Beyond the Baseline: Chris Sabaitis By Brian Coleman
beyond the
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Chris Sabaitis By Brian Coleman
hris Sabaitis was sitting in a coffee shop as he waited for his scheduled tennis match with a friend. He was downtown, and he had booked a court at the top of Manhattan on the indoor courts at Columbia University. “I started thinking to myself that there has to be a number of courts, not necessarily public ones, around the city
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that were open in that moment,” recalls Sabaitis. “There’s no reason that we couldn’t pay a nominal fee to play at a court closer so we don’t have to travel all the way to the top of Manhattan to play for an hour and then schlep all the way back.” With that idea, the foundation was laid for what would become AceSpace, which aims to build a bridge between tennis facilities and players.
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New York Tennis Magazine • June 2020 • NYTennisMag.com
“I was sitting there and I just started looking around to see what software facilities were using, and how people could find available courts,” he added. “I realized that something like this doesn’t exist right now, and it’s something that’s well within my skill set to be able to provide a service like this to the tennis community.” AceSpace is an “online and mobile app designed to help tennis players locate available courts across the country. We will fill unused courts by providing facilities with a management system designed for the unique challenges tennis presents. Players see available courts and can book them through the app, saving time and easing the burden on facility staff.” AceSpace began as an online resource, and the company will soon be launching a mobile app. “The app has just been released, and it’s free to download,” said Sabaitis, the company’s Founder and CEO. “You can also sign-up online. It’s entirely free for players to use. You can ‘favorite’ your local facilities, or search for any place you’re looking for. Simply book your court, and go play.” The app release is another significant