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There’s nothing more frustrating than being in a Roger Federer-esque zone, only to have your baseline drive fail because of a bad bounce on a crack-filled court.
Ten tennis players who use the courts in Fort Greene Park certainly feel that way — and they held their first fundraiser last week to raise money to fix the problem.
“There are tons of cracks in the court surfaces,” said Rich Rodriguez, one of the members of the just-founded Fort Greene Tennis Association, which raised money at the General Greene last Thursday night. “Some of them are almost an inch wide! Someone could easily trip and fall while playing.”
The alliance of pseudo-Samprases is shooting for $250,000 for a complete overhaul of the courts. Once that happens, the group hopes to coordinate tennis programs.
In addition to the surface repairs, the players want to remedy a drainage system that leaves puddles of water and piles of leaves on the courts.
“We want to gut it and start over again,” said Rodriguez. “There have been some basic repairs, but the issues just get worse.”
And the players may have a legitimate beef — they pay $100 per season for the court.
“It’s the only part of the park that brings in revenue,” said Rodriguez. “But where is our money going to? I don’t think it’s necessarily going toward the courts.”
Still, the money will likely have to be raised by the organization on its own.
“We know we’re on the low end of the priority list,” Rodriguez said. “But we feel it’s important.”
The Parks Department was unable to return serve before The Brooklyn Paper’s game-set-match deadline.
©2010 Community Newspaper Group
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