Doubles Anyone? Roger Federer May Not Play Doubles, But He Certainly Has One

When a young actor, who happened to be a perfect Roger Federer look-alike, wanted to learn to play tennis in order to complete the similarities to his counterpart, he needed only two things. One was a master teacher who, in a short period of time could give him those skills couched in classic form and secondly a quiet place to train.

So when Darren Cellemme, who had already made non-playing appearances at last year’s U.S. Open and Shea Stadium as a Federer double, met Marc Rosett, a life-long tennis teaching pro and coach, the first two pieces of the puzzle were in place. And when Peter Kaplan, owner of the Eastside Tennis Academy and Grassmere Inn in Westhampton Beach, offered his facilities to the pair as the home for their intensive training, the picture was complete.

When Marc, a young teaching pro in New England, took a promising sixteen year old junior from the ranks of beginner to those of a professional, he proposed attempting to complete the project in two months. Cellemme, already an accomplished baseball player and versatile athlete, eagerly agreed.

Training started in mid-March with long nights at the gym. The treadmill and exercise bicycle were the apparatus of choice used to get Darren out of his off-season funk and into pre-season shape for his first and future tennis season. Sessions on an indoor racquetball court, pantomiming his swing and form, knocked countless hours off the time he’d have to spend in the Spring once he stepped onto a real tennis court.

May 3 was the date of their first trip out to Peter Kaplan’s Eastside Tennis Academy for their first two-day training session of the spring. After waiting out an early-morning downpour, the pair enjoyed the fast-drying qualities of the Har-Tru courts out in Westhampton Beach, and ventured out onto the tennis court for their very first time around noon of that day.

The indoor training had paid off and with the form already partially ingrained, Darren started hitting the ball with some control and consistency. The rest, as they say, is history as over the next eight weeks, Darren added a topspin backhand, spin serve, and volley to his already famous forehand. His two-day training sessions, separated by a comfortable night of rest at the historic Grassmere Inn, averaged at least three hours a day of intensive instruction and practice.

On July 4, exactly two months after the completion of his first training session at the Academy, Darren donned the orange Nike shirt and white Federer headband, and walked down Main Street in Westhampton Beach, throngs of kids and teenagers flocked toward him to have their picture taken with their idol. With the real Roger Federer having had a rare early loss in the quarters of Wimbledon this year, it was conceivable and entirely possible that he was here in the states.

When large groups of teenage girls stopped, stared, and began whispering to each other, Darren was reminded that his physical resemblance to Mr. Federer, right down to his 6’1” frame, was intact. He was happy because now, with his newly-acquired tennis skills, he would be any casting director’s dream-candidate for the part of Mr. Federer.

Both student and teacher realized, however, that no one would confuse the two of them on the basis of his tennis game alone. Nonetheless, Marc was content that he had imparted classic form and an ease around the court to an actor/athlete who had the good-fortune to look like one of the greatest players of all time.

And Kaplan was happy because, although his Tennis Academy had always been known for catering to the special needs of its clients in the past, it had now carved out a new niche for itself as a place where actors, models, and artists could go to acquire the skills they needed to further their careers, in a quiet, retreat-like setting.

In a world of chance and fortune, the pieces of the puzzle had come together beautifully to bring this project to a successful conclusion. The pieces of the puzzle had all fit together – the pieces of the puzzle were all happy.