JAMES BECK: A serious time at hand for WTT

After three days of sun and fun -- and some rain -- the serious time of the World TeamTennis/Charleston relationship has arrived.

Will Billie Jean King's brainchild make Daniel Island its home for the league finals? Or is something else in the future of the Charleston/WTT relationship?

WTT CEO/commissioner Ilana Kloss believes something positive will happen. "I have no doubt there will be an ongoing relationship between the WTT and Family Circle," she said Sunday. "That could be as a host for the (WTT) finals or of a team or a special event ... We could have a world cup with teams from Asia and Europe or other events ... It's great to have a new market."

Everyone involved appeared to leave Family Circle Stadium on Sunday thinking positively, including Family Circle general manager Bob Moran, Meredith Corporation vice president Nancy Weber and even USTA chairman/president Jonathan Vegosen. After all, Meredith is the parent of the Family Circle Cup and the USTA owns a 25 percent stake in World TeamTennis.

Who will make the final decision? "I think it will be a mutual decision (between Family Circle and the WTT)," Weber said.

"The (team) owners are excited," Kloss said. But Kloss basically has the final say on the WTT side of things. Moran has it on the Family Circle side, and he saw many positive signs over the weekend, although he expected a little higher ticket sales.

As Vegosen said, "A business decision has to be made ... This venue is spectacular."

Kloss wasn't disappointed by the nearly 5,000 attendance for the three days. "It takes awhile," she said.

Billie Jean's vision

Five thousand fans may be a small total for a three-day Grand Prix-level tennis event, but a person with the obvious vision of Billie Jean King can see much bigger pictures, ones as colorful as the court that graces WTT venues. Of course, it was King who led the women's sports movement to what it is today. Her goal when she co-founded World TeamTennis was to make women and men equals on the court.

Rennae Stubbs' points count the same as Leander Paes'. By the same token, the points earned by a scrub player count as much as Serena Williams'.

Billie Jean pictures Charleston as a destination site for the league finals where fans from across the league can make their plans to spend at least one July weekend. She points to the traveling party of the Washington Kastles as an example. The red-clad Washington group of 30-40 supporters came to Charleston to be part of the party, bearing their own banners, "Refuse to Lose" or "Let's Go Kastles."

Of course, the Kastles knew last weekend they would be here, while Boston and Sacramento didn't find out until Thursday night on the West Coast.

The WTT Finals Weekend that just ended at Family Circle Tennis Center became a reality in late March. The next announcement on the relationship is expected to be made by October or November, according to Kloss.

This year's attendance is a tribute to the tennis fans of Charleston and supports the area's title as America's Best Tennis Town. Charleston isn't just another tennis town.

Although this year's crowd numbers may not appear to be significant, expect them to multiply with time if a major WTT event or a franchise happens to land here. After all, Charleston is all about tennis to more than 4,000 men and women who participate in league tennis. The game is a 52-week-a-year passion to these men and women.

A few changes

In reality, the WTT needs to redefine its format just a bit to ensure that every team participating in the final four weekend has one marquee player. The league championship match was fortunate to have doubles greats Paes, Stubbs and Liezel Huber involved, although none are listed as marquee players who would attract larger crowds.

Also, in a host city such as Charleston that doesn't have a WTT franchise, there is a real need for the league to have at least a one-day break between the regular season and the Finals Weekend.

Reach James Beck at jamesbecktennis@gmail.com. See his columns on pro tennis at ubitennis.com/english.