YOU’D have a sore neck with a centreline seat at this tennis match as Ryan Trickey and Andy Aitken limber up to play non-stop for more than three days to smash a world record.
The coaches hope to set a Guinness World Record for the longest continuous singles tennis match, currently 60 hours, 59 minutes and 58 seconds.
And on Monday and Tuesday they managed 424 games over 33 hours at White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre, Abingdon, in preparation for the August challenge.
Mr Trickey won the match 34 sets to 12.
Mr Trickey, a coach at Portcullis Tennis Club in Wallingford, and Mr Aitken, who teaches at Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor Tennis Club, want to raise £20,000 for the Dan Maskell Tennis Trust.
The charity supports disabled tennis players with equipment, coaching and facilities.
Mr Trickey, 25, of Bagley Wood Road, Kennington, said the idea came up over a pint with Mr Aitken.
He said: “We thought it would be a great challenge.”
They are allowed a 90-second break when they swap ends after each odd game, and a two-minute break after every set.
They also have to have an average break of five minutes per hour and 30 minutes every six hours.
Mr Trickey has been playing tennis since he was about three and Mr Aitken since he was five.
Mr Aitken, 23, from Haddenham, near Thame, said: “Tennis is seen almost like a middle class or upper class thing, but there are people with disabilities who want to play it and raising this money will help them get closer to that.”
He said: “When the time comes we will be fit enough, it will be more of a mental thing – trying to keep positive about things.
“We get carried away sometimes and it can get quite competitive, but it is all in good nature.”
The pair are also looking for commercial sponsors.
The current record was clocked up last month by Sam Angel and Katie Martens, at Missoula’s Peak Wellness Centre, in America.
Mr Trickey said: “Physically it will be quite a challenge but we have a goal and that is the thing which drives us.”
To donate, text ‘tennis’ to 70007. It will cost £3 plus the standard message rate, but £2.40 will go directly to the charity. Alternatively, visit justgiving.com/longest singlestennismatch
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