Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser recognizes Mark Ein and the Washington Kastles' 10th-season anniversary during halftime of a Kastles match. (Credit: CameraworkUSA)
Ein has coined the transition WTT 2.0. What does that mean, exactly? He wants to continue to innovate in what is already the most forward-thinking tennis setting in the pro game, and hopes to grow the six-team league to 16 in the next four to five years.
“I really want to grow the sport of tennis and I think we need more on-ramps and entry points for people who aren’t connected to the game,” he said. “Maybe they once followed or played tennis, but don’t anymore, or maybe they are totally new to the sport and need to be introduced.”
Ein points to the slow exit of professional events – from the ATP World Tour and WTA – over the last few decades in the U.S.
“When I was a kid there were 45 ATP and WTA events across America. Today, there are 12,” he explained.
His solution: A brighter, more energetic and (most importantly) bigger WTT. World TeamTennis would maintain its three weeks in the summer calendar – wedged between Wimbledon and the US Open – while increasing the number of teams and – subsequently – communities that it reaches.
“If parents don’t live in or can’t travel with their kids to one of those 12 tournament cities, they are never going to get the chance to have that inspirational – and aspirational – moment” in tennis, he said. “I deeply believe that if you want to grow a sport, you need a vibrant pro ecosystem in that sport.”
This match night in D.C. was the epitome of vibrant. A sellout crowd of 3,250 packed George Washington University’s Charles E. Smith Center as the crowd bellowed out Venus’ name and VIPs behind the baseline ducked from Sam Querrey’s lightning-fast serve.
Ein doesn’t think D.C. has to be the outlier. Instead, it can be the norm.
“Now that we have done it, we can give other WTT owners the playbook,” Ein said of the D.C. model. “But you need the person or group of people with the resources, avid commitment and desire to do it. I don’t think there is anything that is happening in Washington that can’t be replicated in other cities across the U.S.” As far as interested potential owners go, Ein said he’s been “inundated” with interest.
A first big challenge is finding owners that have the same passion as Ein, who wore a World TeamTennis baseball cap the previous night in Philadelphia and shouted out encouragement in his newly found dual role as team owner and league owner.
He found Venus courtside after she beat Sloane Stephens in the women’s singles set, the two chatting away freely. More stars like her are needed for the short season. Maria Sharapova’s Orange County Breakers cameos this summer were a beaming success.
Ein himself was a ball kid for the Virginia Slims professional tournament in the 1980s, held in the same arena at George Washington that the Kastles play in today. It was an experience – in which he took a week off from the ninth grade – that he is sure sparked something in him that led him to where he is today. He wants more kids to have that kind of experience. Or at least the opportunity to.
