AVON – The Hartford Foxforce of the DuPont World TeamTennis League, Connecticut’s newest professional sports franchise, opened the 2000 summer season this week and international star Monica Seles led the way.

Seles, who has won 44 singles titles, nine Grand Slam titles, and $11 million in career prize money, is the Foxforce’s marquee player (each of the eight teams in the league has one) and will participate in Hartford’s first five matches this season.

The Foxforce opened the season on July 11 in Springfield, Missouri against the Springfield Lasers. On Wednesday, July 12, the Foxforce opened its home schedule at the Hartford Armory against the Sacramento Capitals.

“We are honored to have Seles kick off our inaugural season,” said Lisa Wilson-Foley, who owns the Foxforce along with her husband, Brian Foley. “Our hope is to rekindle Connecticut’s passion for tennis. And what better way to accomplish that than having Seles participate with Connecticut’s new TeamTennis franchise?”

The 2000 season will consist of a 14-match schedule ending on July 28. The Foxforce will compete against the Delaware Smash, Idaho Sneakers, Kansas City Explorers, New York Hamptons, Schenecyady Country Electrics, Sacramento Capitals, St. Louis Aces, and Springfield Lasers.

Tennis star Mary Lou Fernandez plays for the Deleware Smash (in Hartford on July 16) and tennis legend Martina Navratilova plays for the Schenectady County Electrics (in Hartford on July 28). World TeamTennis was founded in 1974 by Billie Jean King and has, since then, featured such players as Navratilova and Jimmy Connors.

Other marquee players participating in World TeamTennis this season are Venus and Serena Williams, Mary Pierce, Jim Courier, Luke Jensen, and Patrick McEnroe, who currently is also a television tennis analyst and a twice-weekly sports update man on the syndicated Imus in the Morning radio show.

The Foxforce is also the new team of Connecticut residents James and Thomas Blake of Fairfield, Harvard University standouts who won the doubles title at the USTA Winnetka, Illinois Challenger. And then there is Bethanie Mattek of Boca Raton, Florida, a singles finalist and doubles semi-finalist at the Australian Hardcourt Junior Championships; and Liezel Horn of Durban, South Africa, who reached the doubles quarter-finals at the 1999 US Open and 1999 doubles semi-finals at Wimbledon.

A World TeamTennis match consists of five sets: women’s and men’s singles, women’s and men’s doubles, and mixed doubles. Lets are played and no-ad scoring is used to keep play fast-paced and exciting. Every game counts for a point in the final score. Also, a team must win the last game of the last set of doubles to prevail – no matter how far it is ahead. Thus, many matches go into overtime and, occasionally, dramatic comebacks occur.

Prize money awarded to players during tournament play will be about $1 million. Top teams will vie for The King Trophy in the DuPont World TeamTennis Championship. For the first time, the championship will be held on Arthur Ashe Kids Day at the US Open on Saturday, August 26.

For further information on the Foxforce, call 1-877-FOX-FORCE (1-877-369-3672) or visit www.foxforce.com.

All Foxforce home matches begin at 6:30 pm.