Beach tennis causes a racket
By JASON PROPST
Jun 28, 2007

FCTC hosts beach tennis tournament

The first Marino Family Carolina Beach Tennis Open was June 23rd at the Family Circle Tennis Center. Over 100 individuals from many different parts of the globe came out to participate in the one-day event, which also brought out many fans and those that were just interested in learning more about the sport and how it is played.

Beach tennis is basically tennis played on sand, with most of the same rules that you would find in any tennis match that is played on grass, concrete or clay, with one glaring difference being that the ball cannot touch the ground.

All beach tennis matches are doubles matches and are played on the same size court as beach volleyball but with a higher net than found in standard tennis. The standard tennis net height is 42 inches, while the net height for beach tennis is 74 inches. The court is marked off in the sand with a type of plastic so that the players know where the in and out lines are. Only one hit per team is allowed and unlike tennis, you only get one chance to score during the serve.

The ball in beach tennis is also somewhat different in that it contains half the pressure of a regular tennis ball. This is designed to keep the speed of serves down and allow for more competitive rallying during the matches.

While the sport had no real known origins, its play here in the United States can be traced back to one individual. In 2003, a New York businessman named Marc Altheim was vacationing in Aruba when he saw an odd game being played on the beach that appeared to be a mixture of tennis and beach volleyball. After planning many more vacations to Aruba just to play the game, Altheim started recruiting family, friends and other interested parties to help him form Beach Tennis USA, LLC. He also worked to establish a national governing body for the sport, anticipating that it would grow into a competitively and professionally. The first-ever professional beach tennis tournament was held in Charleston back in May of 2005. Since that event, the professional tour has grown its roster up to about 200 individuals including all different ages, gender and body types.

"We have a lot of former ATP tennis players that use this sport to continue playing the game of tennis competitively", said John Rarrick, the vice president of business development for Beach Tennis USA. "We hold about 10 events every year along with our national championship tournament that is held in New York City. Right now we have a television deal with Comcast Sports and the Tennis Channel and we are broadcast in about 17 million households". Rarrick indicated that the sport would most likely be available to watch in the Charleston market sometime next year.

The one-day tournament was held on six different sand courts that were actually constructed specifically for this event. Five of the six courts were built to be temporary, but one court was constructed to be a permanent structure at the Family Circle Tennis Center, thus allowing people the opportunity to play, practice or learn the sport without having to actually go to the beach.

"The game is played with a regular tennis racket," said Rarrick. "It is a low cost, fun way for anyone, at any age to get out and have some fun."

The prizes for winning one of the one-day tournaments can range from $1,000 up to $20,000 depending on the size of the event. The entry fees range from $15 per player for children and amateurs, to $25 per player for professionals. Saturday’s tournament marked the first one to be played on Daniel Island, but Rarrick indicated that they anticipate having a tournament here for many years to come.

Two Charleston residents, Phil Whitesell and Chris Henderson, currently hold the title of national champions on the professional tour. The team participated in Saturday’s tournament and is working to get more publicity and interest in the sport in the Charleston area.

"This is a great event for us," said Whitesell. "We have about 102 people playing in this tournament. We have 24 professional teams, 16 amateur teams, 10 teams of women and even a couple of kid’s teams. We would have liked to have seen more, but this is a good crowd."

Whitesell and Henderson would go on to win the professional /amateur division of the Saturday’s tournament by beating Timo Seibert and Matt Hane, also of Charleston. Whitesell and Henderson are now eligible to compete in the national championship matches in September in New York.


In the women’s division, Diane Fishburne of Charleston and Mary Dailey of Miami defeated Gabriella Moreira of Brazil and Maxine Capewell of England to capture the tournament championship.

For information on upcoming tournaments, how to get involved with local beach tennis organizations or to learn more about the sport, go to www.beachtennisusa.net


Winners:

Men’s Professional Division
Two-time defending National Beach Tennis Champions Chris Henderson & Phil Whitesell def. local tennis Pros Matt Hane and Timo Seibert (Final Score: 8-5).

Women’s Professional Division
Diane Fishburne of Charleston and Mary Daily of Miami def. Maxine Capewell of England and Gabriella Moreira of Brazil (Final Score: 8-4).

Amateur Division
Alex Nista of Charleston and Trey Halbauer defeated the entire field of sixteen teams in ten rounds of Round Robin play.

Kid’s Division
Local junior tennis standout Anderson Scarpa and Hunter Hayes defeated the entire field of twelve teams in ten rounds of Round Robin play.

**There will be another Marino Family Carolina Beach Tennis Open event (men’s & women’s divisions only) on Sunday, August 5th at the Windjammer on I.O.P. Visit www.BeachTennisUSA.net for more info or to register for this event.

Photos:  Mike Saia

Phil Whitesell Leaps For An Overhead	Chris Henderson Rips A Serve
Men's Pro Divison Competitors	Men's Pro Divison Competitors
Maxine Capewell Makes a Perfect Volley	Gabriella Moreira Returns A Serve
Diane Fishburne Lines Up A Shot	What A Serve!
Matt Hane Leaps For An Overhead	Men's Pro Player Bends Out Of The Way
Amatuers Going All Out	College Of Charleston Player Makes A Shot
College Of Charleston Group Photo	Spectators Enjoy The Action
Timo Seibert Give Advice To The Youth	Champions And Finalists
Phil Whitesell And Chris Henderson	Amatuer Champions
Women's Pro Division Champions	Women's Pro Division Finalists