The most important thing I do outside of Groton is my involvement in professional tennis. I write for a magazine, I work for some players, and a few times a year I go out to some tournaments as a member of the credentialed media to interview pros on-site. This summer, I had the opportunity to try something different. I flew to Ohio in August to work at the Cincinnati Open, one of the calendar’s premier events.
Notwithstanding the U.S. Open and the BNP Paribas Open in California, this was the largest event I had attended, which meant that I had my work cut out for me. My primary responsibility was assisting the hundreds of people—writers, podcasters, camera crews, and in-house staff who came to cover the event. Some were local journalists who work for small news outlets around the city, others came from household-name publications like ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and the New York Times’ sports section, The Athletic.
I also helped out with press conferences. When a player finishes a match, the media can request them for an interview. But sometimes journalists can cross the line after a hard loss, and occasionally players can be provoked by an intrusive question. So recording and monitoring these conferences in partnership with a PR representative was crucial.
In addition, I also helped players fulfill publicity requirements for the tournament. The event was supported by sponsors; when sponsor representatives visit the tournament, they must receive the best hospitality. As a thank you, the tournament likes to give the sponsors collectibles. My job was to wait for players to come into the tournament offices and get them to sign postcards and tennis balls that could be gifted to the sponsors.
My final responsibility was relaying information to our broadcast partners. When you hear commentators pull out fun facts or stats on air, it typically doesn’t come from the depths of their memory. Instead, it’s written down in a packet in front of them as media notes, information I helped curate and made sure was distributed to where it needed to go.
Lastly, I got to meet up with a player I wrote an article about and with whom I’ve collaborated in the past. Her name is Nicole Melichar-Martinez, and she’s a grand-slam champion and 17-time titleist on the women’s WTA Tour. Niki is a super sweet person, and she has recently been advocating for better publicity for doubles players. It was incredible to see her, and I got some super cool photos for the article and she signed some copies for the magazine. I was also fortunate enough to attend some practice sessions and a match as well as help her do these publicity things.
Overall, my experience in Cincinnati was awesome. I got to meet tons of special people, I learned a lot, and it was very refreshing to see a different side of pro tennis than what I’m used to. While I probably won’t be back in the Midwest next summer working for the tournament, I hope to get back there at some point on assignment from my magazine.
