Three Las Vegas area teams were big winners as they captured division titles at the 2006 WTT National Qualifier held April 28-30 at the Darling Tennis Center. Some Beaches won the 3.0 Division, NG's Tennis Nutts captured the crown in the 3.5 Division and Young at Heart brought home the win in the Senior 3.5 Division.

Those three Las Vegas teams are among the seven division champions who will advance to the WTT Nationals, Nov. 2-5, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif.

Read more about the Las Vegas qualifier.

In addition to qualifiers already contested in Bradenton, Fla., and Las Vegas, National Qualifying events will be held in St. Louis (July 14-16), Schenectady, N.Y. (July 21-23), Atlanta (August 25- 27) and Irvine, Calif. (September 29-31). The WTT National Finals will be held November 2-5 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif. For more information on World TeamTennis or the WTT Recreational League, visit www.WTT.com or call 866- PLAY-WTT.

Photo: Young at Heart, Senior 3.5 Champions (WTT)

The first annual Billie Awards hit the red carpet in Los Angeles on April 20 to celebrate remarkable achievements in media coverage of girl’s and women’s sports. Named in honor of Women’s Sports Foundation founder, and WTT co-founder, Billie Jean King, the event brought together some of the greatest female athletes of our time and a collection of the hottest celebrities from film, television and sports.

The highlight of the evening was a special performance by Sir Elton John. Other celebrities in attendance included Desperate Housewives’ Marcia Cross and James Denton, film star Sharon Stone, California First Lady Maria Shriver, Penny Marshall, Olympic champion Peggy Fleming and Los Angeles Lakers great James Worthy.

World TeamTennis was well represented at the event by WTT CEO Ilana Kloss and a group of WTT alums, including Jimmy Connors, Maria Sharapova, Tracy Austin, Mary Lou Daniels and WTT broadcaster Mary Carillo.

Among those honored with Billie Awards were Christine Brennan of USA Today, HBO Sports for the “Dare to Dream” documentary and legendary filmmaker Bud Greenspan.

(Photo: from l. to r.: Ilana Kloss, Elton John, Billie Jean King -- credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

WTT CEO/Commissioner Ilana Kloss was inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame along with former 49ers tight end John Frank, U.S. Olympic skier Carrie Sheinberg, NBA coach Herb Brown, former Phoenix Sun center Neal Walk, author Roger Kahn, Olympic judo silver medalist Bob Berland, WNBA president Donna Orender and MLS star Jeff Agoos last month during a ceremony at the Suffolk Y Jewish Community Center in Commack, N.Y.

Kloss was the world's best doubles player in 1976, winning doubles titles at the U.S. Open, Italian Open, U.S. Clay Courts, German Open, British Hard Courts and Hilton Head. That same year, Kloss also captured the French Open Mixed Doubles crown and was the youngest player ever to be ranked No. 1 in her native South Africa. Her highest career singles ranking was #19 (Feb. 1979).

In 1973 Kloss won three gold medals at the Maccabiah Games, capturing the singles, doubles and mixed titles. She picked up her fourth Maccabiah gold medal in 1977, winning the women’s doubles.

Kloss remains active on the court, winning three Grand Slam Masters titles over the past few years (U.S. Open over-35 doubles and mixed doubles champion in Sept. 1999; and Wimbledon over-35 doubles championship in July 2001 and July 2003).

Kloss' resume also includes a long stint with World TeamTennis which started in 1974 as a player and eventually evolved into her current role at the helm of WTT.

If I had to rank the most frequent comments I hear from my students on what drives them crazy about their opponents, having to return a weak second serve would be near the top of the list! A typical remark might be, “I hate wimpy second serves because I don’t know what to do with them!”

The irony is, there are probably more options when returning a soft second serve than with any other shot in tennis. Especially so in doubles. Go for a winner? Push it back? Dropshot? Lob it? These are just some of the possibilities. Yet, often indecision takes over and when there is indecision there are mistakes.

Let me offer one approach which I have successfully helped many of my students with over the years.

Begin by working on an underspin forehand return of serve. The overwhelming majority of tennis players hit more underspin with their backhands than with their forehands. So we want to add an underspin forehand to our stroke arsenal.

Once you can hit underspin on both sides you are now ready for what I call “The Triple Option” when returning a weak second serve. Your opponent has missed their first serve and the slow moving second serve is in the air. With the goal of hitting underspin, you now have 3 options on the return:

Option 1: If the server stays back, then you can hit a soft-angled return to the Side T of the server. This will be out of the reach of their partner and will force the server to come running in and “scoop” the ball up which then allow you to hit down on them.

Option 2: If the server follows their serve into the net then you can hit a sharp, low underspin return at their feet and again force them to hit the next shot up.

Option 3: If the server is charging in and the server’s partner is crowding the net, then simply hit a nice, soft underspin lob over the head of the server’s partner!

However, it is not the three options per se which give you an advantage, it is the DISGUISE FACTOR! While the serving team may anticipate your hitting underspin due to your racket face being open, they won’t be able to tell which of the three options you are going to use. Therefore, you become like the quarterback in football who has to “read” the defense but instead you “read” what the serving team is doing and then choose your option accordingly.

Regardless of what adjustments the serving team makes to counter the underspin return, there will ALWAYS be at least one of the options available. They can’t cover all three i.e. The server can’t simultaneously stay back and come in.

Add the underspin forehand return to your tennis game and you will never worry about how to return a weak second serve again.

Tip by Dave Kensler Dave Kensler has 23 years of teaching experience with Peter Burwash International (PBI), the most successful international tennis management company. PBI directs tennis programs at 60+ exclusive resorts and clubs in 23 countries and has taught over 3 million students in their 30 year history.

For information on PBI tennis destinations and employment opportunities please go to www.pbitennis.com. All PBI Tennis Professionals play with Wilson rackets, use Wilson bags and wear Wilson shoes. The year 2006 marks the 20th Anniversary of PBI Tennis Professionals using Wilson products.<br>

The WTT format took center stage as Texas A&M completed a three-peat with a win over The University of Virginia at the 2006 USA Team Tennis National Campus Championship.

The event, administered in partnership by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA), Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and World TeamTennis (WTT) was held April 20-22 at the University of Texas, in Austin, Texas.

Texas A&M, defeated Virginia by a score of 29-15. The Aggies advanced to the finals by defeating Villanova in the semi-finals, 28-17.

The team from Texas A&M (pictured above) is captained by Matthew Sumrall and includes: Karissa Casares, Odion Dibua, Omon Dibua, Taylor Helfeldt, Michael Koehler, Kelly Lish, Rebecca Rawlins and Lauren Walker.

“The competition this year was the best it’s ever been,” said Texas A&M Team Captain, Sumrall. “All of our matches were tight and it just feels good to get another title.”

The 2006 USA Team Tennis National Campus Championship is the culmination of the Tennis On Campus season. The Tennis On Campus program features co-ed teams participating in intramural and intercollegiate (club) play on campuses nationwide. Over 300 schools throughout the nation currently participate in the Tennis On Campus program. Beginning this year, all 17 USTA Sections held Championships, with the winners receiving automatic bids to the National Championship.

The team from Virginia is captained by Scott Kelly and includes: Alli Foroobar, Jason Liu, Mallori Browne, Megan Van Buren, Mike Rehorn, Karl Blunden and Kristen Dunbar.

The Cavaliers reached the final via a 21-18 over Michigan. It was their second championship final appearance in three years.

“This weekend was a great experience,” said Virginia Team Captain, Kelly. “We had a lot of fun, even in the championship match. I can’t wait until next year when it’ll be a little closer to home (Cary, N.C.).”

The 2006 USA Team Tennis National Campus Championship marked the most successful National Championship yet, with 64 teams taking part, representing 56 schools from throughout the country. The USA Team Tennis National Campus Championship was first held in 2000, with a total of 10 schools taking part, and has grown annually, with participation records being set at each ensuing championship.

(Thanks to the ITA for information, results and photo from the Collegiate Championship).

The summer break doesn’t have to mean a break from tennis action for high school age players. Regional qualifying events for the X TeamTennis National Championships get underway in June and July. The X TeamTennis format features co-ed teams competing in three sets - men's and women's singles and mixed doubles. This format also includes no-ad scoring, substitution and coaching. The winning team is the team that wins the most total games.

Winners of the regional events will qualify for the X TeamTennis National Championships in Irvine, Calif., August 11-13, 2006, where Tournament and housing will be provided at no cost. Participants must have played high school tennis during the 2005-2006 school year. Winners of the national event in August will receive a free trip to the WTT Smash Hits event with Elton John and Billie Jean King.

WTT co-founder Billie Jean King visits with Desperate Housewives star Marcia Cross at The Billies.

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images