7/31/1982 Team Tennis Championship Playoffs, Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, AZ


 39 years ago today...

July 31, 1982 - Phoenix, AZ

The championship of professional Team Tennis was held at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Team Tennis was the vision and creation of founder and player Billie Jean King. The start-up league could not sign many other recognizable players and failed to gain any traction in the marketplace.
The league started up on two different occasions with a season that lasted less than two months. The Phoenix team was named the "Sunsets," and included Tom Gullikson on the four-person coed roster.
The Sunsets lost to the Dallas Stars, led by Kevin Curren and Steve Denton, in the championship match. With Gullikson, Curren and Denton serving as the marquee names in a championship match, the league was certain to fail. Team Tennis is a mere footnote in Phoenix professional sports history.

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