The game is played on time, they have the right to a time out, cheering is very desirable – a new era of tennis has started from Makarska – Time Tennis.
Time Tennis was presented at the first Sunset Serve event, world names played, and Ivan Dodig also gave support.
Makarska, October 14, 2023 – I have never had so much fun at a tennis match, thank you for that – said Dea Herdželaš, the best female tennis player from Bosnia and Herzegovina, after her team Makarska Sharks defeated Kaštel Knights in a never-before-seen tennis competition. Time Tennis, a global brand and a revolution in the world of sports, was launched last night from the Makarska Tennis Center with a great atmosphere, top names and Harij Roncevic, who warmed up the fans in a great mood with a concert before the exhibition matches, and the party continued after the matches with the performance of the Cambi Klapa group.
Along with Deu Herdželaš, Italian Giovanni Oradini, Makaran Mariana Dražić, our Duje Kekez played in the Makarska Sharks team, the coach was Croatian son-in-law (husband of Karolina Šprem) Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis. On the other side of the net, the Kaštel Knigts team was led by Tena Lukas, the most famous tennis player from Kaštela, and the British Marcus Willis, French Emmanuelle Girard, our national team member in a wheelchair Sven Maretić led by coach Franko Škugor played alongside her.
Four matches were played, Herdželaš against Lukas in which the tennis player from Bosnia and Herzegovina was better (41:29), in the second match Oradini beat Willis (43:38), and in the mixed doubles Dražić/Kekez and Girard/Willis celebrated Kaštelani (41 :47), while Kekez celebrated in the duel with Maretic (12:6).
Exhibition matches lasted twenty minutes, divided into two halves of ten minutes each, with a two-minute break. Each of the coaches had the right to a time out of 60 seconds per half and they can be on the court at any time, and the players could communicate with each other. There was no chair for the head judge, and what is most attractive, the audience cheered the entire time, encouraged by two brass bands, local from Makarska and HGD Biranj from Kaštel Lukšić. There were no games or sets, in Time Tennis it is counted point by point, while the winner is worth two points. Dancers from the Split club Dance Crew United performed like cheerleaders in each half. In short – a real spectacle that was watched from the stands by about 500 fans from all over Dalmatia and the region.
Among them is the famous tennis player Ivan Dodig. He came to support Time Tennis, which is backed by Feliks Lukas from Kaštela, known to the general public as the director of the WTA tournament.
“The time is coming for changes in tennis, I am especially glad that my dear friend Feliks came up with this idea and that we saw how it will look in Makarska. The game is beautiful, attractive, more dynamic, interesting and certainly has potential in the world of tennis. It is known that tennis is followed by older generations, the average age is over 60, so this faster and more explosive approach to the competition has potential and will certainly attract a younger audience. Of course, tradition needs to be nurtured, but the new rules, I am convinced, will have an echo in the world of sports”, pointed out Dodig.
“I would like to thank Ivan who came to support us, but also all the athletes who announced this event on social networks, and there were really many of them. A big thank you to the tennis players who participated in the exhibition, but also to the audience who came in impressive numbers even though they didn’t know what was waiting for them. They were great fans, they made a great show. In little Makarska, for the first time in history, a different kind of tennis was played, we presented the world with new rules and there is no turning back. We have been working on this project for years and we believe in it,” said Lukas. That the interest has already been aroused is confirmed by the fact that last night in Makarska the first shots for the documentary of the Hollywood production company Mandalay Sports Media, which is behind the legendary film The Last Dance about the Chicago Bulls, were shot, and the world-famous photographer Matt Holyoak, Thomas Bata were in the stands great-grandson of the founder of the company Bata and the factory in Borovo, Mike Saran, owner of the Le Meriden Lav hotel in Split and founder of the Sport2Life foundation…
