1974 World Team Tennis Standings

By Patrick Mondout

The inaugural season for the WTT began on May 7, 1974 with a match between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. A match later that night at the Lake Shore Racquet Club in Chicago drew a somewhat disinterested country club crowd. Ace's player Graham Stillwell said of the fans: "They don't seem to be paying much attention to us. They obviously are more interested in the refreshments."

Billie Jean King was both player and coach of the Philadelphia Freedom for $100,000. She not only won player of the year but finished second to Denver's Tony Roche as coach of the year.

Following the season, the Philadelphia, Baltimore, Buffalo, Toronto-Buffalo, Chicago, Houston, Minnesota and Florida franchises folded. The Detroit Loves moved to Indiana to become the Indiana Loves.

Quarterfinals

In the WTT Quarterfinals, Minnesota defeated Houston, Detroit lost to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia beat Cleveland and Denver defeated the Golden Gaters.

Minnesota over Houston 48-47 (19-28, 29-19)
Pittsburgh over Detroit 63-27 (31-10, 32-17)
Philadelphia over Cleveland 49-44 (26-22, 23-22)
Denver over San Francisco 61-41 (29-17, 32-24)

Semifinals

In the semifinals, Philadelphia defeated Minnesota and Denver beat Philadelphia.

Philadelphia over Pittsburgh 52-45 (31-21, 21-24)
Denver over Minnesota 54-44 (29-25, 25-18)

Championship

Denver beat Philadelphia for the first WTT Championship (known as the Bancroft Cup). Coach of the Year Tony Roche led the Racquets squad, which also featured Pam Austin, Francoise Durr, Kris Kemmer Shaw, Jeff Austin, Stephanie Johnson and Andrew Pattison.

Denver over Philadelphia 55-45 (27-21, 28-24)

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