The Wii King takes on all comers

By Mario Sarmento
SPORTS EDITOR

Gil Mayron wants Wii Tennis to become as big as Madden football is in the gaming world.

Mayron, a 2003 Olympic Heights graduate, started playing the game shortly after it was released for the system last year. Mayron had played the real game of tennis until two torn ACLs ended his career.

“This came along, and I said, ‘You know what, I can be really good at this,’” he said.

Soon Mayron was entering tournaments and winning. He even started his own Web site, virtualtennistour.com, for gamers across the country to rank themselves. Mayron is the No. 1 ranked player on the site and was one of four semifinalists to qualify for the Nintendo Wii finals Saturday at the Delray Beach & Tennis Center. (Results were not available at press time).

Mayron’s coach is a friend, Jack Licata, who he calls “Dagan Doogenstein.” He’s a character based on “Patches O’Houlihan” from the 2004 comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.

An article “Doogenstein” wrote caught the attention of Prince Sports executives, who supplied Mayron and his friends with Wii-sized Prince racquets that allow the controls to slip into grips, adding some realism to the virtual sport.

Mayron also wears Prince apparel whenever he plays a game.

In his real life, Mayron runs an advertising agency in Boca Raton. But he spends up to eight hours a day practicing for his Wii tournaments.

Mayron also has a “team” to support him: Doogenstein, manager Shaan Dholakia, nutritionist Steve Santore and therapist and fellow Olympic Heights graduate Agustin Ontano.

Ontano is two years older than Mayron and studies massage therapy at Palm Beach Community College.

“I rub down his fingers, his extensors and such with the wrist,” Ontano said. “That way he doesn’t get tennis elbow, or tendonitis.”

This week, Mayron and his friends have been manning the Nintendo Wii tennis booth at the Delray Beach ITCs. They claim it’s the hottest booth on the site.

“It’s amazing how much this has caught on for people,” Mayron said. “We get older people, we get younger people, we get 5-year-old kids.”

Mayron hosts a number of tournaments during the year; he said he’s often asked by charities to bring the Wii to help with fund-raisers. He’s also hoping to eventually host Wii events at every ATP Tournament site.

One day he also hopes to earn something more tangible than prizes for hosting and winning tournaments.

“Hopefully it can be that way,” said the self-proclaimed first professional Wii tennis player in the world.

(Full ITC results will be listed in Tuesday’s edition of the Boca Raton News).