I want to start off with explaining the rules of World Team Tennis for a second.  It is pretty simple once you get the hang of it, but it is an adjustment for sure.  The match consists of men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles.  Each event plays a set up to 5 with a 9-point tiebreaker at 4-4.  It is all no-ad scoring.  So there is no room for error and you have to be ready to go from the first hit of the ball.  The home team coach chooses the order of play an hour prior to start time.  You keep the team score by total of games won.  If the trailing team wins the last event then it goes into overtime.  Overtime goes until the leading team wins one game or until the trailing team ties the score and then there is a tiebreaker to decide it all.  Also we play lets in WTT.  So it forces you to stay on your toes at all times.  It is high-paced action.  That about sums it up the rules.  Time to move on the updates. 

     So the first week of WTT was pure madness.  We played seven of the first eight days with four away matches.  It was a lot of travel and not a whole lot of sleep.  The main problem is that we play at 7pm and we finish around 10pm on average.  By the time the match is over I am so pumped full of adrenaline that sleep isn't even an option.  So the sleeping schedule is all twisted up.  I pretty much sleep at any opportunity I get during the day to try and make up for the lack of sleep at night.  Amir Weintraub and I got caught in the act at the airport in Atlanta a couple of days ago (pictured below).  I always fully appreciate the chairs with no armrests.  I think that the picture kind of sums up our fatigue levels for the last week.  Also on a side note I have to mention that the bag next to my head belongs to a man and that man being the Lasers team coach JL De Jager.  It is pretty cute I think.  He wears it well.   

     Our team record is 1-6 at the moment.  We got our first win Monday night against the Orange County Breakers.  So I just figure we are on a one match win streak.  We had 3 match points against the Kansas City Explorers last week (venue pictured below).  That was a rough one to lose.  We were up 16-10 going into the last match and Amir and I lost 6 straight games and a tiebreaker to lose the match.  I am still unsure as to how exactly it happened.  It is all a blur.  I am choosing to completely forget about it now though.  We are moving on.  Tonight we are going up against the Sacramento Capitals at 7pm here in Springfield.  Sacramento is leading our division so it would be a good one to take.  Sam Querrey is their singles guy so it should be an entertaining match.  I am looking forward to it. 

     Well I hope to have more exciting information for you guys in the next post.  I am pretty busy with everything going on so bear with me on the lack of posts.  It is time to go hit some balls and get ready for match time.  Thanks for reading along.  Be blessed.

All the best,

DB

     I apologize for the delay on the post, but this World Team Tennis business is nonstop action.  I have been going twenty-four seven the past few days.  I am happy to have an hour or so of free time to update you guys on all that has been going on. 

     First off I want to mention that Jeff Dadamo and I took the doubles title in the Winnetka, IL 50K event. (pictured below) We had a pretty tough draw going in, but we squeezed through it.  It was our first time playing together and both of our first challenger titles.  So that was pretty exciting.  Jeff was bringing the heat on the serve all week.  I have to give him a big shout-out for that and for putting up with me for the week.  I cracked the top 180 in doubles so I am pretty pumped about that.  I also moved to 36-4 record on the year for doubles, which I am pretty proud of.  I hope to continue improving my ranking and working my way up the ladder in singles and doubles.

     Anyways, let's move on to the exciting stuff.  I am currently in Springfield, MO playing World Team Tennis for the Springfield Lasers.  My teammates are Amir Weintraub (ISR), Timea Babos (HUN), Maria Sanchez (USA) and our beautiful South African coach JL De Jager.  I have enjoyed hanging with all of them.  I was really lucky to get a pretty cool group of people to be around for three weeks.  We started a couple of days ago and it has been pretty much all out blitz.  We opened up the first night against the Kansas City Explorers here in Springfield.  We went down in a pretty close loss.  I wasn't too happy with my play in the match, but it will get better I am sure.  Yesterday we flew to NYC to play the Sportimes.  We travel in style on the Lasers squad (below).  We don't mess around.  Unfortunately we took a loss last night as well to move to 0-2.  The good thing is we got on the jet again this morning back to Springfield and have a chance to redeem ourselves tonight against the Washington Kastles at 7PM central time.  I hope I will have some more good news for you guys in the next post. 

     I will say that World Team Tennis aka WTT is a lot of fun.  They keep it entertaining for everybody.  There is music playing at all times except during the point.  It is really fast paced so it keeps you on your toes at all times.  The fans really seem to enjoy it.  I have always liked being a part of a team as well so I think that side of it is awesome.  It is just a good time all around.  If you ever get a chance to go out to a match somewhere take advantage of it.  I am sure you will enjoy yourself.  I will explain more about the rules in my next post.  That is a whole different story in itself.  Anyways, I have to get going and get ready for the battle tonight.  I hope you guys enjoyed the post.  I will post as often as I can during the season to keep you guys posted.  Thanks for reading.  Laser out.

All the best,

Devin Britton