Fernandez to hold doubles camps with Austin, Navratilova

Gigi Fernandez is broadening her reach in the doubles instruction world. The 17-time Grand Slam champion is hosting three-day camps this year alongside fellow legends Martina Navratilova and Tracy Austin.

On April 4-6, Fernandez will be at the Innisbrook Resort in Tampa with Navratilova, and then on April 27-29, she'll be at the Terranea Resort in Los Angeles with Austin. One more camp is scheduled for the fall, with dates to be announced soon.

Fernandez has been hosting clinics for four years, teaching the Gigi Method to recreational doubles players.

"I thought it would be really cool to do them with other legends," Fernandez told Baseline. "I ran into Martina at Necker Cup. I asked, why don't you do camps like I do? People love them. She was like, sure let's do it."

Two legends are better than one, right? The camps are small with 16 players and two coaches per court plus three—including Martina or Austin and Fernandez—acting as roving coaches. Players will enjoy lunches and dinners together, as well as classroom sessions.

"I call it a workshop because we have classroom sessions where they learn off the court," Fernandez says. "They can ask questions and I present the Gigi Method before we go on the court."

Fernandez and Navratilova won Wimbledon together in 1994. (Getty Images)

Worried about if you're good enough to play in front of the champions?

"I don't discriminate based on rating," Fernandez says.

Fernandezcreated the Gigi Method with all of the expertise and knowledge from her illustrious playing career, which saw her reach No. 1 as well as win two Olympic gold medals.

"The idea is to expose people who want to learn tennis and doubles with high level legends," Fernandez says. "And you can be on the court learning from them and picking their brains—going beyond just learning from me, but learning all the aspects of tennis from the legends."

If you're interested in joining the learning and the fun, there's still time to sign up. Ten percent of all clinic profits will go to the local NJTL chapter.