Ditty up for more WTT

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April 2, 2009

ROCKY STANLEY — The Independent The Daily Independent Thu Apr 02, 2009, 09:53 PM EDT

Ashland’s Julie Ditty has a new home for the 2009 World Team Tennis season.

Newport Beach Breakers selected Ditty in the second round this week during the WTT’s annual draft.

Ditty’s teammates will be Maria Sharapova, Marie-

Eve Pelletier, Ramon Delgado and Kaes Van’t Hof. Trevor Kronemann is the coach.

The Advanta WTT Pro League regular season runs from July 2-22 in 10 U.S. markets. The top two teams from both the Eastern and Western divisions advance to the conference finals on July 24. Winners will compete for the overall title on July 26.

This marks the third WTT season for Ditty, who previously played for the New York Buzz and Boston Lobsters.

Ditty and Pelletier are among seven draftees who have competed in the Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital Tennis Classic in Ashland. Others include Milagros Sequera, Liga Dekmeifere, Raquel Kops-Jones, Christina Fusano and Ashley Harkleroad.

Marquee players in the league this season include Andre Agassi, Kim Clijsters, Venus and Serena Williams, John McEnroe, Bob and Mike Bryan, Michael Chang, Liezel Huber and Martina Navratilova. Those stars will compete on a part-time basis.

Sharapova, for example, will play one home match for the Breakers on July 22.

The roster draft, where teams completed their full-time lineups, had players from 17 countries.

“It represents the diversity and depth of the generations of top tennis talent who play World Team Tennis,’’ said Ilana Koss, the WTT’s chief executive officer. “This was one of the strongest roster drafts in WTT history and it just adds to an already amazing lineup of marquee players.’’

Earlier this year, the United States Tennis Association became a minority owner of World Team Tennis.

Defending WTT champion New York Buzz will feature the youngest team in league history. The squad of up-and-coming U.S. junior prospects is made up of Alex Domijan, 17; Evan King, 17; Christina McHale, 16; and Soane Stephens, 16.

Patrick McEnroe and his USTA coaching staff put together the lineup.

ROCKY STANLEY can be reached at rstanley@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2671.

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