Breakers Pick Newport Woman in World Team Tennis Draft

The Orange County Breakers selected Newport Beach resident Coco Vandeweghe and former Orange High School and USC star Steve Johnson in this week's World Team Tennis draft.

The Breakers used the second choice in the exempt portion of the draft to select Vandeweghe, 99th in the Women's Tennis Association singles rankings who was a finalist in the 2012 Bank of the West Classic and is a niece of former NBA player and executive Kiki Vandeweghe.

The exempt portion of draft applies to players who have played in the Federation Cup or Davis Cup or are highly ranked.

The Breakers chose Johnson with the fifth choice in the first round of the roster draft. Johnson was the 2011 and 2012 NCAA men's singles champion and helped the Trojans win four consecutive team championships.

"I'm really looking forward to once again being part of a team atmosphere, especially here in Orange County," Johnson said.

The Breakers traded their second-round choice to the Texas Wild in exchange for financial consideration and the second choice in the third round, which they used to select Maria Elena Camerin, a three-time doubles champion on the WTA Tour who represented Italy in the 2004 Olympics.

The Breakers traded their third-round choice to the Boston Breakers in exchange for financial consideration and the third choice in the fourth round, which they used to select Treat Huey, 36th in the Association of Tennis Professionals doubles rankings.

The Breakers passed on their own fourth-round choice.

The Breakers are scheduled to open their season July 7 by playing host to the Philadelphia Freedoms at the Bren Events Center at UC Irvine.

-City News Service