U.S. OPEN
GENERATES MUCH
PUBLICITY
FOR HEINEKEN
The 1997 U.S. Open at Flushing
Meadows in New York City turned
out to be a Grand Slam event brim
ming with upsets. In men's tennis,
differences between the competitors
have become very small indeed.
Gone are the days when only the top-
five players have a realistic chance of
winning the title. Favourites like
Sampras, Ivanisevic and Chang made
an early exit. To everyone's surprise,
Brit Greg Rusedski and Australian
Patrick Rafter were pitted against
each other in the final, on a sunny
Sunday afternoon in the brand-new
Arthur Ashe Stadium. Rafter scored a
convincing four-set victory, winning
his first Grand Slam title. In addition,
the Australian received the Heineken
Star Award (see elsewhere on these
pages).
These days, the champion in inter
national women's tennis is almost a
foregone conclusion. Martina Hingis,
16, from Switzerland had already
shown in previous Grand Slam tour
naments that she is ready to take
over the mantle from players like
Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Aranxa
Sanchez Vicario. In the final, Hingis
faced Venus Williams, a 17-year-old
who made her debut in the U.S. Open.
It was an uneven contest, with
Hingis brushing aside her opponent
in two sets.
Among the winners was Heineken.
As corporate sponsor of the United
States Tennis Association (USTA),
Heineken was able to raise its profile
significantly by placing its signage
around all tennis courts. Footage of
the U.S. Open was shown on 181 TV
stations across the globe.
For the 1997 U.S. Open, Heineken
USA organised a strong promotional
campaign, even securing the coope
ration of tennis star John McEnroe
(see next page).
But a picture often tells more
than a thousands words. This is why
photographers Clive Brunskill and Al
Bello of the All Sport photo agency
followed the 1997 U.S. Open from
Heineken's perspective and made the
pictures shown on these pages.
The four US Open finalists. Top left, Martina
Hingis, who won the ladies' singles.
Next to her, surprise finalist Venus Williams.
In the men's singles the final was between
Greg Rusedski (top) and Patrick Rafter.
Rafter won convincingly.
