Stout claims rackets double
Bermuda's James Stout, World Rackets champion, achieved a unique double over the past week when he defeated Bryn Sayers to win the US Open Real Tennis singles tournament in New York last Monday and then followed up on Sunday by beating James Coyne 3-0 to win the US Open Rackets singles tournament in Chicago.
This is believed to be the first time that a player has held the US Open Real Tennis title and US Open Rackets title at the same time.
Last Monday's win marked Stout's first Real Tennis title – his previous best result was his (first) semi-final appearance in the British Open last November, when he was defeated by world champion Rob Fahey.
Stout, the number four seed and world number seven, defeated top US player and world number two, Camden Riviere 3-1 in the semi-finals, his first victory over the American. In the final his win over third seed and world number six Sayers, was a more comfortable affair.
After the tournament Stout's real tennis world ranking shot up to four and he now leads the world title challenge points table which will determine who has the opportunity to challenge for the world title in 2012.