World TeamTennis: Sacramento selects Butorac in draft

World TeamTennis normally isn't associated with pressure.

It's that fun league with a three-week regular season and no ranking points at stake.

Eric Butorac, though, will feel some heat this summer - literally and figuratively. His assignment will be to replace doubles star Mark Knowles and help the Capitals retain their WTT title.

Sacramento selected Butorac, a 6-foot-3 left-hander from Rochester, Minn., in the second round of Tuesday's WTT draft in Miami.

Knowles - a three-time Grand Slam doubles champion, former world No. 1 in doubles, three-time WTT Male MVP and Sacramento tennis institution - will sit out most or all of the July season because his wife is expecting their second child then.

Butorac, who will make his WTT debut, admitted he'll feel pressure.

"(Knowles) is one of the best doubles players in the world," he said. "He's had an unbelievable career and a lot of success in team tennis. I have big shoes to fill, but I'm one of the better up-and-coming doubles players, and it'll be great playing with Sam (Warburg)."

The 26-year-old Butorac is ranked 45th in the world in doubles, down from a career-high No. 30 in February, and unranked in singles. He has won three ATP Tour doubles titles, all last year.

Butorac accomplished a rare feat in early 2007. He won doubles titles in three consecutive weeks, first in a "minor-league" tournament in Dallas and then in the "major leagues" in San Jose and Memphis. His partner each time was Scotland's Jamie Murray, the older brother of 13th-ranked (and former top-10) singles player Andy Murray.

The Capitals protected Elena Likhovtseva, the 2005 WTT Female MVP, in the first round of the WTT draft and Warburg, a lifelong Sacramentan, in the fourth and final round. Likhovtseva, 32, will return for her eighth season with the Capitals and Warburg, 24, for his fourth.

Granite Bay resident Dmitry Tursunov will play one match for the Capitals this season, July 11 against the Springfield (Mo.) Lasers at Allstate Stadium in Roseville.

Tursunov, a Moscow native ranked 35th in the world (career-high 20th in 2006), won at Sydney in January for his fourth career singles title.

Sacramento selected Tammy Hendler, a 15-year-old Belgian who has trained with famed coach Nick Bollettieri in Bradenton, Fla., in the third round. She is the 18th-ranked junior girl in the world (career-high 5th) and already has represented her country in the women's Fed Cup three times.

It is the fourth time in five years the Capitals have drafted a girl 15 or younger. Hendler will replace Michelle Larcher de Brito, 15, who chose to compete on the women's circuit to further improve her world ranking of No. 255.

"Mark Knowles will be missed, no question," Capitals co-owner Lonnie Nielson said. "Sam, Elena and Butorac give us a good nucleus, and the youngster will be up to playing with the core group. We have a good shot at another title."

The Capitals open the season July 3 at 7:30 p.m. against Newport Beach at Allstate Stadium at the Galleria in Roseville. They will host WTT Championship Weekend for the second consecutive year July 24-27, receiving an automatic berth in the five-team field.