SPORTS
By Matt Szabo, matthew.szabo@latimes.com | July 20, 2011
NEWPORT BEACH - Marie-Eve Pelletier displayed plenty of positive body language Wednesday night at The Tennis Club Newport Beach. The Newport Beach Breakers' three-year veteran pumped her fist a number of times during the World Team Tennis match. She and Travis Rettenmaier won in mixed doubles, then she and Anne Keothavong won in women's doubles as the Breakers took control of the match. Pelletier and her teammates were finally able to smile. Ending an eight-match losing streak was sweet for the Breakers, who topped Springfield, 21-14.
SPORTS
By Matt Szabo, matthew.szabo@latimes.com | July 16, 2011
NEWPORT BEACH — Anne Keothavong doubled over and screamed in frustration. Two points later, Marie-Eve Pelletier kicked a tennis ball into the club seats to her right. It was only early in the second set of Saturday night's World Team Tennis match, but already the Newport Beach Breakers were way behind the Sacramento Capitals. If the tight WTT schedule hasn't made the team weary, a six-match losing streak might do the trick. The sixth straight loss was the 22-11 overtime setback to the Capitals at The Tennis Club Newport Beach.
SPORTS
By Matt Szabo, matthew.szabo@latimes.com | July 5, 2011
NEWPORT BEACH — As the Newport Beach Breakers began their quest for a World Team Tennis title, the woman who put the "King" in King trophy was in the house Tuesday night at The Tennis Club. It was Ladies Night, which meant a pre-match tennis clinic for women featuring WTT co-founder and Breakers co-owner Billie Jean King. Once the match actually began, King wasn't on the court, but she yelled encouragement to the Breakers players from the corner of the stadium. The St. Louis Aces' scheduled marquee player, former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, was missing.
SPORTS
By Matt Szabo, matthew.szabo@latimes.com | July 4, 2011
As the Newport Beach Breakers pursue the World Team Tennis King trophy this season, they'll do it with the help of plenty of home-grown Southern California kings of tennis. Marina del Ray resident Lester Cook and Los Angeles resident Travis Rettenmaier are the men's players for the Breakers. Their two marquee players this season are tennis legend Pete Sampras, who lives in Brentwood, and Newport Beach's own Taylor Dent. Former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport visits Newport Beach on Tuesday, as the Breakers open their season against the St. Louis Aces at 7:15 p.m. at The Tennis Club Newport Beach.
SPORTS
June 29, 2011
Taylor Dent, a former Corona del Mar High tennis star, will play for the Newport Beach Breakers on July 11 at The Tennis Club Newport Beach. Sam Querrey is not playing World Team Tennis this season because of an injury. He would have played for the Washington Kastles on July 11 against the Breakers. Instead, Dent, a former ATP player, will play for Newport Beach at the site where he conducts his Dent Tennis Academy. Dent won four ATP singles titles in his career. At Corona del Mar, he was the only freshman to win a CIF singles title.
SPORTS
By Matt Szabo, matthew.szabo@latimes.com | June 21, 2011
She didn't need one, but Anne Keothavong got a sales pitch earlier this year from tennis legend Billie Jean King. The World Team Tennis co-founder sought out Keothavong at a tournament in Indian Wells. King wanted Keothavong, the former longtimeBritish No. 1 women's tennis player, to play World Team Tennis this summer for the first time. Keothavong said she was told that though the league schedule can be grueling, a number of players go on to have a successful summer tournament season.
SPORTS
March 15, 2011
Anne Keothavong, Great Britain's No. 2-ranked singles player, sometimes goes by the nickname, "Special K. " The Newport Beach Breakers sure hope the tennis player will be special for them. The Breakers selected Keothavong with the first overall pick in the World Team Tennis Roster Player Draft Tuesday. Keothavong, 27, ranked No. 109 by the International Tennis Federation will make her WTT debut this July. Since turning pro in 2001, Keothavong has won 17 ITF singles titles and five ITF doubles titles in her career.
SPORTS
February 15, 2011
The Newport Beach Breakers are bringing back one of the best players in tennis history this July. The Breakers selected 14-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras with the first overall pick in the World Team Tennis Marquee Player Draft on Tuesday. Sampras, 39, retired from the Assn. of Tennis Professionals Tour in 2003. He previously played for the Breakers in 2006 and 2007. Sampras, the former world No. 1 who held the men's record for most Grand Slam singles titles before being surpassed by Roger Federer in 2009, still holds the record of being ranked at No. 1 for a total of 286 weeks.
SPORTS
February 10, 2011
Trevor Kronemann, the UC Irvine men's tennis coach, will return for his fifth season as coach of the Newport Beach Breakers, the team announced Thursday. He has been involved with World TeamTennis for the past 21 years and he wants to give back. "The opportunity to coach the Newport Beach Breakers and be part of the Orange County tennis scene is something that I look forward to every year," Kronemann said in a release. "I'm forever indebted to the opportunities that WTT has presented to me and feel that after this, my 22nd year of World TeamTennis, it just might be my turn to bring a championship to Orange County.
SPORTS
By Matt Szabo, matthew.szabo@latimes.com | July 22, 2010
NEWPORT BEACH — Lester Cook had the set on his racket, running full-speed toward the net Wednesday night at The Tennis Club Newport Beach. Cook's men's singles set against Springfield's Rik De Voest had gone to a tiebreaker and it was 4-4 there, so the next point would win the set. The Newport Beach Breakers' Cook, ever the showman, leaped into the air as he approached the net, ready for a vicious slam. Instead, as De Voest fell behind the baseline, the ball bounced off Cook's racket frame and flew into the air and way out of the stadium.