It’s not often that the tickets to a playoff matchup cost less than those of the regular season — especially for a first-place team coming off a near-sellout in its final match.  But World TeamTennis has been breaking convention and providing family-friendly entertainment for 35 years, the brainchild of none other than Billie Jean King.

So maybe it’s not such a surprise that the New York Sportimes, batting down to the wire for first place in the WTT Eastern Division and the accompanying home match on Friday at 7 p.m. in the playoff semifinals, is offering fans $10 general admission tickets (and kids 12 and under free) as a “thank you” for a month that has included great crowds and exciting tennis.

Should the Sportimes win their match at Newport Beach (yes, that Newport Beach, in California), they’ll make the quickie return to Randall’s Island in Manhattan, to their home courts at Sportime, the home of the new John McEnroe Tennis Academy, for the semifinal.

The All-American team of Abigail Spears (pictured), Ashley Harkleroad, Jesse Witten and Robert Kendrick, coached by Chuck Adams with the occasional playing appearance of McEnroe (four matches) and Kim Clijsters (one) has compiled an 8-5 mark to date, a slim slim 1/2 games ahead of second place Washington and a game ahead of Boston.  The top two teams in each division qualify for the playoffs, Sunday in Kansas City.

Fans can click here for details on how to take advantage of the $10 offer.