Annacone's Tennis Academy

About 12 years ago, almost as long as it took for Scott Rubenstein to realize his dream of an indoor tennis club here, he and Paul Annacone, then on the world tennis tour, talked about one day siting a tennis academy in East Hampton, where both had grown up.

On Jan. 31, the longtime friends announced that the Paul Annacone Tennis Academy, a development program aimed largely at junior players, would begin in July at Mr. Rubenstein's East Hampton Indoor Tennis club across from the Town Airport.

Applications are pending for four new outdoor courts, and the two men are working on a curriculum that the club's eight-member staff will carry out under Mr. Annacone's aegis. The tennis pro, who now coaches the world's number-one player, Pete Sampras, will be here for the first three weeks of July to see the academy off to a smooth start.

Long Treks Recalled

"Even during the periods I'm away with Pete," he said, "we'll have it set up so that everybody is on the same page."

Mr. Annacone, who at one time was ranked 11th in singles and was, with Christo Van Rensburg, a member of the top doubles team, knows well how difficult it can be to achieve world-class status growing up far from tennis hubs.

"Every Friday, from the age of 10, my parents used to drive me to the Port Washington Tennis Academy, where I'd practice with Harry Hopman or members of his staff for two hours," he said. "Four hours in the car for two hours of practice."

Later, he boarded at Nick Bolletieri's internationally famed tennis academy in Bradenton, Fla., before finishing his senior year at East Hampton High School.

Mr. Annacone, who now sits on the board of the Association of Tennis Professionals, was the nation's top collegiate player (at the University of Tennessee) before he turned pro.

Great Potential

It is not outside the realm of imagination that the Paul Annacone Tennis Academy will one day be spoken of in the same breath as the Port Washington and Nick Bolletieri academies.

"We'll try to work to set up something with great potential," said Mr. Annacone. "Where it goes is up to us."

Mr. Rubenstein emphasized that "this won't be a tennis academy just for kids born with silver spoons in their mouths."

"Both Paul and I know what it's like to be local kids. We'd like this to be a tennis center for young people from all over the East End. We'll go to the schools offering scholarships and partial scholarships."

Whatever It Takes

Mr. Annacone said he was not out to turn out serve-and-volleying Paul Annacone clones. Rather, he said, he would like to lead each player, whether 8 or 88, to achieve his or her potential.

"The best coaches are those who can adapt," he said. "I would coach Jim Courier totally differently than Pete, for instance. Some players you need to fire up, with some you need to lay back."

"Of course, it's important that they know technique - you look at the strengths and weaknesses and help them make the adjustments they need to become more productive, not huge, drastic changes."

Sampras, said his coach, is "the most talented guy I've ever seen, but, hopefully, I've made some contributions to his game. Still, in coaching, it's almost more important that the kids believe in you and in your ability to relate."

Will Pete Come?

"We're in no way suggesting that we're going to turn out a hundred Pete Samprases and Jim Couriers," said Mr. Rubenstein. "But we'll have the ability to take a child as far as he or she wants to go. If a kid wants a college scholarship, we'll help him to get it; if a kid wants to be a pro, we'll help."

"And since we both have children" - Paul and Tracy Annacone's are Nicholas, 10, and Olivia, 4; Scott and Holly Rubenstein's are Matthew, 10, Brian, 9, and Rebecca, 5 - "we're obviously going to develop what we as parents would want for our children."

And might Pete Sampras come over at times? It is certainly possible, Mr. Annacone and Mr. Rubenstein said, especially since the club has applied to include a Deco-Turf court among the new outdoor ones.

Low-Key

"Deco-Turf is the same surface as the U.S. Open," said Mr. Rubenstein.

"Hopefully, my friends will come here," said Mr. Annacone.

"They may, they may not," said Mr. Rubenstein. "We want to keep this a low-key place. That's why Martina [Navratilova] came here [one day last summer] in the first place. We saw to it that she wasn't hassled."

Mr. Annacone, who will turn 34 next month, has been slowed in recent years by injuries, which, he said, had something to do with his decision to launch the tennis academy now rather than later.

A herniated disk has kept him out of professional competition for the past two years, though he demurs when the subject of retirement comes up.

Not Formally Retired

He might, should his back get better, decide to play on Jimmy Connors's 35s tour in a year or two.

In the meanwhile, he said he considered himself fortunate to have had the career he did, to be coaching Sampras, who is within striking distance of Roy Emerson's grand-slam record, to be working with the A.T.P. board, and to be launching with Mr. Rubenstein, whom he has known since he was a seventh-grader, a tennis academy in his hometown.

"I played Paul once, when he was in seventh grade and I was in 11th," said Mr. Rubenstein, who was the number-three singles player on East Hampton's varsity that year, behind Sandy Fleischman and Paul's older brother, Steve. "I took him to a tiebreaker. That was it. I never played him after that."