Steve Bellamy has done it again. Bellamy is a former rocker, musician, and now a tennis entrepreneur and a decent role model for anyone conducting business within the industry of tennis. Bellamy, Founder of the Tennis Channel and a lot of other cool stuff, is hosting a tennis tournament in Los Angeles and it is an idea that I absolutely love. The event is today from 3pm-6pm West Coast time so pack a bag if you're game right now.Players like Tommy Haas, Vincent Spadea, Sam Querrey, Donald Young, Ashley Harkleroad and Alexandra Stevenson are competing in the inagural tournament called the Shotgun 21 World Champiosnhips, where men and women will play each other. It will be a one-day tournament lasting less than 3 hours and offers a purse of more than 20K in prize money, and 10K going to the champ with a limited edition Fender Stratocaster. There is a 32 player draw with 28 selected and a qualifier for the bottom 4 spots that is open to the public at the Palisades Tennis Center.
The rules are different and are genius in my opinion. No overhand serve, second serves or lets, and the winner is the first to 21 with no ad or deuce scoring. It is not win by 2 either, just first one to 21, keeping it simple. All serving is drop hit from below the waist. The players in the field include celebs like Gavin Rossdale, Sara Foster and others. Haas is the obvious favorite to win this but it will not be easy since he cannot serve regularly. Women are just as consistent as men and generally keep the ball in play longer off the ground which is why the rules level the playing field.
The first tournament where men and women played each other was in 1973 in a match between old washed up and retired sugar daddy Bobby Riggs and superstar Billie Jean King at the peak of her game who won easily in three straight sets.
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