September 2008 -- Angelo Rossetti was right on the game plan when he ended the world's longest tennis rally by watching the battered ball fly by and not moving a muscle.
Angelo's carefully timed miss, at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 10, came well past the point that he and his twin brother, Ettore, set a new Guinness world record for the longest sustained rally.
For a grueling 14 hours and 31 minutes these two members of the United States Professional Tennis Association kept swinging, forehand to forehand, even longer than they needed to because breaking the German-held world record wasn't enough. They quit the moment they reached their target end time of midnight, and - above all - fulfilled a promise to each other.
In August 2007, Ettore and Angelo Rossetti set a new U.S. record but failed to break the world record when their rally ended with an unreturned shot. Although people have often asked who missed, the identical twins avoid placing the blame on each other and were determined to eliminate the guilt factor from their second attempt.
This year, the brothers had their stroke counters tell them the second they reached a point past midnight that each brother had hit the exact same number of strokes.
At one minute into the new day, Angelo and Ettore had each hit 12,972 strokes, for a total of 25,944. They chalked up 1,248 strokes over the previous world record for the longest sustained rally and lasted four hours longer than their 10-and-a-half-hour effort a year ago.
With willpower and intense training on their side, the twins struck the same Penn 4 tennis ball continuously in play from 9:30 a.m. to midnight without breaks for water, food or the restroom. By the end of the rally, the ball was worn down to its dark brown rubber surface.
In spite of smashing the world record, there was one goal these two fathers of young children did not attain. They wanted to hit 27,000 strokes, symbolic of the number of children under 5 who die every day around the world from treatable or preventable causes.
But they ended their rally on a triumphant note. Shortly after midnight, Angelo said to the supporters gathered at North Haven Heath & Racquet in North Haven, Conn.: "You have given us your shoulders to stand on to reach our dreams," paraphrasing Andre Agassi's retirement speech in 2006.
Those dreams included not only breaking the rally record, but also raising awareness and funds for four charities that hold special meaning for them: the ALS Association, Save the Children, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Tim & Tom Gullikson Foundation.
The effort was to honor Scott B. Wilson, a fellow USPTA Professional, friend and mentor who lost his battle to ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) in 2005, and Tim Gullikson, who died of brain cancer in 1996.
Early in their careers, the brothers worked with Wilson, who was director of tennis at North Haven. Angelo now holds that position at the club, and Ettore is joining him this fall as the assistant director of tennis. Ettore also teaches tennis at Yale University, but his full-time job is as associate director of Internet communications and marketing at Save the Children in Westport, Conn.
The Rossettis, who collected $2,400 last year with little planning or publicity, aim to raise $25,944 by Dec. 31 to match the number of strokes from this year's rally. Contributions to all four charities are still being accepted online at RossettiBrothersTennis.org (click the logo of the charity of your choice).
The record-breaking rally was part of a USPTA Tennis Across America™ event, with Cardio Tennis, team clinics, private lessons, a fast-serve contest and open court time. In addition, it was recognized as an official Lessons for Life™ fundraiser. A silent auction featured memorabilia signed by Roger Federer and a tennis ball autographed by Andre Agassi.
Tennis-teaching pros Steve Rogers, Steve O'Connell, Paul Coorssen, Al "Skip" South, Bryan Adinolfi, Mike McManus, Paul Brower and Mike Quitko were on hand to teach the clinics and support the attempt. The head counter this year was Tom Ettorre, assisted by his two sons and a volunteer crew of clickers.
Sponsors of the event included Prince racquets, Pro Penn tennis balls, North Haven Health & Racquet club, JetBlue airlines, Pilot Pen Tennis and Wolf Blass wine.
Angelo and Ettore took a week off to recover and spend time with family after the rally. But then they jumped right back in and held a free-tennis week, conducting tennis lessons, free clinics and cardio clinics all day for seven days straight. They gave away T-shirts and signed posters to kids who came.
These two community-minded teaching pros and players, who were ranked No. 1 in New England men's open doubles in 2007, operate the Rossetti Brothers Tennis Foundation and are currently offering a tennis scholarship to a player who demonstrates passion, good sportsmanship, solid tennis and educational ability, as well as financial need (e-mail scholarship@rossettibrothestennis.com).
The Rossettis agree that if someone breaks their new world record before next August, they will attempt to reclaim it.
Either way, they do plan to hold a third annual rally with tennis clinics, a silent auction and car wash to raise money for the same worthy causes.
The thrill and the agony: A journey of 25,944 shots
USPTA Professionals Angelo and Ettore Rossetti reflect on their record-breaking, fundraising rally in the following excerpts of conversation.
Angelo:
- It's 10 percent luck, 20 percent skill, 15 percent concentrated power of will, 5 percent pleasure, and 50 percent pain. You put mind over matter by mentally focusing on only one shot at a time.
- One of our keys to success was a training net that helps players hit the ball with a higher trajectory over the net and thus further in the court. It is just as much of a mental challenge as a physical one, if not more so. Doing anything for 15 hours straight is hard to do. We both were physically and mentally training by teaching 12-hour days for more than nine months.
- When putting yourself through 14 hours and 31 minutes of self-torture, so to speak, on the day of the event - never mind the two years to organize and prepare the entire event - any stroke after 24,696 was gravy. The final 1,248 strokes over the record were hit with utter joy.
- Last year I basically collapsed on the court after we hugged and could have slept right on the court for hours since we had done an all-nighter. This year was different for me. I found my 'tennis high' and had about as much energy as Nadal does when he plays. At one point I even said, 'Are there any other records we can beat?' when we were over the record and still rallying.
- Once we stopped on purpose at 12:01 a.m., since we did tell people the event would go through midnight and we had the record well in hand, I gave Ettore a big hug. I just didn't have the energy for our chest bump as well. I was way too excited to feel physical pain at that point.
- I was so very proud of our accomplishment. When you state that you are going to do something of this magnitude and actually accomplish it for the world to watch, it is truly extraordinary - especially when it is 'on cue.' We didn't let down our fans, friends and family and, above all, the people who are affected every day with (breast) cancer, hunger, Lou Gehrig's disease and brain cancer.
- If someone breaks our record I will commit to doing it again. I was concerned about my brother's health and dehydration at the end so in my mind I have nothing unsettled.
Ettore:
- After letting the ball pass on purpose, we had planned on a chest bump - one of our trademarks along with the Jensen brothers and the Bryan brothers - but we did not have enough energy, so a simple hug had to suffice. I knew I was severely dehydrated from my salty skin and was no longer sweating because I had no more sweat left - a familiar feeling I had experienced the previous month following a USTA 5.5 tennis match when I became ill and could not hold down fluids. It reminded me of the words the late Scott Wilson said during his farewell celebration: 'I have no more tears left to cry.' Neither did I.
- I felt exhausted - mentally, physically and emotionally. After the hug, I dropped to my knees and buried my face in my hands, overwhelmed by a confluence of feelings: exhaustion, relief, fatigue, dehydration, hunger, pain, joy and sorrow. In that moment, I thought of my wife Soumia, and my two children, Adam and Jasmine, both under 5 years old - and then began to weep for the children around the world who die every day from preventable or treatable causes before they reach age 5. In the developing world, mothers in many countries do not name their newborns for weeks after birth for fear they will not survive. I thought of those unnamed children. I also thought of the late Scott Wilson and the late Tim Gullikson, our honorees, and all of the victims and survivors of ALS, brain cancer and breast cancer. I hugged our Dad and gave a thumbs-up to our Mom, who was still loyally watching from the observation window.
- Though we broke the world record, we did not quite reach our goal of 27,000 strokes, so we feel ambivalent. If someone breaks our record, we will likely try again to reclaim it. Since we have attempted it two consecutive years, this leaves some suspense for a possible 'three-quel.'
