Off-Court Happenings
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?
|
|
The views expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect those of this magazine.
https://tennis-ontheline.com/01aoct4.htm © 2025
Last updated 26 September 2015
// -->
|