Tennis is turning up the volume and turning off the lights.

Inside a stark white building in downtown Miami, models strut outfits that glow under the black lights, a DJ spins club classics and tennis players blast backhand shots across the darkened court.

In an effort to attract a younger crowd to a sport known for its formality, Sony Ericsson which sponsors the WTA Tour and this week's tournament on Key Biscayne has created a series of events simply called Night Tennis, combining fashion, club culture and the ball-and-racket sport. Organizers said more than 10,000 people requested tickets.

"It's not natural," said Marcel Goodman, one of the players taking part in the Night Tennis event. "Weird is an understatement."

Dee Dutta, a marketing executive with Sony Ericsson, said the company is not trying to completely change the game simply bring it to a new audience.

"There is a need to get tennis to be at its rightful place as the hippest, coolest sport that it used to be," he said.

Evening games are not uncommon in tennis, but Sony Ericsson's foray into a new nighttime version which was road-tested in Madrid last year and will be staged again next year in Asia is incomparable.

The event in Miami is being held in a space typically used for photo shoots and music videos. Fluorescent black lights illuminate players' white shirts and neon tape along the rackets' edges. Spectators see flashes of neon orange and green when rackets are swung and the ball sails. It's so dark, a player's face is only detectable when he smiles.

Players knock underhand serves from a backcourt marked in neon orange lines. To keep serving, a server must win the next point. Matches consist of three, three-minute games that are broken up with fashion shows and followed by a party into the early hours of the morning.

"Tennis is such a country club sport that's been around for over 100 years. To completely revolutionize it and to do something fun and exciting to bring it to the masses, especially to young people, I think is fantastic," said Steve Berke, another player taking part. "And I would love to see if Roger Federer could be No. 1 in this sport."

Bethanie Mattek, who lost to Venus Williams in the first round of Wimbledon last year and is known for her outrageous outfits, is part of the lineup. She said she's never played in the dark before but isn't worried.

"It just brings a whole different attitude toward tennis," Mattek said. "Tennis is normally quiet, played only at certain times, so this kind of banishes all those rules and everything."

Berke said he hopes tennis officials look for potential changes to the sport that might help it grab more fans.

"Sometimes sport evolves. If you stay behind the curve, your sport is going to lose ground to other sports that are ahead of the curve," he said. "And I think anybody who is against changes in the sport needs to wipe away the cobwebs from their rackets."

(China Daily via AP March 23, 2007)