San Diego County natives to compete in this weekend’s World TeamTennis Playoffs

All three San Diego County natives playing in the 45th World TeamTennis (WTT) season at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia – Taylor Fritz, Brandon Nakashima and Coco Vandeweghe – advanced to this weekend’s WTT Playoffs with different teams.

On Saturday, Aug. 1, Fritz leads the regular season champion Philadelphia Freedoms (12-2) against Vandeweghe and the fourth-seeded New York Empire (7-7) in the first WTT semifinal, immediately followed by the second WTT semifinal in which Nakashima leads the WTT expansion Chicago Smash (9-5) against the Orlando Storm (10-4).

The WTT semifinals are televised on CBS Sports Network on Saturday, Aug. 1 – Philadelphia vs. New York at 11 a.m. PT, and Orlando vs. Chicago at 2 p.m. PT – and the 2020 World TeamTennis Final will be televised live on CBS on Sunday, Aug. 2 at 9 a.m. PT.

Fritz, a 22-year-old Rancho Santa Fe native and Torrey Pines High School alum, is in his fourth WTT season (he played for the San Diego Aviators in 2015, 2018 and 2019) and is playing men’s singles and doubles in his first year with the Freedoms. He is the highest-ranked men’s singles player (No. 24 in the ATP rankings) participating in the 2020 WTT season and ranks No. 1 among all WTT men’s singles players in games-won percentage (.591; 65-of-110 games won).

Vandeweghe, 28, is a Rancho Santa Fe native and resident who joined her sixth different WTT team in her 11 seasons when she was traded from the San Diego Aviators to the New York Empire on Monday, July 27 to bolster the Empire’s playoff chase in the final week of the regular season as well as their playoff roster. Vandeweghe is 2-0 with Empire partner Jack Sock in mixed doubles and also won sets in women’s singles and doubles for New York on Thursday, July 30, including a 5-4 victory over 2020 Australian Open champion and World No. 4 Sofia Kenin. Vandeweghe played with the San Diego Aviators each year since 2017 before being traded earlier this week.

Nakashima, an 18-year-old San Diego native and resident, heads to the WTT Playoffs in his rookie season with WTT’s newest team. The teenager was the second youngest player competing in the 2020 WTT season and is the youngest player set to compete in the WTT Playoffs. He has consistently featured in the men’s singles and doubles lineup for the Smash.

For more information, visit wtt.com. —News release