Amagansett - Tennis enthusiasts were fixated on the television screen on Sunday for the finals of Wimbledon. That, however, unfolded half a world away. Closer to home in Amagansett, the Napeague Tennis Club hosted the inaugural Gotham Tennis Academy Hamptons 20-Ball Open, at which professional and local players went groundstroke for groundstroke over five rounds of fast-paced action until one was left standing in the 32-player draw.

Breezing through the preliminary rounds, Alex Bogomolov met his match in the championship. Still, the world's 179th ranked player staved off Israel Davis Cup team member Noam Okun of Israel 20-18, 17-20, 10-8 to win the inaugural Gotham Tennis Academy Hamptons 20-Ball Open on Sunday.

Former Ukrainian Fed Cup player Elena Jirnova sizes up the ball and whips a brisk backhand.

Bogomolov, ranked 179th according to the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles rankings, had left wrist surgery in March and was eliminated in four Challenger events this year. This week, he returned to the court at the ATP Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Rhode Island and, as an unseeded player, promptly upset fifth seed Arnaud Clement of France, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round on Wednesday. It was his first ATP win since March 2006 and it came over the world's 59th ranked player and 2001 Australian Open runner-up. He bowed to Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-2, 6-2, in the second round on Friday.

It was all set up by a victory in Amagansett, for which he earned a $10,000 first prize. Bogomolov also won the Los Angeles edition of the 20-Ball. Among his tour victims are James Blake, Fernando Gonzalez, Tommy Haas, Robin Soderling and now Clement. "It feels great to win this tournament," said Bogomolov, Gotham's touring professional who helped devise the tourney's format. "I love this format and I challenge anybody to play me in a groundstroke game."

In the quarterfinals, Bogomolov squared off against a hometown star, Max Hirsh, who played at East Hampton for two years before finishing his high school career in Austin, Texas. Bogomolov jumped out to a double-digit lead early in the match but Hirsh chipped away, cutting the deficit to five at 19-14 before finally bowing out of the draw. Hirsh said he didn't feel overpowered against the hard-hitting Bogomolov, but has revealed that at this juncture he'll likely opt for collegiate tennis over turning pro. Hirsh had defeated Elena Jirnova, a former Ukrainian Fed Cup player, in the second round to set up the meeting with Bogomolov.

Petra Rampe of Slovenia marched into the quarterfinals before being knocked out by Sweden's Felipe Meier.

Southern Methodist, Arizona, Utah are among Hirsh's targets for continuing his career in college. Against the eventual 20-Ball champ, Hirsh didn't feel overpowered but accumulated too many unforced errors. "I missed too much," Hirsh said. "I just wasn't getting the ball back."

Bogomolov went on to defeat Okun, who is ranked 309th in the world but, like his finals opponent, at one point cracked the top 100. Win or lose, Okun enjoyed the tourney setup and its venue. "This is the first time I have played a tournament in this format, and I enjoyed it. The Napeague Tennis Club is very nice. The courts here are great. They are so even, which is very unusual for clubs with clay courts, where they have courts that have a lot of bad bounces, but not here."

The 20-Ball format was created by Steve Bellamy, the founder of the Tennis Channel, because an overly powerful serve can dictate a majority of the points, whereas with the 20-Ball scenario, players' groundstrokes alone put their opponents on their heels. All balls are entered into play with a serve below the waist, which sets up lengthy rallies. Gotham Tennis Academy owner Joel Kassan called the setup "an equalizer" for pros going against women, amateurs and juniors.

"We wanted to have a quick, action-filled format that also allows for some really special points and players can display their athleticism," Kassan said. "Sixty to seventy percent of tennis points are resolved either with a winner off the serve or an advantage gained by the serve. That really takes away from a lot of the play. This gives you a chance to see the explosiveness and footwork of the players."

The 20-Ball also is played in a single day whereas the major pro tournaments take a fortnight to complete. Not only are results posted in a matter of minutes but the format is attractive to touring pros who recognize they can collect a sizable cash prize in a matter of hours. This year, Bogomolov stopped in, took first place and was whisked off to Rhode Island for the Hall of Fame event. Whether they can pull it off next year when the field in all likelihood expands to 64 will be a challenge, but one that the Napeague Tennis Club will be more than happy to deal with.

East Hampton's own Max Hirsh flew up from Austin to compete in the 20-Ball but he was ousted by eventual champ Alex Bogomolov in the quarterfinals.