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Tennis Rules Again...

Not the headline I thought I would ever write, but having had the pleasure of attending Wimbledon this past weekend and watching the Williams sisters duke it out on Centre Court, and then being enthralled by the Federer/Nadal slugfest on Sunday on TV, tennis has its mojo back. Amazing that of all the female players in the world, that a pair of supremely athletic, fiercely competitive sisters prevailed once again to play each other in the final. Contrary to the whispers in the tabloids that the result would be determined over the breakfast table on Saturday morning, I can tell you that Serena was far from pleased to lose to big sis, whose wingspan and powerful serves (126 mph) proved too much for little sister.

I first met Venus and Serena when they were 15 and 13 respectively. I was heading global sports marketing at Reebok, and we were taking a risk by signing Venus, then an awkward, gangly young teen, to a multi-year endorsement contract. Wonderful to have seen how they
have matured over these years into polished athletes and independent businesswomen.

As regards the Men’s Final, if you missed it, you probably missed one of the top ten matches of all time. Finally tennis
has a rivalry again, and while we are not quite back to the glory years of Borg, McEnroe and Connors, it is great to see some parity returning to the men’s game.

But the real impetus for this post was the impact a new technology has had on the game, both in-stadium and on TV – and it clearly derives its inspiration and interface from video games. For years, the game has relied on the eyesight of line judges to determine close plays. Now, thanks to a technology called Hawk-Eye, the players are allowed to challenge the call, and almost in real-time, a 3-D simulation of the shot appears on the screen. With great drama, the ball lands in or out. Crowd loved it in-stadium, it gets rave reviews from TV viewers, and from what I understand, it has been embraced by the players as accurate and a fair and equitable way to immediately resolve line calls.

Looking forward to next week at E3.

Cheers,
Peter