U.S. Open women's champion Lindsay Davenport filmed
appearances yesterday on "CBS This Morning," CNN "Morning
News" and "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." Davenport also had
photo shoots for People Magazine and the N.Y. Times Magazine
(THE DAILY). In Tampa, H.A. Branham writes there's "more to
like" about Davenport than just her game. Branham: "She's
polite but -- unlike her male counterpart in demeanor, the
pulse-less Pete Sampras -- has plenty to say when asked.
Basically, she's got that girl-next-door thing going" (TAMPA
TRIBUNE, 9/15). But in Dallas, Barry Horn writes that
Davenport "may be tennis' worst nightmare -- a great player
who is perceived to be colorless by the media. In other
words, Pete Sampras in a skirt" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/15).
OFF THE COURT STRATEGY: BRANDWEEK's Terry Lefton
reports that having doubled sponsorship revenues over the
past three years to an annual take of $30M from its 21
corporate sponsors, USTA Dir of Marketing Pierce O'Neil
"still wants more." O'Neil: "I see all the category slicing
and dicing that goes on and just can't see how going up to
like 30 sponsors would help us, because then you get
everyone stepping on each other. We're trying to move in
the other direction and get more (sponsor activation),
especially off-site [from the U.S. Open] and off-season with
the USTA's other programs" (BRANDWEEK, 9/14 issue).
