KEY DIFFERENCE

Backed by the Fundacion Pupi children's charity headed by Inter Milan footballer Javier Zanetti, Tazzari hopes for similar exposure for beach tennis but has one reservation.

"It is difficult for the television cameras because of the speed," he said.

In the Italian version, mixed or same-sex doubles teams face each other across a 1.70 metre net on a court notably smaller than a tennis court and marked out with tape.

The rackets are graphite paddle bats, halfway between a table tennis bat and a tennis racket, while the ball looks like a normal tennis ball but is slightly softer and lighter.

The points system is more similar to tennis than beach volleyball but there is only one serve and there are no lets for netcords.

A key difference with tennis is that the ball cannot bounce.

However, smashing the ball to the floor before your opponent can reach it is surprisingly difficult given the height of the net and the players therefore produce some long rallies with acrobatic dives.

Wimbledon's grass favours big servers and has been labelled too fast, Roland Garros's clay has been criticised for being too slow while the artificial surface at next January's Australian Open will be different after complaints this year.

The volley rule in beach tennis means there is no debate about the speed of the ball while the sun beats down on the chilled-out arena.

Anyone for a fifth grand slam on sand?

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