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by Craig Thomas As at all Grand Slam tournaments, marketing and the souvenir stalls are a prominent part of the Australian Open. One of the more popular merchandising lines at the Open for several years now are the peaked and floppy hats bearing the flag and name of individual countries. Virtually every nation that is represented at the Open (and several which are not) are available, the most popular lines being, apart of course from Australia, those sporting the colours of Sweden, the USA and Germany. However some forms of marketing are more, shall we say, insidious. Prowling around the grounds of the Tennis Centre are two Lleyton Hewitt impersonators, complete with reversed peaked cap, blonde wig tied in a pony tail, carrying a tennis racquet and ball, and decked out in full Nike gear. They incessantly accost fans with irritating cries of "C'mon!", accompanied by the obligatory fist pump. The first time I guess it is amusing, the tenth time it is nearly as annoying as the genuine article! Last year Nike paid a group of holidaying university students to dress up in the current Nike gear as worn by Mary Pierce, Andre Agassi and Hewitt, sit in a group in their matches and recite chants and cheers for all to hear. Fortunately it was not long before it was noticed that the same guys, in the same seats, were doing the cheering for the three different players, and this little "spontaneous" fan support was exposed for what it was! The pair of Lleytons currently being given full run of the grounds are, from all reports, another marketing ploy. Oh, I guess I should mention Nike is one of the official sponsors of the Australian Open! And now to a shocking development. Has Anna Kournikova met her match in the glamour stakes? Surely not! Well, after yesterday's match on Court 1 between the preening star and Austrian Barbara Schett, the impossible could be possible. Throughout the match the cheers for Barbara at least matched those for Anna, an almost unthinkable occurrence on any court in Australia, in which teenage boys (and some well past teenage) queue for hours to secure seats to see her, packing her matches to capacity in the process. And to make matters worse, as the players walked out onto the court a loud voice bellowed, "Hey Barbara, we think you're cuter!", which was greeted by supportive cheers from well over half the crowd!! Is Barbara finally receiving the recognition she deserves in this superficial facet of the game, or are people finally getting sick of Kournikova Incorporated? |