fred Stolle playing mixed doubles in the fifth set served an ace on match point in the second match. The victory over the Nets advanced the Freedoms to the Eastern Division Championship Series against the Pittsburgh Triangles . Again, the Freedoms chose to open on the road and won the first match, 31–21, in Pittsburgh and then lost the second, 24–21, at home. By an aggregate score of 52–45,

2891-513: The team to Boston . In order to claim the name of the original Lobsters, the new ownership group would be required to settle some of the debts of the former team. The new owners decided to do this and renamed the team the Boston Lobsters . Billie Jean King and Fred Stolle have been enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame . Miomir Kecmanovi%C4%87 Miomir Kecmanović ( Serbian Cyrillic : Миомир Кецмановић , pronounced [mǐomir ketsmǎːnoʋitɕ] ; born 31 August 1999)

2950-650: The tie 3:0 and reach the Davis Cup quarterfinals. Later in the month, at the Chengdu Open Kecmanovic reached the quarterfinals. In the first round, he beat Benjamin Lock in straight sets. In the second round, he ousted Corentin Moutet , again in straight sets, before blowing to the top seed and eventual champion Alexander Zverev , in three tight sets. In October, Kecmanovic reached the semifinals of

3009-603: The top 150 for the first time on 22 October, being ranked world No. 149. He closed out the season on a high note, reaching the final of the Liuzhou challenger and winning the Shenzhen challenger , to finish the season with a then career-high ranking of world No. 132. He earned his first ATP victory by defeating world No. 56 Leonardo Mayer at the Brisbane International . He played in the BNP Paribas Open as

SECTION 50

#1732780860043

3068-469: Was #129th in the world in men's singles at the time of his signing. Led by returning coach and Coach of the Year, Craig Karden, US Open (tennis) champion Sloane Stephens , WTT Male Rookie of the Year, Kevin King and returning fan favorite and WTT Female MVP Taylor Townsend , the Freedoms managed to put together a successful regular season by going 12-2 and qualifying for a spot in the championship. While

3127-502: Was a General in Yugoslav People's Army . His paternal grandfather was Prof. Miomir Kecmanović, after whom Miomir was named, who played a crucial role in suppressing the 1972 Yugoslav smallpox outbreak . Growing up, his tennis idols were Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic . At age 13, he moved to Florida with his aunt, Tanja Pavlov, a psychologist, to train at IMG Academy . His aunt also acts as his manager. Current through

3186-484: Was head coach Josh Cohen 's first season leading the Freedoms. The Freedoms ended their season with a record of 5–9. Philadelphia Freedoms (1974) The Philadelphia Freedoms were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT) founded by Dick and Ken Butera. The Freedoms played only one season in Philadelphia before being sold at the end of the 1974 season , moving to Boston and changing their name to

3245-626: Was his first grand slam win. At the Antalya Open , he reached his first ATP final, losing to Lorenzo Sonego in the final. His semi final against 3rd seed Jordan Thompson was notable for featuring no breaks of serve, with Kecmanović saving all three break points on his serve. Kecmanović won his first Wimbledon match at The Championships 2019 , beating Roberto Carballés Baena in four sets, before retiring against Benoît Paire two sets to love down. In Atlanta , he beat Jack Sock and 8th seed Ugo Humbert both in straight sets, before losing in

3304-473: Was initially set to play Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open . Due to Djokovic's visa issues and his COVID-19 vaccination status, that ultimately led to his deportation, Kecmanović instead faced Salvatore Caruso who was promoted to Djokovic's original position as a lucky loser. Kecmanovic defeated Caruso in straight sets, and advanced to the second round. Next he defeated Tommy Paul in straight sets and Lorenzo Sonego to make his first fourth round at

3363-463: Was ranked 194th on the ATP list. In March, he made his ATP main draw debut when he was granted wild card for Miami Masters , losing to Denis Istomin in the first round. In April, he defeated 4th seed Michael Mmoh and 6th seed Dennis Novikov in the qualifying rounds to reach the main draw of U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships ATP 250 event in Houston, where he lost to 7th seed Ryan Harrison in

3422-435: Was such a big fan of the Freedoms that he attended home matches wearing the team's uniform and sat on the bench with the players. Although recorded in the summer of 1974, the song was not released until February 24, 1975, after the Freedoms had already played their final match in Philadelphia . King heavily recruited then 17-year-old amateur Betsy Nagelsen to sign with the Freedoms. Although Nagelsen has often been listed as

3481-526: Was traded, a group of investors that included Bob Mades, Paul Slater, Herbert S. Hoffman, Robert K. Kraft and Harold Bayne expressed interest in buying the original Boston Lobsters . However, the Lobsters had already been contracted by WTT. With the Buteras far less enthusiastic about their team after trading King, the two sides struck a deal, and the group purchased the Freedoms on March 27, 1975, and moved

#42957