Let me begin this post by saying that I absolutely love the Olympics. I love everything about them..kayaking to table tennis and all things between. I watched Women's Fencing over the weekend and was completely fascinated by it. The fact that I devoted an hour or so of my morning to one of the more obscure events in the sports spectrum is both complelling and unusual at the same time. I'm a big fan of NBC's coverage of the games, particularly because of the opportunity to watch Bob Costas make magic happen each and every night. In my opinion, there's no one better. I've even enjoyed watching Chris Collinsworth...the admission of this shakes me to the very core of my being.

Here are some of the highlights so far:

    
    The Women's Beach Volleyball pairing of Americans Misty-May Treanor and Kerri Walsh continued their march towards Gold with a convincing victory over the Cuban team yesterday in pool play.May-Treanor ans Walsh earned the Gold in Athens four years ago. Yesterday's victory was their 23rd consecutive win.

    
    
    The solid performance of the U.S. Women's Gymnasts, who despite a bad case of nerves and a freak injury to Samantha Peszek during warm-ups before the team prelims, find themselves in medal contention entering tomorrow's team final. Shawn Johnson's performance sunday on the beam was nothing short of amazing. A clutch performance that came at exactly the right time.

    
    The U.S. Men's Basketball team rolls through China and Angola quite easily. Dwayne Wade raked in 19 points in the win over Angola. Nice to see D-Wade healthy again. The broadcast of the USA/China game may go down as the most watched sporting event in television history.

    
    
    Solid performances yesterday by Justin Horton (parallel bars) and Raj Bhavsar (vault) help earn the Bronze for Team USA in Men's Gymnastics. The U.S., minus the Hamm Brothers, finished strong in the shadow of a Chinese team that was destined to take home the Gold after a poor showing in Athens four years ago.

   

     Michael Phelps- The most amazing athlete I've ever seen. Enough said. The 4x100 relay final was probably one of the most thrilling and spectacular races in Olympic history.

    Has anyone paid any attention to the music being piped in on the PA's during the Beach Volleyball matches? I swear I heard "Carrie" yesterday during the USA/Cuba match. For those who don't remember, Carrie was a hit for Europe..in October of 1987.

 The best thing about all of this is that we've seen tremendous examples of individual accomplishment, teamwork, triumph over adversity, and the undeniable spirit of a champion...and it's only tuesday!

    More to come later including an update on tennis action over the past few days.

The Olympus US Open Series has made it stop in Washington at the Legg Mason event. Check out the official tournament website for real-time updates and follow all the action. Will Andy repeat in Washington in 2008? Only time will tell...
The Olympus US Open Series will make its last stop at the Pilot Pen in New Haven, August 15-23 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale. The Final stop for professional tennis in the US will culminate in New York at Flushing Meadows with the 2008 US Open.

 

    Today marks the beginning of the main draw in Washington D.C., home of The Legg Mason Classic. Considering the impact that the Olympics has had on summer player commitments in men's tennis,  The Legg Mason event boasts a fantastic player field. Andy Roddick enters the event as the #1 seed, but will have his hands full thanks to the likes of Marat Safin, Feliciano Lopez,Tommy Haas, and Juan Martin Del Potro. Del Potro defeated Roddick yesterday to take the title of the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles. I noticed he cut his hair. Maybe that had something to do with it.

I smell a rematch....but both sides of the draw are filled with plenty of challenges along the way.

As my friend at From The Other Side of The Net mentioned today, this week marks the return of Taylor Dent, who has been absent from the tour for two years. Taylor was as high as #30 in the men's rankings in 2005 and was a finalist in Indianapolis that same year.

Mardy Fish also continues his road to recovery from an injury-plagued 2007 as the #5 seed. It's good to see Mardy playing well again. He brings charisma and a good energy to every event he plays.

We're going to attempt two posts on The Juice today, so stay tuned.

Also, best wishes for a great week to Jeff, Dan, Keith, Keely, Victoria, and the rest of the team in D.C.!

One of my favorite events of the summer is taking place this week - the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington DC.  Even though Blake, Nadal and Federer have decided to test their tennis skills amid the smog of Beijing, the draw in DC is pretty good. 

Two of my favorite players are working on comebacks from injury.  Taylor Dent and Mardy Fish are both rehabbing after injuries. Both players have come to Indy on several occassions.  Dent played in an epic battle in the heat a couple years ago.  How can you not like Taylor?  He is always willing to help out with our kids clinics, sign autographs and meet with sponsors.  Indianapolis loves Taylor!

Fish has played in the Indianapolis Tennis Championships several times but hasn't had near the success that Dent has on the hardcourts.  I once spent a 30 minute busride with a public relations guru from the ATP working on promotions involving a person with the last name of Fish.  If Fish can get by Falla in Washington then he has a great shot to go deep in the draw.

The top two seeds, Roddick and Del Portro are coming off a tough week in Los Angeles.  My pick to win is veteran, Tommy Haas.

Anyone watching the Olympics?  It was so cool to see James Blake get his first victory.   James was very pumped to represent the US in Beijing.  Blake is another tennis star that Indy loves.  He is so gracious and is one of the true gentlemen of the game.  He always signs autographs and takes time for the fans.  Good Luck James!

I was watching an interesting show last night called "Beijing: are you ready?" It documented the changes Beijing had to make to build state of the art facilities. I found it interesting that they called the opening and closing ceremonies National Stadium "The Bird's Nest." The architecture is truly amazing of this building, 227 ft tall!! I also found out that 8 is considered a lucky number in Beijing, hence 08.08.08, and at 8:08:08 the opening ceremonies will begin!! In Beijing, if your house address or phone number has an 8 in it, you are considered to have lots of luck in your life!! Also, the symbol of the Olympics logo represents "Beijing." They changed the symbol to be symbolic of a person running just for the Olympics! Pretty interesting! Check out the building for the Olympic Tennis Center http://www.atptennis.com/en/players/gallery/?Event=olympics.

T.G.I.F. It's time to get ready to leave the office after another productive work week here at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented by Lilly. I think that I will change things up tonight and instead of going to my favorite watering hole, I am going to stay at home and watch the Opening Ceremonies from Beijing. I am very eager to watch tonight as the Young Americans (Sam Querrey, James Blake, Robbie Ginepri and of course the Brian Brothers) walk into Olympic Stadium sporting Red, White, and Blue. Good luck to all the Athletes participating in this year’s Olympic Games.

If you were to google digital cameras right now, how many results do you think you would pull up? If you guessed 83,500,000 then you were exactly right. I am sure you are curious as to why this has anything to do with a world class mens professional tennis tournament and I plan to explain that one to you.

Lets start with Olympus first of all, Olympus has started their first year as the title sponsor of the US Open Series and they have kicked this partnership off with a bang! Touring the US with a mobile marketing campaign and a 60' bus that folds out into an interactive tennis court and photo opportunity to demostrate their product. This is how you activate a sponsorship.

My question is this: What are you doing to keep your brand in front of your consumers, even when the economy is on a downturn? You must stay in front of your consumers year round. The opportunity to physically put your product in the hands of your consumers and create an intimate experience is a highly valuable goal of many companies.

Many organizations are often confused during tight economical times and begin to pull the reigns back, this is precisely the opposite of what they should be doing when things get turbulent. When everyone else is pulling back their spend, why not keep yours the same or step it up 5-10%? Your impact and reach are that much greater due to the lack of products and promotions in the marketplace. Align with a world class product: i.e. mens professional tennis? the USTA? the Olympus US Open Series? or heck why not event the Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presetned by Lilly?

Ok, so your demographic isn't exactly that of a pro tennis tournament in the midwest, that is fine, we understand that we cannot be all things to all people but I would argue that you can find an event, property, team or athlete that will help you stay relavent and most importantly, provide you with memorable experiences and lasting impressions on your consumers!

Impacting one fan at a time...

 The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.
 
- Bob Dylan,"The Times They Are A Changin'"

 

    Behold the changing of the guard in the men's tennis world?. Starting with the most obvious example in Rafael Nadal, who at the tender age of 22, will inherit the throne from King Roger on the 18th of this month when the 52-week rankings are released. The soon-to be-crowned Boy King recovered from a slow start to the year in truly remarkable fashion. He rode a 32-match winning streak into Cincinnati before the wheels fell off at the hands of Djokovic in the semi-finals. I'll credit that hiccup to fatigue more than anything (although Djokovic played well). Nadal's unique blend of speed, athleticism, intensity and on-court savvy make him a real gift to the tennis world.

 While Federer's 2008 has been a year filled with inconsistency and a palpable frustration with his game, remember that he was still good enough to finish Runner-Up at Roland Garros and Wimbledon...which weren't no easy thing.
 
 Slumps are inherent to all the great ones across the sports spectrum. Tennis is no different and remember this- In 2002, Pete Sampras won the US Open at age 31 after having not won a singles title in 22 months.By the time he reached New York that year, Sampras hadn't advanced past the 4th round of a slam since the year before and hadn't won since Wimbledon in 2000. In 1997, Andre Agassi was ranked #141 in the world and was playing Challenger events before reaching #1 two years later. My point is this....don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion. I don't think Roger's done just yet.

 And for the first time in a long while, we'll have the pleasure of watching a real story develop within the top 10 of men's tennis. Andy Roddick and James Blake currently occupy the 8 and 9 spots, but neither are very far from being back in the top 5. If either is going to make a late season push, New York is the place to do it.

More imprtantly, aside from Nadal, is anyone playing better tennis right now than Andy Murray? We're starting to see real flashes of brilliance in his play that we haven't seen before. Andy enters this week at #6 in the rankings and it's painfully obvious that he's going to make some noise in Beijing and at the US Open if he stays healthy and focused. Can he continue his solid play? Will he play well enough to creep up to #4? Why am I asking you?

With the average length of my recent blog entries not totaling more than 20 words, I thought it was time to give a little thought to this entry.
Congratulations to the 2008 Champion: Gilles Simon. Simon has had incredible July, cracking the top 15 in world ranking for men's professional tennis, capturing the crown in Indianapolis and beat current world #1 Roger Federer.

Simon is still in the lead on the greatest road trip in sports: Olympus US Open Series.
The week of tennis in Indianapolis is still very fresh to all that attended and even more so to the generous tournament partners, season ticket holders and volunteers. Special thanks to all those involved in the success that was the 2008 Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented by Lilly.
Check out the tournament website for the 2009 tournament dates and be sure to contact Brad Weiland at the tournament office (1-800-622-LOVE) to secure your seat at the 2009 Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented by Lilly.

The second two wildcards for the 2008 Indy Championships Presented by Lilly....Tommy Haas of Germany and Fabrice Santoro of France. These two journeymen add a level of experience to the young american draw we announced last week and will be a welcome addition to the world class tennis offered on-site. Tommy Haas has been ranked as high as #2 in the world and could really make a run for the title here in Indy.

Get your tickets at tennisindy.com now and get on-site to see all the new attractions...new exciting displays include Lilly, Clarian, USTA, the Olympus US Open Series Bus and many more

                                                                    


Today is "write about whatever you want to" day here at The Juice in celebration of our Nation's birthday. July 4th is the greatest of the summer holidays in my opinion. For one day it's perfectly okay to stand in the middle of your street in cut-off jean shorts and a Motley Crue tank top and detonate illegal fireworks. 

(Editor's note: We at the Juice actually began our celebration on July 2nd, when the Declaration of Independence was actually signed by its authors, which means we haven't worked since wednesday)
   
 First things first: I'm not sure what sort of cosmic anomaly is to blame for my Red Sox entering today 3 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays, but hopefully things correct themselves here soon. However, it has been the most jubilant of times watching the grease fire that is the New York Yankees.

  By now you've heard about Brett Favre's rumored return to the NFL. All I have to say about this is zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. 

   Gilbert Arenas gave $16 million back to the Wizards to stay in DC.Seriously. I'm not making that up.

   Joey Chestnut toppled Kobayashi in a 5-dog eatoff to win the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog eating contest. Read about it here. I shake my head at this.

More to come later as the Juice will have something to say about both Wimbledon finals. Enjoy the potato salad today.

My job takes an interesting twist this week when we begin to think about the 2009 event and discuss sponsorship options with partners over the next 2 weeks. A unique aspect of my job that has developed this year is the ability to showcase assets that we have available at the tournament for 2009 partnerships. Our mens professional tennis event provides a unique venue that touts a demographic of 55/45 womens and mens split with a high level of discretionary income.

Our tournament staff has always believed that this demographic is a sought after demo for any corporation looking to make an impact with this particular audience.

As we invite existing and possible future sponsors out the event we will be showcasing naming rights opportunities, hospitality venues, VIP experiences and many other custom built programs meant to grow a sponsors bottom line.

The first stop on the Olympus US Open Series starts in less than 8 days and we are counting down the minutes to world class Indy Tennis...

The only professional men’s tennis tournament in Indianapolis is fast approaching! 
This year the Indianapolis Tennis Championships is the first stop on the Olympus U.S. Open Series.  The tournament promises to be another great event as we have been preparing for months and promoting all over town.  If we haven't been in your neighborhood singing the tournament’s praises we are sure to be soon.  The days leading up to the tournament have been hectic, but it will all be worth it to see another successful tournament! 

We are really excited about this year’s player list, the matches are sure to have you on the edge of your seats!  If you haven’t purchased your tickets for the Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented by Lilly yet, what are you waiting for?  Call us at 317-632-4100 or 1-800-622-LOVE! Or for more information visit the official tournament website tennisindy.com or the Olympus USOS website.

Summer associate and ghost writer - Melanie Belbin

10 days and counting...

We are only 10 days away from the kickoff to the 2008 Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented by Lilly and the excitement has reached a fevered pitch downtown. In less than ten days Indy wil play host to some of the greatest professional tennis players in the world and everyone has the opportunity to see the action up close and personal.

One of the top players competing for the title in Indianapolis is on a roll at Wimbledon. Andy Murray defeated Richard Gasquet yesterday in an epic battle that will be talked about as one of the top matches at this years Wimbledon.

    Everyone like an upset...it's why we watch everything from football to dog shows. With that said, I want to congratulate myself for correctly predicting the outcome of Djokovic v. Safin earlier this week. While it may have been a bit of a shock to see Novak bow out in the second round of Wimbledon, it should at least prove two things:

1. How hard it is to win a grand slam                 
2. It's really good to be Roger Federer right now.

Seriously. You mean to tell me that the #3 ranked and arguably best young talent in men's tennis gets taken out in straight sets by the unseeded and arguably best candidate to have a meltdown on Centre Court at any time and Roger's won this thing five times?
And I know what your saying...no trophies in Melbourne or Roland Garros this year, but right this down...Rog will win number 6 on the grass and win the US Open as well. I have seen it.

More from the Juice later on. My lunch break's over and I have a tennis tournament to prepare for.

14 days and counting...

We are only 14 days away from the 2008 Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented by Lilly. We are very excited to get this event underway and showcase the brand new on-site look and feel. All tennis fans old and new will be engaged in the tournament site.

Our sponsors are activating this year like never before and you will all be a witness to new and improved tournament grounds.

Unfortunately the majority of our 2008 player field has finished their run at Wimbledon with the exception of Andy Murray who continues to roll on grass! We are very excited to have Andy competing for the title here in Indy and are confident he is going to be coming in to town playing excellent tennis.

If you do not have your tickets for the 2008 event you need to contact the tournament office and get your tickets for the tennis event in the Midwest!

Also if you see the Olympus US Open Series Bus around town they will be promoting the Indianapolis tennis event and our role in kicking off the summer hard court tennis season.

14 days and counting...

 With Wimbledon in full swing it is time for players to begin requesting wildcards to play in the Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented by Lilly.  It is really interesting to get emails and calls from  they youngs guys that are so hungry for a break to get into a major tennis tournament.   Most of the requests come from college players and local prospects.  We recently just received a wildcard request from a doubles team that wants to train for the Olympics.  That is a first for me.

So, if you want to be considered for a wildcard into the main draw or qualifying draw of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships presented by Lilly - email me.  You never know , you could be the next big tennis star!

Today, Melissa and I participated in the very first stop in Indianapolis for the Olympus US Open Series bus.  I decided to take my son Thomas to truly 'test' the interactive games.  What a great setup!  The bus was really great inside and he loved the target game.  I think I was more interested in the technical setup for taking pictures and downloading them instantaneously.  I walked away with a great picture of him in front of a picture of the very best tennis players in the world.  Pretty cool!

The stop didn't attract a huge crowd - probably pretty tough on a Thursday night.  We should get some more people out over the weekend.  It is so gratifying that after 15 years in the tennis event business, someone is spending alot of money to support the growth of the game.  Way to go Olympus and the USTA.