Tennis and volleyball combination
For the sport called "beach paddleball", see Matkot.
For other sports called "paddleball", see Paddleball (sport).
Beach tennis is 1️⃣ a game combining elements of tennis and volleyball and played on a beach.
Overview [ edit ]
Beach tennis is played in 1️⃣ over 50 countries and by more than half a million people, with its greatest popularity occurring in Italy, Brazil and 1️⃣ Spain.
Beach tennis offers a highly aerobic cardio workout with low impact to the knees and joints because it is played 1️⃣ on sand.
The sport preserves most of the rules and scoring of traditional tennis, though modifications have been made to adapt 1️⃣ to movement around the sand court and to the faster pace of the game.
As the ball may not touch the 1️⃣ ground, the game is played entirely with volleys, which makes for a quicker game than does traditional tennis.
Points start with 1️⃣ a serve and end when the ball touches the ground, forcing players to dive to reach difficult plays in a 1️⃣ similar manner used by volleyball players.
The objective is to return the ball with only one hit so that it reaches 1️⃣ the opposing side of the net.
A depressurized tennis ball, which travels more slowly through the air than does a regulation 1️⃣ tennis ball, is used for beach tennis to allow for longer rallies.
The sport is usually played by two-person teams on 1️⃣ a regulation beach-volleyball court with a 5-foot-7-inch-high net.[1]
Beach tennis rackets and ballsHistory [ edit ]
Beach tennis emerged in Italy in 1️⃣ the early 1970s when tennis players on vacation in Lido degli Estensi, in the Ferrara town of Comacchio, played using 1️⃣ their rackets and the existing volleyball nets already installed on the beach.
[2][3] The game was played for the first time 1️⃣ with its current set of rules in Torredembarra, Spain in 1976.
The first championship was played in Torredembarra in 1978.
Since then 1️⃣ (with few interruptions), it takes place on the same beach every year.
Over the years, the sport spread to the beaches 1️⃣ along the coast of Italy, and it is estimated that there are now more than 1,600 beach-tennis nets along the 1️⃣ Italian coast in addition to a growing number of inland and indoor courts.
There are an estimated 250,000 Italian beach tennis 1️⃣ players.
The international spread [ edit ]
Beach tennis arrived on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro around 2008, and the sport 1️⃣ now dominates about one-third of the beach-volleyball courts along the Brazilian coast, and there are more than 50,000 beach tennis 1️⃣ players in Brazil.
Most Brazilian tennis clubs have converted, or are converting, at least one traditional tennis court into a few 1️⃣ beach-tennis courts.
Though originally played only on beaches, beach tennis is now played at tennis clubs, indoor beach tennis/volleyball warehouses, country 1️⃣ clubs, resorts, gyms and sand arenas.
Some believe that the sport is entering its golden age following its recognition by the 1️⃣ International Tennis Federation (ITF) in 2010.
The ITF now manages the most well-known and reputable international ranking of beach-tennis players.
The ITF 1️⃣ is allocating resources to the development of the sport and has set up exposition sand courts at professional tennis tournaments 1️⃣ such as the Japan Open, Roland-Garros, the Australian Open and the US Open.
Top tennis players who have played beach tennis 1️⃣ include Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Andy Murray, the Bryan brothers, Rafael Nadal and Gustavo Kuerten.
The ITF also supports 1️⃣ beach tennis by sanctioning tournaments.
In 2013, the ITF began to organize regional and world championships.
By 2015, 89 official sanctioned tournaments 1️⃣ were held worldwide annually, and thousands more unofficial tournaments are held around the world each year.
In 2015 the Pan-American games 1️⃣ were held in Santos, São Paulo, Brazil, with participants from 16 countries.
Also in 2015, a team championship tournament was held 1️⃣ in Moscow with participants from 28 countries, with adult, junior, male and female teams
In the United States [ edit ]
Beach 1️⃣ tennis was formalized in the United States in 2005 by Marc Altheim,[4] who discovered the sport on a trip to 1️⃣ Aruba in 2003.
[4] The sport had been played there since 2000,[4] having been introduced by a Dutchman.
[5] As of 2007, 1️⃣ beach tennis had made progress toward acceptance as a mainstream sport, with an official standards organization known as Beach Tennis 1️⃣ USA (BT USA).
In 2007, BT USA reached television deals with the Tennis Channel and SNY, but the organization is no 1️⃣ longer active.
The Beach Tennis Association currently maintains player rankings and operates tournaments in Southern California.[6]
ITF Beach Tennis World Championship [ 1️⃣ edit ]
ITF Beach Tennis World Team Championship [ edit ]
Event Gold Silver Bronze 2013 Brazil Italy Russia 2014 Italy Brazil 1️⃣ Russia 2015 Italy Russia Spain 2016 Russia Italy France 2017 Italy Brazil Russia 2018 Brazil Italy Russia 2019 Brazil Russia 1️⃣ Italy 2021 Brazil Italy 2022 Italy BrazilNotes [ edit ]
a b Each year is linked to an article about that 1️⃣ particular year's draw.
a b The dash means that the result or score is unknown because there are no available sources 1️⃣ for this information.
† indicates 1 ranking.
