A case of the blues at the U.S. Open

The only question is whether players will coordinate their apparel to
match the new courts.

"Some of them might ... I know blue's my favorite color," tennis star
Monica Seles said Monday aboard the flight deck of the U.S.S.
Intrepid, where USTA honchos kicked off U.S. Open ticket sales and
unveiled a bold new color scheme for tourney courts.

The big change coming to this year's Open -- call it a bolt from the
blue -- is a switch from green to blue courts at Arthur Ashe and all
the other courts on the National Tennis Center grounds in Flushing
Meadows.

Blue courts will make it easier for players, line judges and fans to
see the yellow tennis balls, which are sometimes smacked across the
net at 150 mph. USTA observers compared the change to the National
Hockey League's use of digital "puck enhancement" on TV broadcasts.

"In the final analysis, if viewers are able to follow the ball more
easily, the ratings will go up," said David Dinkins, who during his
tenure as mayor helped clear the noisy airspace over the tennis
grounds to make the Open more enjoyable."You get the ratings up, it
produces the revenue that lets the USTA spend more money on community
tennis."

Tennis courts used in the U.S. Open Series, the six-week summer
tennis season linking all major ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour
tournaments, will also be blue, said Arlen Kantarian, the USTA's
chief executive of professional tennis.

The 2005 U.S. Open runs Aug. 29-Sept. 11, with Arthur Ashe Kids Day
slated for Aug. 27. Tickets can be purchased via usopen.org, through
Ticketmaster at 866-OPEN-TIX or at the USTA National Tennis Center
box office.

Whether Monica Seles will stage a come back remains to be seen. Maybe
the blue courts might tempt her into playing some doubles at least.
To be continued...