UT to Host Bates College in New One-on-One Format

(from TampaSpartans.com) TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa women’s tennis team will host Bates College in a newly designated one-on-one doubles format match. The NCAA has approved the match as a regular dual match between the teams on Thursday, February 21 beginning at 4 p.m.

Under the format, the teams will play eight-game sets of one-on-one doubles in place of singles and an eight-game set of doubles with the one-on-one doubles serve and volley rule in effect.

The Hillsborough County Tennis Association (HCTA) has been invited to come out and watch the match and then participate in a free one-on-one doubles clinic at the conclusion of the match.

Due to the significance and groundbreaking efforts of the match, the day will be called "One-on-One Doubles Day at The University of Tampa."

Admission will be free to the public. The festivities will take place at The University of Tampa tennis complex. For more information, please contact the UT tennis office at 813-257-3076 or adufaux@ut.edu.

One-on-One Doubles Day at the University of Tampa on Thursday, February 21st 4 -7pm

The University of Tampa Women's Tennis Team will compete against the Bates College Women's Team in the first One-on-One Doubles college tennis match. The NCAA has approved this new format of play for this dual match competition. The teams will play six matches using the half-court, serve and volley singles game, known as One-on-One Doubles, in place of the Singles matches. There will be three doubles matches to follow utilizing the serve and volley rules of One-on-One Doubles. Immediately following the college match, attending tennis fans and players will be treated to a free, one-hour tennis clinic to learn and play One-on-One Doubles. The clinic will be conducted by Ed Krass, founder and executive director, One-on-One Doubles, Al Dufaux, Head Women's Tennis Coach, University of Tampa, Paul Gastonguay, Head Tennis Coach, Bates College, and Coach Ray Belmudez, co-founder, Hillsborough County Tennis Association(HCTA). Complimentary Snacks and Refreshments. RSVP, by Feb. 19th or earlier to oneononedoubles@yahoo.com. For more information about the new game of Tennis, e-mail oneononedoubles@yahoo.com.

Tennis and Rockin' Blues continued

This very competitive game is designed for club play, junior tennis, college tennis, senior tennis, and league tennis. A player's skill level should be at a minimum 3.5 NTRP rating to compete effectively in competitions. One-on-One Doubles is truly an "in the trenches" type of competition. A steady diet of playing the new game, coupled with good coaching, will enhance players both technically and strategically. One-on-One Doubles forces players to be disciplined with their crosscourt shotmaking. The game also appeals to a player's creative side to hit all of the shots: serves, returns, first volleys, half-volleys, quick-volleys, lobs, overheads and groundstrokes. One-on-One Doubles will reveal who the best individual players are with their serve and volley and all-court skills. Playing One-on-One Doubles truly develops all-court confidence for today's competitive juniors. The game provides a competitive format of play combining both singles and doubles skills all within one game. The competitive boundaries for One-on-One Doubles is approximately 2/3 of a regular singles court, thus allowing for better serve and volley success. One-on-One Doubles showcases the athleticism, talent and variety of each player. For the adult doubles players who still want to be competitive, but who aren't thrilled about playing singles, One-on-One Doubles can be introduced as the new competitive format for singles play. Staying true to the game's serve and volley rules is certainly the ideal to maintain and revere within One-on-One Doubles competitions.

The game has been played on the ATP Challenger Tour, where Stefan Koubeck (who reached the third round of this year's U.S. Open) championed the tournament in a thrilling 6-5 win over Andy Lake (USTA Men's 30 National Grand Slam Champion) in front of a sold-out crowd at the BMW Tennis Championships in Sunrise, FL., in mid-March.

An hour television show, entitled "Tennis and Rockin' Blues Featuring College and Pro One-on-One Doubles" was shot at the USTA Men's Futures Championships in May in Tampa. National television airing dates are upcoming.

One-on-One Doubles Tournaments have been played to live, rockin' blues music. Just recently, there was a USPTA/Florida One-on-One Doubles tournament, played indoors with a tie-breaker format, to Marcel Anton's Blues Band. "The event was awesome! The future of blending tennis and entertainment is here with One-on-One Doubles," said Norm Schillinger, formerly ranked as high as #212 on the ATP Tour in 1986. At the USTA Men's Futures Event in Tampa, Kelly Jones reached the finals of the One-on-One Doubles professional tournament. Jones, formerly ranked #1 on the ATP Doubles Tour in 1992, said, "One-on-One Doubles is a great new game to bring into the forefront of American tennis. It's a great format of competition to get juniors coming into the net. The game gives them an opportunity to learn how to volley in a matchplay situation."

The new game also adds the same type of excitement to the women's game. Tami Whitlinger, former top ranked NCAA player from Stanford and as high as #41 on the WTA Tour, says, "We are not seeing much net play from our women and this game will be very exciting for the future of Women's Tennis!"

The College Tennis Exposure Camps (www.collegetennis.com), taught exclusively by head college coaches, have been using the One-on-One Doubles format of competition for our junior campers over the past four years. This past summer, the juniors trained and competed while listening to rockin' blues music. The music relaxed the players and allowed them to compete longer and harder with less negative thoughts. "I found that the juniors stay positive, focused and relaxed more when the music was playing," said Scott Wilkens, head men's tennis coach at Boston College.

Evan Dufaux, who plays for Vanderbilt University, competed in the One-on-One Doubles tournament in Tampa, as well. Dufaux defeated Tami Whitlinger in a "Battle of the Sexes" before losing to Sadik Kadir, the tournament's eventual champion who comes from Australia. Evan says the game is "great for skill development and is a lot of fun playing to the rockin' Blues!" J. Webb Horton, Tennis Director at Florida Gulf Coast University and member of the ITA Task Force to sanction One-on-One Doubles, says, "The whole concept of bringing tennis and the Blues together is a great combination with One-on-One Doubles. We're trying to get a whole new generation of kids to serve and volley."

Can tennis and Blues music fans unite to grow a new sports and entertainment showcase in the U.S.? Jorge Escallon, communications director for the ATP Tour, says "Entertainment is the policy of the ATP Tour events. ATP tournament directors need to be creative to add value to their menu of events." Tennis and Blues are joined by the sentiment that "Tennis players need to rock away their blues; you can't win all the time, sometimes you lose." Sounds like lyrics for an original song.

Capture the craze for the new game of tennis at www.oneononedoubles.com You will notice that the new theme song of the game pops out with some catchy lyrics, i.e., "feel the power, feel the heat, to serve and volley is the ultimate treat" and "on half a court your dreams come true when the low and quick volleys become part of you".

One-on-One Doubles coupled with Rockin'Blues makes for an exciting Sports and Entertainment Showcase ! The game is fast, energetic and fresh. Adding music to the game adds another twist that will enhance the Tennis Industry's efforts to eliminate the traditional, silent, stuffy, staid atmosphere currently associated with our great game of Tennis!

ONE-ON-ONE DOUBLES at the BMW TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Half-Court Serve and Volley Singles competition played on a Doubles court, otherwise known as One-on-One Doubles, made a successful first appearance on the ATP CHALLENGER TOUR. Stefan Koubek, former top 10 ATP Doubles player from Austria, defeated Andy Lake, former USTA National MEN's 30 & 35s Singles Champion from Florida, 6-5(7-5) in the main draw final. The packed stadium crowd of 2500 was treated to the new game's thrilling point play comprised of every shot in the book! The one set final was played just prior to the Men's Doubles Final. Ed Krass hosted two USPTA/USPTR ONE-ON-ONE DOUBLES Qualifying tournaments earlier in the week. Carlos Gomez Diaz and Whitney Kraft won the qualifying draws and were rewarded with wild-cards into the main draw of the One-on-One Doubles tournament. The tournament fans were treated to magnificient, live perfomances by THE SPOONBENDERS and THE ALBERT CASTIGLIA BAND over the weekend of World-Class Tennis held at the 2007 BMW TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS in Sunrise, Fl. at the Sunrise Tennis Club, March 11-18.

Knock Off That Racket: Even Tennis Players Get the Blues
By Sam Eifling

Broward-Palm Beach New Times (March 15-21, 2007 issue)

We'll just throw out the title of this event, because it more or less says it all: A Weekend of World-Class Tennis and Rockin' Blues. Seems confusing, perhaps, that someone would pair the sport of lanky-white-brat gentry with the music that became America's only redemption for the crimes of slavery. But consider this something for everyone. The BMW Tennis Championship is what's called an "ATP Challenger event," which ought to draw many aspiring somebodies and a few mid-ranking pros. After the string music, check out Fort Lauderdale's own Spoon Benders at the venue Saturday; on Sunday, it'll be the Albert Castiglia Band. Still don't believe the blues belong in tennis? The Spoon Benders' "Polygamy Blues" begins with this line: "My baby got three other men come creeping through her window late at night." What traveling tennis pro couldn't relate? Serve up your own backhanded compliments at the Sunrise Tennis Club (9605 W. Oakland Park Blvd., Sunrise) on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. or Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. The damage will be $15 on Saturday and $20 on Sunday, but a ticket stub from the Riverwalk Blues Festival or the Langerado Music Festival or a South Florida Blues Society I.D. will get you $5 off. Visit sunrisetennis.com.

USTA Florida to Pilot First One-on-One Doubles Tournament

USTA Florida has granted One-on-One Doubles its first adult tournament. USTA Florida One-on-One Doubles Championships will be hosted by the Harbour Island Athletic Club & Spa in Tampa May 19 from 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Men's 30+ and 40+ divisions will be the first to taste the game that is sweeping the tennis nation!

One-on-One Doubles is a half-court, serve and volley singles competition played on a doubles court. All points are played crosscourt with the alley included and players alternate points from the deuce court to the ad court. The goal is to play a match; an 8 game set, 10 game set, or best 2/3 sets. One-on-One Doubles truly develops all-court confidence for today's players.

Entry fee is $10 and $200 dollars will be awarded to the winners of each tournament with $100 given to the finalists. There will be no ranking points awarded for this historic tennis event and the tournament will run in conjunction with the $10,000 USTA Challenger tournament.

BMW is the first to include One-on-One Doubles as part of their 2007 BMW Tennis Championships on the ATP Challenger Tour, March 13-18, in Sunrise, Fl.

For more tournament information, call tournament director Ed Krass at 813-684-9031.

Qualify For One-on-One Doubles
By Tennis Week

One-on-One doubles is turning pro next month. You don't need a doubles partner to qualify for a wild card into the BMW One-on-One Doubles Championships. The One-on-One doubles format, which stresses serve-and-volley play in a match between singles players using half the court and doubles alley, will host two professional qualifying tournaments for entry into the BMW Tennis Championships in Sunrise, FL.

The qualifying events are scheduled from 4-7 p.m. on March 13 and from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on March 15.

Qualifying tournament winners will receive $200 and a wild card into the main draw of the BMW One-on-One Doubles Championships to be held on March 15 with the finalists playing on Sunday, March 18 right before the men's singles final.

The entry fee is $150 and it includes two box seats throughout the tournament, a tournament t-shirt, One-on-One Doubles DVD, food coupons, and reception parties. All players must be 4.0 NTRP minimum to enter. All USPTA and USPTR pros can enter the tournaments free of charge.

There will also be live performances by some of South Florida's finest rock and blues bands on the weekend of March 17-18.

The BMW Tennis Championships will showcase some of the ATP's top 50 players in the world. For more information on the One-on-One Doubles tournaments, please call (800) 446-2238. For more information about One-on-One Doubles, please visit www.oneononedoubles.com.

Drill growing into game of its own
by ANN LOPRINZI
TRENTON TIMES TENNIS COLUMNIST
Suppose you're really looking for a doubles game but only can come up with one other person. No problem. You can play One-on-One Doubles, a new format that is making its way into tennis circles around the country.

Coach Ed Krass, a former college coach who presently serves as the director of the College Tennis Academy in Florida, knew about this format that was used in drills for many years, but decided to take it a step further and turn it into a competition.

"I wanted to make it into a game in and of itself -- bring all the shots back into the game. Juniors need this badly. Adults can get a good workout and work on their doubles skills," said Krass.

One-on-One Doubles is a half-court, serve-and-volley competition played by two players. There is a line drawn through the middle of the court from the center service line to the middle of the baseline. On clay, one can use a regular court liner to make the line. On hard courts, chalk or white athletic trainers' tape can be used.

The server alternates serving from the deuce (right) court to the ad (left) court, just as in regular tennis, but all points are played crosscourt, with the alley included. Any ball that goes on the wrong side of the court is considered out. Players must serve and volley on both first and second serves, with half-volleys permitted. The returner can stay back or come to the net. The scoring can be best-of-three sets, or one eight- or 10-game set.

This is considered ideal for high school, college or a high level of play. It's also been found effective for seniors looking to play singles in more of a doubles format, in club play or league tennis. It can be used in practice or competition. It may be difficult for players rated 3.5 (intermediate) and below, so those players can relax the rules about coming to net on every point. It depends not only on the player's skill level but the age factor, athleticism, and in some cases, the coach's preference.

Krass first showcased One-on-One Doubles in a presentation to the U.S. Military Academy in 2003. Since then, he has presented it at many conventions, including the recent Tennis Teachers Conference in New York during the U.S. Open. The feedback has been very positive. At an upcoming Intercollegiate Tennis Association convention, he will run a One-on-One Doubles Tournament.

Dave Brown, a USPTA Master Professional in Florida, used it as an added feature in a national 35-and-over tournament he ran in November with great success. He sees it as a way to make players into all-court players. The USTA Florida section has committed to running some of these events.

To play One-on-One Doubles, you would have to use more lobs and overheads, hit balls at the opponent's feet, and bring back those touch shots. In other words, creativity is the name of the game. Many junior players slug it out from the baseline and are uncomfortable at the net. This game will help those kids get more comfortable in coming to the net more often. The competitive boundaries are approximately two-thirds of a regular singles court, thus allowing for a high level of serve-and-volley success.

If there is a downside to One-on-One Doubles, it's that it clearly exposes weaknesses, particularly in volleying. Then again, playing this format should increase volleying skills. What it also showcases is the athleticism, talent and shot variety of each player.

Krass' ultimate goal would be to see One-on-One Doubles sanctioned where players can compete and get a ranking. Eventually he would love to see it used on the pro tour.

To learn more, go to oneononedoubles.com.

Contact Times tennis columnist Ann LoPrinzi at annlop@optonline.net.

One-on-One Doubles® competition in Daytona Beach

This year's Men's 35 and over National Clay Court Championship Nov. 3-8 at the Florida Tennis Center Daytona Beach will have an added feature - a One-on-One Doubles tournament that will take place the day before the event begins - Thursday, Nov. 2 from 3-8 p.m.! One-on-One Doubles is the first alternative competitive format to singles and doubles since the inception of the game in the 1870s! City of Daytona Beach Director of Tennis and tournament director, USPTA Master Professional Dave Brown is excited about hosting the 2006 tournament with this new addition. "It is going to be a great prelude to one of the nation's foremost national championships," he said.

One-on-One Doubles is a half-court, serve and volley competition played between two players. There is a divisible line drawn through the middle of the court from the center service line to the middle of the baseline. On clay, a regular court liner can be used to make this divisible line through the middle; on hard courts, chalk or white athletic/trainers' tape can be used to mark the middle line. The rules of One-on-One Doubles:
· Play a match (8 game set, 10 game set, or 2/3 sets).
· Players alternate points from the deuce court to the ad court.
· All points are played crosscourt with the alley included.
· All players must serve and volley on both first and second serves.
· Half-volleys are permitted.
· The player who returns can stay back or come into the net.
· NOTE: All USTA and ITF rules apply

This very competitive game is designed for club play, junior tennis, college tennis, senior tennis, and league tennis. One-on-One Doubles will reveal who the best individual players are with their serve and volley and all-court doubles skills. One-on-One Doubles allows players to develop their all-count game: serve, return, first volley, half-volley, drop volley, lob, and overhead.

One-on-One Doubles truly develops all-court confidence for today's competitive players. The game also provides a competitive format for those who enjoy combining both their singles and doubles skills all within one game. The competitive boundaries for One-on-One Doubles is approximately 2/3 of a regular singles court, thus allowing for a high level of serve and volley success. One-on-One Doubles showcases the athleticism, talent and variety of each player.

"This new format will be an excellent way for great players who come here from all around the country to get used to our climate and clay courts before the main championship is underway," Brown said. $1,000 will go to the winner and $300 to the finalist of the One-on-One Doubles kick-off event. Questions or more information: Dave Brown (386) 671-8903

One-on-One Doubles® is a registered trademark of One-on-One Doubles, LLC, managing member Ed Krass.