Beach Tennis USA Tournament Aug 15-18

Beach Tennis USA’s 2013 Tour culminates with Premiere International Event in Long Beach, NY

The best players from all over the globe will compete for $10,000 in prize money at the 2013 ITF Grade 1 Long Beach New York Open. Amateur and Novices are welcome to try the sport as well.

Long Beach, NY (July 29, 2013) – Beach Tennis USA (BTUSA), the official sanctioning body for beach tennis, per the International Tennis Federation and with permission from the USTA, is hosting its premiere Pro Event of the 2013 Season! Get ready for the ITF Grade 1 Long Beach New York Open, taking place on August 15-18! For full event details and schedule please go to beachtennisusa.net.

Dozens of players from Nassau County will take on the best of the best from the USA, Brazil, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Italy, France, Aruba, Russia and other nations! Players will compete for coveted ITF ranking points and prize money.  Over 100 players from these countries and others will converge on Long Beach, NY for one of the biggest events since the rebuilding of the boardwalk began in the aftermath of Hurricane sandy.

“Long Beach has been the national home for our sport since we brought it to the USA in 2005,” said CEO and Founder Marc Altheim. BTUSA President Jim Lorenzo, a Long Beach native, added “it’s a really exciting opportunity to have a role in bringing internationally-relevant events back to an area that was devastated by Sandy. I think this year’s tournament will be one of our most exciting and competitive to date”. Altheim and Lorenzo are proud of how much the sport has resonated with the local population— Matt Garavaglia and Nadia Johnston, the top American male and female players—both call the Long Island area home. In addition, five other local residents claim spots among the top 24 American men.

Beach Tennis is a growing sport around the world.  The International Tennis Federation (itftennis.com) expects to oversee over 90 tournaments this year over 6 continents.  There have already been eight successful BTUSA tournaments this year around the country—from New York to Florida to California. The other Grade 1 Event this year, the Sunshine Open, took place in Fort Myers, Florida and was extremely successful with nearly 200 participants in total. For a full recap, visit http://www.beachtennisusa.net/cms/2013SunshineOpen_88.aspx

Recently BTUSA expanded the sport from the beach to other surfaces such as grass, turf, snow and the hardwood.  In these incarnations the sport is dubbed All-Volley Tennis.  The All-Volley Tennis program is ideal for family recreation, camps and school programming.

In addition to the pro competition that will take place BTUSA is hosting advanced and amateur levels of play.  Newcomers are also welcome to try the sport for a nominal fee.

For more information, contact Marc Altheim @ 917. 453. 7502; maltheim@beachtennisusa.net or Jim Lorenzo @917. 559. 4497; jlorenzo@beachtennisusa.net