Quick Hits: Players make pre-Open appearances around town, Evert joins Lagardere
Here's a round-up of tennis business stories for the week.
- Players were spotted all over town as part of endorsement promotions. Maria Sharapova showed up for Evian and strutted for Cole Haan. Andy Roddick accepted Babolat's donation to his foundation during an event at CityView Racquet Club. Justine Henin, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Ana Ivanovic and Andy Murray helped celebrate the 10-year birthday of the Barricade shoe by Adidas. Venus Williams performed a live tennis clinic on RalphLauren.com. Serena Williams (out with a non-tennis foot injury), Rafael Nadal, Victoria Azarenka, and John McEnroe hit Pier 54 for Nike. McEnroe joined Nikolai Davydenko, Fernando Verdasco, Jurgen Melzer, Nicolas Almagro, Dominika Cibulkova and others at Union Square Ballroom to launch Dunlop's Biomimetic racquet line; the players got behind the bar, too.
- ESPN coverage of the US Open presents unprecedented multi-platform and worldwide coverage: 100 hours in high definition on ESPN2 HD, nearly 400 hours on ESPN3.com's multi-court offering, as well as original coverage on ESPN.com.
- The Tennis Channel's US Open broadcast team includes Jimmy Connors, Martina Navratilova, Lindsay Davenport, and Tracy Austin. The cable network is telecasting 234 hours, with nearly 24-hour, "Grounds Pass" level of coverage during the two-week competition.
- Players were spotted all over town as part of endorsement promotions. Maria Sharapova showed up for Evian and strutted for Cole Haan. Andy Roddick accepted Babolat's donation to his foundation during an event at CityView Racquet Club. Justine Henin, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Ana Ivanovic and Andy Murray helped celebrate the 10-year birthday of the Barricade shoe by Adidas. Venus Williams performed a live tennis clinic on RalphLauren.com. Serena Williams (out with a non-tennis foot injury), Rafael Nadal, Victoria Azarenka, and John McEnroe hit Pier 54 for Nike. McEnroe joined Nikolai Davydenko, Fernando Verdasco, Jurgen Melzer, Nicolas Almagro, Dominika Cibulkova and others at Union Square Ballroom to launch Dunlop's Biomimetic racquet line; the players got behind the bar, too.
- Chris Evert and Puerto Rico's Monica Puig, who is No. 3 in the ITF rankings, have signed with Lagardere management.
- DIRECTV, CBS Sports, the USTA and Panasonic offer the US Open broadcasts in 3D. CBS Sports will produce 3D versions of all the Arthur Ashe Stadium matches that it broadcasts in High Definition on Labor Day Weekend and on Finals Weekend, September 10-12. These matches will be made available nationwide via DirecTV's exclusive dedicated 3D entertainment channel, "n|3D Powered by Panasonic" (DirecTV channel 103).
- The Internatinoal Tennis Federation held its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., last week. Among the business conducted was passage of a rule change for all 10-and-under competition that will mandate modified courts and the use of slower balls as part of the ITF's Tennis 10s campaign. The purpose of this change is to increase participation among the ten-and-under age group as part of the wider "Tennis... Play and Stay Initiative."
- Arthur Ashe Kids Day on Saturday featured musical performances by the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato and the Bryan Brothers. Novak Djokovic rapped. Players including Andy Roddick, Melanie Oudin and Kim Clijsters participated in the event.
- The Tennis Channel's US Open broadcast team includes Jimmy Connors, Martina Navratilova, Lindsay Davenport, and Tracy Austin. The cable network is telecasting 234 hours, with nearly 24-hour, "Grounds Pass" level of coverage during the two-week competition.
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