NEW YORK PUTS DEMAND ON PLAYERS
Being in Big Apple presents sponsors with opportunities
Before Serena Williams walks on to Arthur Ashe Stadium court to kick off her 17th U. S. Open campaign — and attempts to win a record 23rd major title — she had to walk down Ninth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, rushing to a brand event for which she was late. Traffic was snarled above 42nd Street.
“Jill is losing steam!” Williams laughed on her Snapchat account, filming agent Jill Smoller a few steps behind her.
Williams made it from 47th Street to 38th, but not without turning a few heads. She was moving swiftly — she had picked flats to wear — on her way to an appearance for Wilson, her racket sponsor.
Tennis players arrive in the city that doesn’t sleep each year— and especially an Olympic year — exhausted. The season is long and grueling. But the week leading into the Open is one of the busiest for them off the court. They have responsibilities for clients, brands and sponsors.
Before they hit the court, they have to hit the red carpet.
“When everyone gets to New York, all your partners want to do something special,” Williams told USA TODAY Sports in an interview the next night, at an event honoring her at Niketown. “I’musually OK with it. This is the busiest Slam for me.”
Busiest for everyone, perhaps. Williams had made her way from a Berlei bra event Thursday, changed outfits before the Wilson gig, then hopped uptown for Taste of Tennis, an event at theW Hotel, where her sister, Venus, joined her to pose for the paparazzi along with Rafael Nadal and Gar-
bineMuguruza.
“This week has been the busiest one,” echoed Cecilia Casla Urteaga, Muguruza’s publicist. Since the Spanish star beat Williams in Paris for the French Open title in June, her stock has skyrocketed. Muguruza did a photo shootWednesday for Adidas on Randall’s Island. Friday’s commitments took more than an hour.
“We try to balance it out,” Casla Urteaga said. “It’s always in coordination with her coach. If he feels it’s good that we can incorporate all of these things, we do.”
Crosstown from Serena Williams’ Wilson event Thursday evening ( where Milos Raonic also appeared briefly), another world No. 1 — Novak Djokovic — donned an apron and told a group of 20and 30- somethings the history behind the dish they were about to eat, a zucchini lasagna with cashew ricotta and pistachio pesto, his own recipe that is specific to Djokovic’s gluten- and meat- free diet.
Djokovic was on the roof of the Refinery Hotel near Bryant Park for a winecentric evening put on by Jacob’s Creek.
“Leading up to the tournament is the perfect time to create buzz,” said Krista Drew, a public relations director at Pernod Ricard, Jacob’s Creek’s parent company. “New York City embraces this iconic competition.”
The players are used to it, but it can be exhausting.
“This is the trickiest tournament,” Muguruza said. “They want more time fromyou. You have to take care of yourself. You have to economize your energy.”
Nike pulled out all the stops for Serena Williams on Friday night, as fans lined 57th Street to get into the store. Actor J. B. Smoove hosted the event, and when he welcomed Williams, a group of young girls from New York Junior Tennis & Learning sitting front and center cheered wildly for their favorite player.
A few minutes later, Williams joined them on the floor as she sat to watch a surprise video, featuring athletes such as LeBron James, Ashton Eaton, Roger Federer, Simone Biles and others, all praising Serena for her accomplishments.
“You’ve done it your way,” Federer said in the video.
There was a lively Q& A with Smoove and then a food cart was wheeled out for a contest to make Williams’ favorite dish: tacos.
“I’m the taco queen!” Serena shouted into hermicrophone. Then, like Djokovic, she was given an apron to wear. It was her uniform 72 hours before she’d put on another custom Nike outfit in New York.
This year, Williams’ day and night looks on court ( they are always different) are both accented by pink (“I love pink,” she said), and Williams called the pleated dresses classic yet powerful.
“I would love to stay at a country house on Long Island,” Williams said earlier, laughing. “But that’s way too far away. I like it in Manhattan. It’s such a great city. There is no place better.”
She also hopes there’s no better place to win major No. 23. She opens play Tuesday against Ekaterina Makarova.