One-On-One Doubles to Roll Out Club, College and Pro Tournaments

One-On-One Doubles® Tennis, the crosscourt singles competition (that includes the doubles alley), continues to grow and evolve. As an alternative to normal singles and doubles play, One-On-One Doubles is  a competitive tennis format that awards players a two-point bonus for executing winning volleys and overheads the opponent cannot touch. One-On-One Doubles tournaments have been sanctioned by the USTA Florida, USTA Eastern and USTA Georgia Sections since the game’s inception in 2004. College Coaches and tournament directors alike can now run One-On-One Doubles Tournaments at their facilities. 

Andy Gladstone, USTA Florida Adult Play Coordinator, said: “I have always been a big fan of One-On-One Doubles. It is so much fun to play and it adds a new format to our game which can improve players of all levels. One-On-One Doubles hits a homerun with its two-point rule, as the NBA adopted the three-point shot years ago”.

“The game of One-On-One Doubles is now ready for the tennis masses to play and enjoy. The game’s tournament format will help the 3.0 to 4.0 NTRP players become even better players. I appreciate former #2 ATP player Tommy Haas’ advice to make this game serve-and-volley optional with the addition of the two point bonus,” said Ed Krass, the game’s founder. 

Krass, who coached collegiately at Harvard and Clemson, is the only coach to win both the Ivy League & ACC conference titles all six years he coached at both schools. Krass’ College Tennis Exposure Camps are entering their 32nd summer season. They are taught exclusively by head college coaches for aspiring college tennis players.

The One-On-One Doubles tournament format has been played at the ITA Coaches Convention since 2004. Due to the game’s popularity amongst college coaches, it is now being played on college tennis facilities nationwide.

In an effort to raise funding for tennis facilities and college tennis teams, One-On-One Doubles, Inc. and the game’s founder, Ed Krass, will work with college coaches and club directors to help publicize the tournaments. 

“Our office will be coordinating all efforts with the college coaches and tennis club directors to publicize these events with results published on the game’s website at www.oneononedoubles.com,” said Krass. “The tournament’s finalists and participating sponsors will receive national recognition on the game’s website with photos and results being published. The One-On-One Doubles Tournaments are fan friendly, coaching is allowed and music is played to give the tournament a fun atmosphere.”

The first series of One-On-One Doubles tournaments were held in Tampa, Fl. in 2004. Peter Doohan, the player who upset Boris Becker at the 1987 Wimbledon tournament, was the very first One-On-One Doubles tournament registrant in 2004. 

Other top players who have competed in One-On-One Doubles tournaments have included ATP legends Ernest Gulbis, Johan Kriek, Mikael Pernfors, Roscoe Tanner, Emilio Sanchez, Luke Jensen, Murphy Jensen, Mel Purcell,Tim Wilkison, Jared Palmer, David Martin, Christopher Kas and recent WTA Doubles champion, Asia Muhammed. The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center has also hosted four One-On-One Doubles Tournaments since the game’s inception. 

“I had such a great time playing in the One-On-One Doubles Tournaments,” said Jared Palmer, 2001 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.”The format is a lot of fun! I had so many great points where I had to pull out every shot in the book to try and get an advantage. Players of all levels should get out and play One-On-One Doubles.”

One-On-One Doubles tournaments have been played at ITA, USTA, USPTA and ATP national events.

“If I were to rank racquet sports on degree of difficulty here is the order that I would choose: Singles, One-On-One Doubles Tennis, Doubles, Squash, Paddle Tennis, Racketball, Pickleball and Table Tennis,” said Scott Williams, an author and long-time coach and advisor to Tommy Haas.

The events have been televised on prominent networks such as Tennis Channel, Fox College Sports, NESN and Fox Sports Florida. 

“It has been a pleasure broadcasting One-On-One Doubles on the National TV stage. The competition and format is perfect for Network TV and a positive addition for the sport of Tennis,” said Harry Cicma, Emmy Award Winning Executive Producer & CEO of Harry Cicma Productions LLC. 

The fundraising tournaments, played in a round-robin format, guarantees each player three matches. Each match are short, no-ad sets, where the winner is the first to win four games and tiebreakers played at 3-3. College and professional matches can be formatted for a 30-minute-to-one-hour television slot.

One-On-One Doubles tournament fundraisers can be held on college campuses and at all public and private facilities. The tournaments are open to all levels, ages and genders. Each tournament will be announced on the site with tournament results published, giving the club players national recognition. 

The events can be licensed for $90 per tournament for the first 50 clubs, with a special 25 percent discount for USPTA and PTR professionals. For more information on the One-On-One Doubles tournaments, special events and sponsorship opportunities, call Ed Krass at (813) 478-3384, e-mail oneononedoubles@yahoo.com or visit www.OneOnOneDoubles.com.