Folded 1976 Stadium Civic Arena Based in Pittsburgh Division titles 1,975 | League World TeamTennis Home ground Civic Arena Championships 1,975 Head coaches Ken Rosewall, Mark Cox | |
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Founded May 22, 1973 (1973-05-22) Team history Pittsburgh Triangles
1974 – 1976 Colors Bright Yellow and Green | ||
The Pittsburgh Triangles were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT) founded by John H. Hillman, III, William Sutton and Chuck Reichblum. The Triangles won the 1975 WTT Championship. The team folded after the 1976 season.
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Team history
The Triangles were founded by John H. Hillman, III, William Sutton and Chuck Reichblum as a charter member of WTT in 1973. The team began play in WTT's inaugural 1974 season. Just prior to the start of the Triangles' initial season, on May 1, 1974, Fox Chapel insurance broker, sports promoter, and financier Frank B. Fuhrer purchased a controlling interest in the team. Fuhrer was elected the team's chairman. Reichblum remained president and general manager. Sutton remained part of the ownership group and was re-elected as the team's secretary-treasurer and general counsel.
The Triangles played their home matches at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During their first season, the Triangles, clad in bright yellow and green uniforms, played in the WTT Eastern Division with teams from Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Baltimore, Detroit, Cleveland, and Toronto-Buffalo. WTT also had an eight-team Western Division for a total of 16 teams representing most of the major metropolitan areas in the United States. There was even a team from Hawaii called the Leis.
The Triangles folded following the 1976 season. With Pittsburgh and Philadelphia both lacking franchises, the league had considered fielding a team called the Pennsylvania Keystones in 1977, composed of players from the Soviet Union. However, with the Cleveland Nets struggling to draw fans for their home matches, owner Joseph Zingale decided to fill the WTT void in nearby Pittsburgh and have his team play approximately half of its home matches in Richfield Township, Summit County, Ohio and the other half in Pittsburgh. The team was called the Cleveland-Pittsburgh Nets. After the Nets announced they would play half their matches in Pittsburgh, the league had planned to have the Keystones play in Philadelphia. The team of Soviet players did compete in WTT in 1977, but it did not have a permanent home and played its "home" matches in several different cities. The name Pennsylvania Keystones was scrapped, and the team was officially called the Soviet National Team and informally the Soviets.
As for the Nets, they played approximately half their 1977 home matches at the Coliseum at Richfield and the other half at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. The Nets also played some "home" matches in Nashville, New Orleans and Hollywood, Florida.
Coaching
The Australian tennis star Ken Rosewall coached the original Pittsburgh Triangles team in 1974. Rosewall's top players were Evonne Goolagong, who had already captured her first Wimbledon singles title in 1971, and young phenom Vitas Gerulaitis. Vitas, nicknamed the Lithuanian Lion, had recently won the West Penn Open in Mt. Lebanon and would go on to win the 1975 Wimbledon men's doubles crown (with Sandy Mayer) and the 1977 Australian Open men's singles title.
Squad 1974
Evonne Goolagong was not allowed to participate in the 1974 French Open due to her association with WTT and the Triangles.
Squad 1975
Two days after winning the WTT championship Fuhrer traded Kim Warwick and Rayni Fox to the Cleveland Nets for Sue Stap.
Squad 1976
With Goolagong-Cawley signed for the 1976 season, Mark Cox was elevated to the Triangles' player-coach. The Triangles also recruited college star JoAnne Russell and Bernie Mitton. Midway through the 1976 season the recently acquired Sue Stap was traded for Nancy Gunter.