Mylan World TeamTennis celebrates its 40th birthday this year. For more on WTT, including this season's schedule, click here.
With an all-Mylan World TeamTennis final coming up in men’s doubles, the French Open is home to an early scrimmage between top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan of the California Dream and No. 3 Ivan Dodig and his partner, Marcelo Melo of the Philadelphia Freedoms.
Melo is the big man from Brazil, standing at an impressive 6’8”. He and Dodig have been the models of consistency for nearly three seasons, and have so far reached the quarterfinals or better of all but one of the their events in 2015. The pair remains in the hunt for their first Grand Slam men’s doubles title, having reached the finals of Wimbledon in 2013 -- losing to the Bryans in four sets.

Playing with Dodig allows Melo to feel like part of a team on a weekly basis, something that inevitably drew the Brazilian veteran towards playing Mylan WTT for the first time last year.
“This competition makes me feel like I’m in the Davis Cup,” the 2014 Male MVP told wtt.com during Indian Wells this past spring. “When I come here, the atmosphere is fantastic: you have a lot of fun between points and games all the time, so it’s completely opposite to what you’re used to in tournaments. The ATP is more quiet, and they don’t have all the options like fans coming on court, and you don’t get to celebrate with your team right after points.”
The 31-year-old will play for the Philadelphia Freedoms for the second consecutive season, and looks back fondly on his first summer playing for Billie Jean King’s signature team.
“Last year was my first time playing for Philadelphia and for Mylan World Team Tennis, and I enjoyed every moment that I was there, especially the moments I was together with Billie. I didn’t know her before, and I’m actually looking forward to being there again with her this year.”
Most of last year’s roster, including rising American star Taylor Townsend, is slated to return for another season in Philly. The Freedoms are hoping to build upon a successful 2014 that saw them upset the Washington Kastles during the regular season. Qualifying for the Eastern Conference Championships, they ultimately fell to the record-breaking team during Extended Play.
“If we can find a way for everyone to play well on the same day, I think we have a big chance to beat them again.”
King’s vision of men and women working together truly struck a chord in Melo, who felt the togetherness fostered among Mylan WTT teams -- along with King’s wealth of knowledge and insight -- was crucial to the Freedoms’ 2014 season success.
“It’s great to have the team traveling together, so you could share experiences from the Tour. Like Taylor would talk a lot about what happens on the women’s tour, how they play, how we play on the ATP, and how we can mix this into getting a better team.
“Billie Jean is so into that, as well, trying to help from small things to big things, not even just there, but continuing through our careers and lives. She is always interested in knowing about my family, and all kinds of stuff. I’m glad to have met her like that, and spend time with her. I hope she will come with us again; it’s going to be fun.”
Along with Mylan WTT’s non-stop competition, Melo has good memories of the lighter moments the professional team tennis league has to offer, and is looking forward to having some fun with Freedom fans this summer.
“I love when during changeovers, some people come onto the court and do some dancing and the crowd goes nuts. I feel that this is the atmosphere that makes Team Tennis so great.”