Serena and Scott join forces in launching WTA Tour's "Looking for a Hero?" campaign

Serena Williams joined WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott in London for the launch of their 3 year $15 million "Looking for a Hero?" marketing campaign, the largest in the Tour's history and in women's sports, including the premiere of the infamous Superheroes ad. The campaign will be comprised of a print/digital advertising, and viral/social community based initiatives.


Speaking at the press conference, Scott was enthusiastic about the launch saying,

This is a thrilling moment in the history of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Never before have we planned, created and invested in a marketing campaign of this magnitude. The multi-platform campaign in many ways crystallizes how far we have come as a sport over the past five years, and everything we mean when we speak about the star power of our athletes and the excitement of women's professional tennis. I'm delighted and proud of the way the players have bought into the campaign. It's a huge testament to their professionalism and commitment to the growth of the game.

ReRe, along with 30 other ballers, stars in the Tour's campaign and believes it's a huge step for women's tennis:

Women's tennis is a premier sport for all women athletes, and I think it was a great opportunity to have the best athletes, female athletes, get together and be a part of such a wonderful advertisement. I was really happy to have an opportunity to be in it. I was more than excited to do it.

The director of the spots, Matthieu Mantovani, was also on hand for the ad's launch and said he was inspired by the women's ability to balance the demands of their professional on-court lives with their personal responsibilities saying,

Once I first received the brief my inspiration was to demonstrate the energy and high-intensity lives of these modern, successful, professional women. They possess amazing physical gifts on the court, but equally so off the court in lives that are provocative, glamorous and aspirational in so many ways. It is perhaps simple to point to features from the film world which helped shape and grow that vision but, for me, stylistically, elements of 'Charlie's Angels', 'Ocean's 11" and ' Mission Impossible' are reflected in this campaign.

The first phase of the campaign, which will be comprised of TV, print, and digital, begins at the end of August and runs through to the WTA Championships in November. The second phase will launch at the start of the 2009 season and continue throughout the year.

Here is the 60 second commercial followed by two 30 second spots, with a bonus behind-the-scenes video at the end:






(images via Getty, WTATour.com)

Behind-the-scenes of infamous WTA marketing campaign

So finally we get to see what all the hype was about...

Here are some behind-the-scenes images and video from the infamous WTA Tour "Superheroes" marketing campaign photoshoot that Maria "Shriek"apova made a public stink about recently. Unfortunately we don't get to see Maria in action, but we do get Maria Kirilenko, Ana Ivanovic, Venus + Serena Williams, and Jelena Jankovic.

ReRe enjoyed her experience saying,

This has been a fun experience and I love anything in front of the camera! Matthieu is a great director and I could really follow his vision.” She added, “This is a great campaign for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and it’s another sign that women’s tennis is the leading sport for all female athletes worldwide.

(images via Getty)

THE LOW DOWN: Sharapova opens Pandora's Box, but WTA Tour reaches compromise anyway

Maria "Shriek"apova and the thugs of the WTA Tour are finally playing nice after the Russian publicly blasted the Tour and its executives through her website, reaching a compromise that both sides can feel happy about...well, mostly Maria that is.

The photo shoot in question was reduced to 90 minutes from 5 to 6 hours, with Maria talking on the phone while taking a ride around Rome:

I was riding around in a car for an hour talking—pretending like I’m talking on the phone. The timing compromise was still pretty difficult since it’s before a very big event for all of us. Considering the time reduction, it definitely makes that a lot easier than going into a four- or five-hour shoot with hair and makeup, which adds another hour.

And did the new world no. 2 find her bullying tactics to be a success? "I’ve obviously made my point," said the 21-year old. "I wanted to let my fans know that I didn’t feel like people were listening to me. I think it’s in the best interest of the tour.”

Yes, the tour must be thrilled that you opened a Pandora's Box - good times!

(image via AP)

THE LOW DOWN: Sharapova vs. WTA Tour, Part Deux

The intriguing battle royale between Maria Sharapova and the WTA Tour continues...

Doing her best impression of a savvy poitician (Hillary or Barack?), the Russian seems committed to firing up her base through her blog now that she's realized the power and accessibility of new media, even blasting the diva-esque behavior of some executives:

I am sure many of you can tell that I am just a little frustrated with a couple of tour executives who don't ever listen to the players and want to do their own thing. For a sport that has so much potential to grow and get bigger, you would think that the players voice would be important but unfortunately that's not the case. They just do whatever they want and tell us what to do and how to do it. And on top of that walk around like they're the stars.

I have tried to work with them, I have attended numerous amounts of meetings throughout the years, but they just do what they want and threaten to fine me. So since they will not listen to me, I am going to start giving my fans a behind the scenes look at life on tour...let the fun begin! I also want to thank everyone for voting...the number of people voting was way beyond our expectations.

The ballsy Maria is so confident about her stance, she even admits trying to fake a reason for pulling out of Berlin (so as to not get fined):

I got a really bad viral infection with a big fever and that I have to get on antibiotics...how original! I know I'm always against those things, but I kind of had no other choice because I haven't been that sick in a while. Quite ironic, as a few days before that I was trying to come up with some 'excuse' for pulling out of Berlin...

Forcing ballers into lying? Take that WTA Tour! But it seems Maria has one more surprise for us:

There is also one other thing that I am soo excited to report but have to keep my mouth shut...you just have to wait a couple weeks. xx Maria

What could that be - retirement, pregnancy, marrying secret love Nole??? Oh, you're such a tease Masha.

(image via Getty)

THE LOW DOWN: Shady WTA Tour tries to muscle Sharapova, Russian pleads for help

I had no idea the WTA Tour was like something out of The Sopranos or in this case the Russian mob.

Maria "Shriek"apova has lifted the veil on some of the startlingly shady policies by the WTA Tour, and how the Tour is trying to muscle the Russian into paying their mortgage. But the always savvy Maria issued statements on her website and, in an unsual move, asked her fans to give her advice on her forum:

As many of you know, the WTA tour makes many players enter tournaments that they know the players will not be playing. I informed the WTA several months ago that if I played Charleston, I would have to pull out of Berlin. Now they are forcing me to give an injury for the reason why I am pulling out or they will give me an additional fine on top of the 125,000 fine already given to me. I am a very giving person, but I refuse to give anymore of my money to the WTA tour. So I want everyone to know that besides getting sick the past few days, I am healthy and I am looking forward to playing Rome. The good news is that the new road map for next year should solve all these problems.

I want all my fans to know that the WTA Tour is forcing me and several of the other top players to do a 4 hour commercial shoot for WTA Tour marketing materials. They want me to do this shoot on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday of the Rome tournament after flying 12 hours from LA. I have set my own personal rules when it comes to doing shoots and I never do shoots before tournaments because they are mentally draining and I want to just focus on my tennis. Now the WTA is telling me if I don't do this shoot they will fine me over $300,000. As you can see the WTA Tour loves to fine players. To be honest, I would love to do this and help promote the tour as much as possible, but to force me to do this shoot the day before a tier 1 tournament is just not right. I am interested in what my fans think I should do?

1) Should I just do the shoot?

2) Should I NOT do the shoot and take the fine?

3) Should I NOT do the shoot and take legal action against the WTA?

4) Should I contact the other top players and try to boycott the shoot?

5) Other To voice your opinion go to the forum by clicking here.

Wow! I'd hate to run into the WTA Tour administrators in a dark alley - very scary. What's also very scary? Asking your fans what to do with your money.

(image via Getty)

THE LOW DOWN: WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott responds to Richard Williams' remarks

WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott has responded to the comments made by Richard Williams about racism on the tour and reiterated the zero-tolerance policy for any incidents involving racism.

According to Scott,

The Tour has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to racism, and I have previously let Mr. Williams know that he should let me know if he ever had evidence of racist comments or acts in women's professional tennis. Champions like Chris Evert and Tracy Austin have done so much to help build women's tennis to where it is today, and it is regrettable that anyone would criticize them in this manner.

I think it's vital for Scott to take a proactive approach to these issues, as he did with Martina Hingis' doping charges + ban and criminal background checks for players' entourage.

FASHION FIX: The ladies trade out tennis gear for saris at Bangalore Open

So sari: The ladies of the WTA Tour are setting their sites on an Indian summer as they gather for this week's Bangalore Open...all except homegirl Sania Mirza, who controversially pulled out of the tournament due to the treatment she's been receiving from her country. The players worked the runway donning traditional saris for the occasion.


Serb Jelena Jankovic, a Sania supporter, is top seed in the tourney, which also includes a rare non-Grand Slam appearance by both Venus and a "recovered" Serena Williams.

(images via STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)

Martina Hingis speaks out about doping claims, "I have tested positive, but I have never taken drugs and I feel 100% innocent," says Martina

Here is some of what Martina Hingis had to say about today's claims:

"I have tested positive, but I have never taken drugs and I feel 100% innocent," [...] "The reason I have come out with this is because I do not want to have a fight with anti-doping authorities." [...] "When I was informed I had failed my 'A' test following my defeat at Wimbledon I was shocked and appalled. I find this accusation so horrendous, so monstrous that I've decided to confront it head on." [...] "I have no desire to spend the next seven years fighting doping officials. I'm frustrated and angry, and accusations such as these don't provide me with the motivation to continue." [...] Because of my age and my health problems, I have also decided to retire from professional tennis."

WTA Tour chief executive Larry Scott had this to say about today's news:

"We have not received any official information regarding the positive doping test result referred to by Martina Hingis, and as a result we are not in a position to comment on the matter." [...] "However, it is important to remember that in the area of anti-doping, all players are presumed innocent until proven otherwise."

To read Larry Scott's full statement, click here.

What we're wondering is why she decided to announce her official retirement today while announcing these doping claims? We don't think this makes much sense for the 5-time Grand Slam champion and looks very suspicious from a PR standpoint.

Lindsay Davenport talks tennis, working motherhood, and Kim Clijsters

We've been covering the very successful return of Lindsay Davenport to the WTA Tour. She's competing this week at the China Open and has reached the quarterfinals with a win over Greece's Eleni Daniilidou, 7-5, 6-3. In a recent interview, the former World No. 1 spoke about being a working mom, getting the balance right, and her thoughts on another mom-to-be, the now-retired Kim Clijsters:

On being a working mom:

"It's been really fun to do both, " [...] "At the beginning when I would leave and go and play tennis for a couple of hours I would have all this guilt" [...] "But I've learned that it's probably been good for both of us." [...] I feel like my life on the road is more fulfilled now I have my son with me" [...] "Once the tennis is over all my attention is on him and I think that helps me focus on the court."

On the challenges of coming back:

"Just physically, your body is really different after giving birth and I'm definitely not back to where I was before," [...] "It will probably take a few months ... I'm definitely not the fastest player out there so I have to rely on my anticipation."

On Kim Clijsters:

"[...] I just have to talk Kim (Clijsters) into coming back," [...] "I don't think she has any plans to do it but we'll try."

On her goals for tennis:

"It's been a wildly successful trip for me whatever happens here," [...] "For me it's just about the challenge of trying to get back to the top, of trying to win tournaments and being a force on the tour again."

(source, images via AP Photo)

+ MONDAY NETCORDS: Daniela, Radek leaves Martina, Bjorn on Novak...Player progress report, Gwyneth Paltrow in W and more

(image courtesy of lynn.berenbaum)

- Heartbreak hotel: Czech Radek Stepanek calls off his engagement to Swiss star Martina Hingis and no reason has been given. Isn't the not knowing the worst part?

- The heir apparent: Ted Robinson says to Novak Djokovic: "This is your NOW." And Bjorn Borg believes the Djoker has Grand Slam written all over him.

- Pro tennis players are giving advice on how to stay healthy on and off the courts. Daniela Hantuchova says, "I think taking just as much time for regeneration as you do for practice, is the key to being healthy all the time," [...] "Most of it comes down to staying positive and being at balance with yourself - I think that can really help to prevent a lot of injuries."

- The much beloved, yet much maligned (read: Federer), Hawk-Eye line calling system will make its FED CUP debut in the upcoming final between mother Russia and defending champions Italy

- Progress report: Yahoo! Eurosport grades the players on their summer so far and, no surprise, the Serbians are head of the class

- Doing nothing to dispell the image of the pampered pro-athlete, the ladies of the WTA Tour will be receiving Caribbean hand and foot treatments, seaweed masques, facial cleansing, and more at The Rogers Cup this week, all courtesy of Aveda

- Scoring Serena: Here's a peak inside the player wheeling-and-dealing that goes on behind the scenes to get top players at tournaments

- Even World No. 1's have bad luck

- OFF TOPIC ALERT: Gwyneth is back...in W magazine (images courtesy of style.com)

+ TUESDAY NETCORDS: Venus, Amelie, Martina vs. Anna...ESPN grabs Bud, Ana remembers and more

(image courtesy of rampant_media)

- Power play: The WTA Tour introduced the "power index" at last week's Acura Classic to rate the hardest hitters on the women's side. The index takes into account a player's fastest groundstroke (forehand or backhand), first serve, second serve, first-serve return, second-serve return and overhead or volley. Rankings at the Acura Classic: No. 1? Venus Williams. No. 2? Maria Kirilenko - they may need to check their meter.

- Talking to the press in Carson, CA for this week's East West Bank Classic Serbian World No. 5 Ana Ivanovic described the bombings in Belgrade, saying "I still remember the first night we went into a cellar because we didn't know what to expect," [...] "At first we were very scared because we didn't know what to expect, but later they explained that they were aiming only at military targets. Still, there was quite a bit of collateral damage, but we still tried to live as normally as possible."

- Double vision: Swiss Martina Hingis definitely sees similarities between her game and Russian Anna Chakvetadze saying, "She’s very smart around the court and she has good vision. You don’t see anything specific that she’s winning matches [with] so I definitely see some similarities." We agree and we like.

- Take that NBC: Sports network giant ESPN gave struggling NBC the proverbial finger by hiring legendary sports writer (and tennis Hall of Famer) Bud Collins after Collins was unceremoniously dumped by the peacock network during this year's Wimbledon. Gotta love it...

- Frenchie Amelie Mauresmo, who's having a less than stellar year as it is, has pulled out of the upcoming Tier I Rogers Cup in Canada and the Pilot Pen in New Haven, CT to recover from her appendectomy in March. You can scratch her from your US Open office pools this year.

FASHION FIX: The short(s) of it all

We've really been loving the flirty skirt moment happening on the women's WTA Tour this summer. The trend continues at this week's Acura Classic with Maria Kirilenko in Stella McCartney for adidas and Tataina Golovin in Lacoste. For all the athleticism and power these players possess, this style adds some much needed elegance to the sport.

But we've also noticed a disturbing trend looking to take the spotlight from the skirts: shorty-shorts. Recent perpetrators include usually fashion-conscious players like Venus "V" Williams (who we know owns a flirty skirt) and slender Slovak Daniela Hantuchova. We're all for minimalism and comfort, but this looks too boyish (and it seems we're not the only ones thinking this way.)

Our memories remind us that Russian Elena Dementieva was the first player we spotted wearing fashion shorts back in the day.

BEST LOOK: Flirty skirts or shorty-shorts? Tell us!