NEW YORK — Canada will be well represented in the relaunch of World Team Tennis.

Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., was named to the Toronto North Racquet Club on Thursday, as the mixed-gender professional tennis league outlined three of its teams and their star players when it restarts this December. Jessica Pegula will represent the New York Empire and Tommy Paul will be a member of the Florida Flamingos.

“Our goal has always been to modernize WTT’s incredible legacy and reshape our brands to create something as cool as it was back in the day,” said WTT chief executive officer Stephen Amritraj. “Our view is that tennis’ popularity starts with the best players in the world, but has always extended well beyond the court into lifestyle and culture.

“That’s why we prioritized creative direction for our teams, developing unique identities that fans and players will connect with and want to be a part of.”

Each player has a personal connection to their club. Shapovalov is from a Toronto suburb, Paul has lived in Boca Raton, Fla., since he was a teenager, and Pegula was born in Buffalo, N.Y. Her parents own the NFL’s Bills and NHL’s Sabres, among other sports properties in western New York.

WTT was founded by women’s tennis pioneer Billie Jean King in 1974.

There have been two previous iterations of the league: the original competed from 1974 to 1978, while the second ran from 1991 to 2021, when play was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Toronto North RC marks the return of professional team tennis to the Golden Horseshoe since the Toronto-Buffalo Royals competed in WTT’s inaugural 1974 season. Its crest features a moose with six antlers representing Toronto’s six districts.

Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., will host the new WTT’s opening night, before the league heads to Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, and Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla., later in December.

“Tennis Canada is excited to support World Team Tennis’s return and to welcome the event to Toronto,” said Gavin Ziv, chief executive officer of Tennis Canada, in a statement on July 22. “Over one million new tennis players hit the courts in Canada last year, and that is, in part, because Canadians are inspired to pick up a racquet by watching the world’s best in action on home soil.

“We look forward to providing tennis fans with a new event to experience, and we expect several Canadian players to take part, meaning they will have a home team to rally behind.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2026.