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NEW YORK — Serena Williams, who recently won her 10th Grand Slam singles title, will return to the Washington Kastles after being selected as the top pick Tuesday in the World Team Tennis marquee draft.

She’ll headline the roster for the Kastles, who enter their second season with the 10-team summer league. Williams won the Australian Open and regained the No. 1 ranking over the weekend.

Venus Williams (Philadelphia), John McEnroe (New York Sportimes), Anna Kournikova (St. Louis), Michael Chang (Sacramento), Bob and Mike Bryan (Kansas City) and Martina Navratilova (Boston) will play during the season, which runs July 2-26.

Serena Williams will play four matches, one at home in Washington, D.C., and roadmatches at Philadelphia, Boston and Randall’s Island in New York City, the new home of the Sportimes.

Navratilova returns for a league-record 20th season and will play a home match in Boston and road matches against the Sportimes and New York Buzz (Albany, N.Y.).

The coed professional league, co-founded by Billie Jean King, enters its 34th season. The relaxed atmosphere includes mascots, coaches and music between games. The league features teams of two men and two women, on-court coaching, super-tiebreaks, instant replay and no-ad scoring.

Last month, the U.S. Tennis Association became a minority owner in WTT in an effort to expand the marketing of its Junior Team Tennis program.

The WTT schedule will be announced later this month, and lineups will be completed with the roster draft on March 31. This year, the WTT champions will be recognized during the U.S. Open.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press