Tennis promoter has new battle of the sexes planned

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Imagine Roger Federer (left) playing Serena Williams (right) head-to-head.

Or Rafael Nadal facing Maria Sharapova on a tennis court one-on-one.

That’s the dream of tennis promoter Steve Bellamy of Los Angeles who envisions those matchups one day — though he will go with far less dynamic pairings on Aug. 3 when he plans to stage what is believed to be the first tournament involving world-ranked men and women players going head-to-head.

But this is no Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs match. There will be special rules in place to negate the power of the men’s serve.

No overhead serves — first or second serve. All serving is drop-hit and struck from below the waist.

“About 40 percent of the points in tennis are won on the serve or the return,” said Bellamy, founder of The Tennis Channel. “Men dominate women in tennis mainly because of the serve. So this concept neutralizes that advantage.

The first matches are expected to involve players way down the food chain of international tennis — Vince Spadea, Justin Gimelstob, Derrick Rostagno and Alexandra Stevenson. Spadea is ranked No. 70; Stevenson No. 204.

Bellamy said the event will have a 32-player draw. The format will be similar to table tennis, with the winner being the first to reach 21 points and each player serving five points before service alternates.

| Star News Services

Posted on Tue, Jul. 22, 2008 10:15 PM

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