The Texas Wild rounded out its roster with the completion of the players draft Tuesday in Indian Wells, Calif., putting in place the team that will lead the Wild in its inaugural Mylan World TeamTennis season in Irving.
Joining marquee players Mike and Bob Bryan will be Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia, former Wimbledon junior champion Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, Elena Bovina of Russia, and No. 14-ranked doubles specialist Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan.“The team we’ve assembled for our inaugural season in Texas not only has the capability to compete, but the probably to win a championship,” owner and general manager Jeff Launius said. “Adding to the strength of our marquee players Bob and Mike Bryan, our roster of Qureshi, Bogomolov, Bouchard and Bovina provides one of the best preseason rosters I’ve drafted in all of my years as an owner and general manager. This makes us a very competitive team in all aspects including singles, doubles and mixed.”It will be a homecoming for Bogomolov, who used to train in Irving when he was coached by Craig Kardon at the Four Seasons Resort and Club, site of the Wild’s home court. Bogomolov won the Challenger of Dallas in 2011 and went on to reach a career-high ATP ranking singles of No. 33. Bovina, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 14 in both singles and doubles, won the 2004 Australian Open mixed doubles title with Nenad Zimonjic and was a finalist at the French Open in mixed doubles with Mark Knowles in 2002.The 19-year-old Bouchard advanced to the Round of 16 at last year’s Texas Tennis Open in Grapevine. She is currently ranked No. 123.Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi was a finalist in both men’s and mixed doubles at the U.S. Open in 2010 and the semifinals in men’s doubles at the French Open last year.The Wild opens the season against Sacramento and Orange County on July 7-8 before making its home debut July 10 against Venus Williams and the defending champion Washington Kastles. During Tuesday’s draft the Kastles also selected former world No. 1 Martina Hingis, who will be in Irving to play the Wild on July 19.Season ticket packages, which include seven home matches and the option to buy playoff tickets if the team qualifies, go on sale Thursday. For more information go to Texaswildtennis.com or call 972-823-9453.Rusty Hall, 817-390-7816 Twitter: @RustyHall10s
