The "distinctive" Australian Open logo has made its last center court appearance, with the so-called "serving man" set to join 20-year veteran Lleyton Hewitt in grand slam retirement next January at Melbourne Park, according to Linda Pearce of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The original silhouette was believed to have been modeled on former tour player and Australian Open Deputy Tournament Dir Peter Johnston. AO Head of Marketing Jo Juler said, "It's a bit of a refresh. Serving man was never made for the digital age, he was designed for print, and he doesn't translate very well. And obviously having a serving man representing a tournament that is equal for men and women is no longer relevant. We are and have always been a platform about equal pay for men and women, and about 65 percent of our attendees are women, and as you know, coming to the tennis every year, it's not just tennis any more; our fans when we do patron research just talk about this amazing atmosphere, and how it's fun and it's Melbourne, it's not just about tennis." She added, "So we felt for all those reasons that it was time to retire him. He will stay, he doesn't completely disappear, he'll make some little cameos during the tournament. He's still part of our history and we still really love him, he's really quirky." How "was the news broken" to Johnston? He said, "I hadn't heard, but, if that's true, it had a good innings. We all have to go out to pasture some time" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 9/1).
