Innovations for popular series

THE popular Jekyll & Hyde Summer Series gets underway at the Beacon Bay Tennis Club this Tuesday evening at 5.30pm.

The tournament started out as the Keg & Beacon Series in 2003 and has been held annually ever since.

Teams consist of two men and two women – all over 18 years of age.

However, the total age of the team must exceed 140 years.

Each fixture consists of one men’s doubles, one women’s doubles and two mixed doubles matches.

An innovation last year was the introduction of a handicap system to level the playing fields.

One pro set (first to get eight games) is played on an automaticplus handicap, ie if A leads 1-0, then B starts 15-love in the next game and if A leads 2-0, B starts 30-love.

At deuce, a sudden death point is played, with the receiver nominating the side.

This year there are further innovations. Should the set score reach 7-all, a sudden death 7-point tiebreaker will be played.

Furthermore, should the point score reach 6-all, the receiving team shall have choice of side for the final point.

A new rule has been introduced in that, should the serve be a let, then either of the receivers may attempt to return the ball. The draw for the first round is: Tuesday (23 Jan): Alfa v Beacon Bay A; Beacon Bay B v Destiny

Thursday (25 Jan): Old Boys v Stirling; Beacon Bay A v Beacon Bay B