Stony Brook Hosts Collegiate Women’s ONE-ON-ONE DOUBLES® Event

September 20, 2010 | By Gary Simeone
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Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

Girls from 10 major college teams took part in a new and innovative form of tennis at Stony Brook University on Sunday, Sept. 19. ONE-ON-ONE DOUBLES®, as it is called, is a half-court serve and volley singles game played on a doubles court. Two players challenge each other in a singles match. The second match waits a second after the first match has finished their point to start playing. There is an invisible line drawn through the middle of the court from the center service line to the middle of the baseline.

The game was invented by Ed Krass, founder and director of College Tennis Exposure camps and former Harvard University Women’s Tennis team coach. "The scoring is the same as regular tennis. It is the first person to six games with a tie-breaker played at five-all. It is a little bit different format, but a very exciting game particularly at the collegiate level."

"It really highlights the importance of serve and return," said Army’s Anne Houghton who has won back to back championships. "It is more aggressive with a lot of moving forward towards the net. Females for the most part have a tendency to stay back away from the net but with one on one doubles you can’t do that and expext to win."

"We’ve played this format in some of our practices," said Lehigh’s Patricia Muething. "It is fast-paced and exciting and is good practice for regular doubles."

"It is a whole new type of game," said this year’s runner-up, Katherine Hanson from Stony Brook. "It is a lot of fun and puts pressure on the player to move towards the net."

Stony Brook Head Coach Gary Glassman helped bring the game to the Long Island area.

"This is our third year doing this," said Coach Glassman. "It helps take a lot of kids out of their comfort zone and brings them forward towards net. It is great for working on that first volley."

"This is just the tip of the iceberg for us," said Coach Krass. "Our next step is to bring more exposure to the game at the professional level. Having some of the top players involved with is one of our main goals. We know the USTA is excited about this so from here we can only go forward."

All photos credited to Kenneth B. Goldberg

Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

 

Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

 

Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

 

Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

 

Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

 

Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg


Gary Simeone
Writing Intern/Public Relations Associate

 Gary Simeone is writing intern/public relations associate for Long Island Tennis Magazine.

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