By TERRY MADDAFORD
Determined to retain the clean-cut, healthy image of their sport and put the faces of the rising stars in front of the public, ATP tennis officials late last year launched a campaign aimed at showing there will be life after Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Pat Rafter.
The "New
Balls Please" campaign features the new breed, headed by Brazilian world No 1 Gustavo Kuerten with other top players including Russian Marat Safin, Australians Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis, and 2000 Heineken Open champion Magnus Norman involved.
Surprisingly, of the 12 players who willingly lent their names to the campaign, nine have either played at Stanley St in the past or are playing this year's tournament.
"There is a changing of the guard with players like Sampras, Agassi and Chang coming to the end of their careers," said Heineken tournament director, and ATP board member, Graham Pearce yesterday.
"Most top players expect a career span of around 10 to 12 years so there are always players looking to come through. We were keen to introduce the potential stars as the faces of the future.
"They were selected by ATP staff after looking at their backgrounds and how they have performed. We didn't want to see tennis caught in a vacuum.
"The players enjoy the extra attention the campaign has attracted," Pearce said. "The posters and calendars and other material associated with it have brought a positive response and one the ATP is keen to see continue."
Jan-Michael Gambill, ranked 33rd on the end of year list, and a quarter-finalist in this week's rain-interrupted open, is seen as the new hope for American tennis with only Sampras, Agassi and Chang (32nd) ranked ahead of him.
Though the campaign has proved very popular with the younger set, there was some initial resistance in the United States to the slogan, but that has slowly been overcome.
The ATP intends the list to be updated each year.
