KDH loves playing tennis and KDH hates playing tennis~ when I don’t play well! Matt Rineberg, Director of Tennis at Future Stars Tennis in Southampton, has been my patient pro for the past year. When I play with him, suddenly I play great….when I play my husband? Don’t ask.  My friend Betty gave me a perfect assessment by saying  that my niche is “supervised tennis.”  So funny & true!

Matt keeps me in the loop on the Hamptons tennis scene so when he told me about the new ownership at Tennis East [the go-to tennis stores in the Hamptons!] I asked him to play reporter for KDHamptons…Here is the scoop on the new ownership:

Co-owners Robert Rahr and Marcus Donahue recently acquired the Tennis East stores at 73 Main Street, Southampton, and 47 ½ Main Street, East Hampton. Robert is a Southampton resident and long-time Tennis East customer, whose dream of owning and preserving these “small-town” gems came true on September 8, 2011!  Marcus is a graduate of Southern Connecticut State University, where he played first singles and doubles on the men’s varsity tennis team.  He was also named the doubles player of the year in the NECC division. After graduation, Marcus traveled on the ATP and WTA tours with Jay’s Custom Stringing, where he customized and strung racquets for tour players. Later, he went on to become the head coach of the men’s and women’s tennis programs at Dowling College and Long Island University – Southampton College.  He is a certified professional by the US Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) and the owner of MD Tennis and Golf in Westhampton Beach, NY.

KDH caught up with Robert Rahr to get the scoop:

KDHamptons: What attracted you to buying Tennis East?

Robert Rahr: For over forty years, Tennis East has been the year round, full service retail tennis, paddle and squash store of choice for east end racquet sport enthusiasts. We shall continue to operate at our Main Street locations in East Hampton and Southampton and remain committed to offering an extensive selection of men’s, women’s and junior’s racquets, apparel, sneakers and accessories for players of all ages and skill levels. More so, the Tennis East team (Sue Ponesse – Southampton and Ashley Czelatka – East Hampton) shall continue to provide personalized service, professional advice and a high quality shopping experience. We look forward to serving the next generation of racquet sport enthusiasts!

KDH: What will be different about the new Tennis East?

RR: We intend to keep the same winning formula that has made Tennis East the retail choice for racquet sport enthusiasts. However, we are in the process of expanding the breadth of our racquet, apparel, sneaker and accessories offering. In particular, we are focused on augmenting our junior offering. We have already brought in the latest sneaker line and tennis balls from Babolat and both are quickly moving out the door. More so, we intend to be more fashion forward by offering the most popular and latest product arrivals so that our customers can wear and use the gear that the top tennis professionals are using.

KDH: Any new exciting additions for your website to share?

RR: We intend to update our website shortly and hopefully have an e-commerce presence so that our loyal customer base can have their racquet sport needs delivered direct to their homes in the off-season.

KDH:  The tennis community in the Hamptons takes the sport very seriously. What can you offer that can take our game up a notch?

RR: Prior to next summer, Tennis East shall replace its existing stringing machines with the most technologically advanced machines available on the market so that our work product is consistent and exceeds our customer’s exacting standards.

We are grateful for the opportunity to preserve these tennis institutions for successive east end generations.

**For more information go to www.TennisEast.com