The 2015 Boston Lobsters season was the 11th and final season of the franchise (in its current incarnation) in World TeamTennis (WTT).
The Lobsters rebounded somewhat from their dismal 2014 season with 5 wins and 9 losses and narrowly missed qualifying for the WTT playoffs. The Lobsters were eliminated on the final day of the regular season when they lost to the Washington Kastles, 22–14.
On February 17, 2016, WTT announced that it had been unable to find a new owner for the Lobsters, and the franchise had folded.
Season recap
Takeover of team by WTT
In early 2015, WTT took over operations of the Lobsters from former owner Bahar Uttam who retired from the sports business and walked away from the team. WTT began seeking a new local owner or ownership group for the Lobsters. By the end of the 2015 season, WTT commissioner Ilana Kloss said the league had had conversations with several interested buyers in New England. WTT's asking price for the Lobsters was US$1 million. Kloss said, "I think that’s probably the price we believe a team should be valued at."
Trade of Isner and draft
Prior to the WTT Draft on March 16, 2015, the Lobsters traded the top-ranked American player John Isner to the Springfield Lasers for undisclosed consideration which was presumably financial, since no other players or draft choices were moved in connection with the deal. The Lobsters used the first overall pick in the marquee portion of the draft to select Eugenie Bouchard. In the roster portion of the draft, the Lobsters didn't protect any players from their 2014 roster. They selected Irina Falconi, Scott Lipsky, Chase Buchanan and Arantxa Parra Santonja. Lipsky played with the team in 2014, as a substitute player but only appeared in two matches and could not be protected by the Lobsters in the draft.
Other player transactions
On July 9, 2015, the Lobsters announced that they had signed Alex Kuznetsov as a substitute player to replace Chase Buchanan who was injured and expected to miss the first six matches of the season.
On July 20, 2015, the Lobsters signed Tim Smyczek as a substitute player.
On July 21, 2015, the Lobsters signed Maria Sanchez as a substitute player.
On July 25, 2015, the Lobsters signed Jason Jung as a substitute player.
On July 28, 2015, the Lobsters signed Christian Harrison as a substitute player.
A strong first half
After losing their first two matches of the season, both at home, the Lobsters turned things around by winning the next three straight and four of the next five to give themselves 4 wins and 3 losses at the midway point. Three of those four wins came on the road.
The Lobsters' first win of the season came on July 14, when they visited the Springfield Lasers. The Lobsters won the first four sets. Alex Kuznetsov got things started by taking the men's singles and later teamed with Scott Lipsky to win a tiebreaker in the men's doubles set. Irina Falconi won a tiebreaker in the women's singles set and them paired with Arantxa Parra Santonja for a 5–0 set win in women's doubles that gave the Lobsters a 20–11 lead heading to the final set. In the mixed doubles set, Lipsky and Parra lost a tiebreaker that sent the match to extended play with the Lobsters leading 24–16. After getting broken in the opening game of extended play, Lipsky and Parra held serve in the third game to give the Lobsters a 25–18 victory.
The following evening, the Lobsters returned home to play the San Diego Aviators and put on their most dominating performance of the season. They won all five sets and cruised to a 25–13 victory. Kuznetsov opened the match with a 5–2 set win in men's singles and later joined Lipsky to take a tiebreaker in men's doubles. Falconi own the women's singles, 5–3, and teamed with Parra for a 5–2 set win in women's doubles. Parra and Lipsky closed out the match with a 5–2 mixed doubles set win.
The Lobsters' third straight win came on the road against the Philadelphia Freedoms on July 16. Trailing 12–11 after three sets, Falconi won the women's singles set, 5–2, to put the Lobsters in front 16–14. Lipsky and Kuznetsov closed out the match with a 5–3 set win in men's doubles that gave the Lobsters a 21–17 victory. Coming off a season in which they won only one of 14 matches, the Lobsters now found themselves with 3 wins and 2 losses and in first place in the Eastern Conference.