2017 New York Empire season

The 2017 New York Empire season was the second season of the franchise in World TeamTennis (WTT). The Empire finished third in WTT with a record of 7 wins and 7 losses.

Marquee Draft, a new home court and a new general manager
The Empire had the first selection in each round of WTT's 2017 drafts due to finishing the 2016 season in sixth place. The Empire traded the first overall selection in the Marquee Draft to the Springfield Lasers for the second overall pick and undisclosed consideration. The Lasers used that pick to select Jack Sock. With the second selection in the first round, the Empire chose Eugenie Bouchard and left Andy Roddick unprotected. In the second round, the Empire selected John Isner, who had been left unprotected by the Lasers. The Empire's third round selection was Mardy Fish, who had been left unprotected by the Washington Kastles.

After playing its inaugural season at Forest Hills Stadium, the Empire announced at the draft that its 2017 home matches would be played on Court 17 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens, New York City. The stadium has seating for 2,800 fans and is easily accessible by public transportation. Parking is available on premises. The Empire also introduced its new general manager, Michele Cope, who said "Court 17 is a great showcase court for New York Empire matches. Fans will be close to great professional team competition, and also enjoy a fan-friendly and entertaining atmosphere."

Gigi Fernández named new head coach
On March 1, the Empire named International Tennis Hall of Famer Gigi Fernández as the team's new head coach, replacing Patrick McEnroe. Fernández said, "This is going to be a fantastic summer for the New York Empire with a really strong team that already includes John [Isner], Genie [Bouchard] and Mardy [Fish]. We'll finalize the remainder of the roster very soon, and then it's time to start thinking about match strategy. I really can't wait to work with these amazing athletes." McEnroe had recently taken a position with Sportime NY as co-director of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy.

A third-place finish
The Empire finished its second season in the league with a 7–7 record, more than tripling its win total from 2016. The team started off the season on July 16 with a thrilling home win over the Philadelphia Freedoms, which marquee player John Isner clinched with a 5–2 final set win in men's singles over Donald Young. The next night, the Empire traveled to Philadelphia and beat the Freedoms once again, with Mardy Fish taking down Young in a winner-take-all tiebreak in the final set.

Having already achieved last season's win total after two matches, the Empire looked to keep the momentum going in Washington. Fish overcame a two-game deficit to push the match into a deciding supertiebreak, but came up short against Frances Tiafoe to hand the Empire its first loss of the season. After a 25–13 loss at home to Philadelphia, the Empire were able to get back above .500 by winning at home against the Orange County Breakers in a match that was moved indoors due to rain.

The team then went on the road for a week, losing two matches in California before beating both Philadelphia and Washington. It returned home on July 27 with a 5–4 record, but despite the presence of Eugenie Bouchard, it was again swept by the Breakers and San Diego Aviators. Knowing that it would need to win the rest of its matches to have a chance at qualifying for the WTT Finals, the Empire had a convincing 25–18 win over Washington before closing out its home schedule with a memorable win over the Springfield Lasers, in which Marcus Willis saved a match point and defeated Benjamin Becker in a final-set tiebreak.

At 7–6, the Empire's playoff hopes were slim, but still alive, as the team traveled to Springfield to play its final match of the season. Needing a win and losses from both the Aviators and Breakers, the Empire won two of the first three sets. The match was eventually decided in a Supertiebreak, where New York's Kirsten Flipkens lost to Sorana Cîrstea, ending the Empire's playoff hopes but at the same time clinching the franchise's first-ever Top 3 finish. Orange County and San Diego’ s subsequent wins meant that the Empire finished the season 2 matches out of first place.

Event chronology

 * February 16, 2017: The Empire selected Eugenie Bouchard, John Isner and Mardy Fish and left Andy Roddick unprotected at the WTT Marquee Player Draft.
 * February 16, 2017: The Empire announced that its home matches would be played at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center starting with the 2017 season.
 * February 16, 2017: The Empire introduced Michele Cope as the team's new general manager.
 * March 1, 2017: The Empire named Gigi Fernández the team's new head coach, replacing Patrick McEnroe.

Draft picks
Since the Empire had the worst record in WTT in 2016, it had the first selection in each round of the league's drafts.

Marquee Player Draft
The Empire traded the first overall selection in the Marquee Player Draft to the Springfield Lasers in exchange for the second overall pick and undisclosed consideration. The selections made by the Empire are shown in the table below.

Statistics
Players are listed in order of their game-winning percentage provided they played in at least 40% of the Empire's games in that event, which is the WTT minimum for qualification for league leaders in individual statistical categories.


 * Men's singles


 * Women's singles


 * Men's doubles


 * Women's doubles


 * Mixed doubles


 * Team totals

Transactions

 * February 16, 2017: The Empire selected Eugenie Bouchard, John Isner and Mardy Fish and left Andy Roddick unprotected at the WTT Marquee Player Draft.