It’s not every tournament that sees a local pro like Darrin Cohen upset a Wimbledon doubles champ like top-seeded Jared Palmer. But that result was just one of the many highlights of the “One-on-One Rocking Doubles” event, held Jan. 22 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as group of local players duked it out while a blues band wailed in the lounge.

The Long Island tennis community is blessed to have some of the best indoor facilities and best coaches in the world right here in our backyard. Recently, Long Island Tennis Magazine spoke with some of these top coaches to get insight into their coaching/training strategies, what they look for in a great player, views on important local tennis topics, and a background in how they got into coaching.

I had a match point on my serve at the Tennis and Rockin’ Blues One-On-One Doubles tournament at the National Tennis Center (NTC) way past midnight. Upstairs, the band was playing a Jimi Hendrix song. Players and guests were enjoying a buffet dinner.