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The Truman Channel Open: a tournament within a TV showPlus: Sharapova with Camille Belle at premiere; Federer, TIA numbers, Pac Life wildcardsBy Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net  Mark LyonsWill the Bryans provide a cheorographed chest bump in Vegas? Has there ever been a tournament bought by a TV channel and had every waking (and some sleepy) moments played out on its airwaves? I can't think of another one, but such is this week's Tennis Channel Open, an event purchased by the company three years ago from IMG (it was then in Scottsdale) and plunked down in Las Vegas, a perfect locale to host an event that isn't overly dependent on ticket sales. Oh sure, they'd like to crack the 40,000 weekly mark again, but do they really need to when they can gather dozens of hours of interviews and replay their features and interviews ad infinitum? The City of Las Vegas has ponied up a fair amount of money to keep the TCO in the city. So at least for this year, and probably next, the TCO won't look elsewhere. But a men's ATP tournament needs to draw at least 55,000 a week to be respectable and the TCO isn't there yet. The Tennis Channel Open reminds me of 1998 film "The Truman Show," a perfect Jim Carrey vehicle where Truman (Carey) grows up in a hypothetical town called Seahaven, which has been set up to host a continually running television show. All the townsfolk save for Truman are actors and he's unaware that the outside world is tracking his every movement. Eventually he wakes up, realizes what's going on and tries to escape. The folks at the TCO don't script the tournament, but they certainly get more players to participate in on-air activities than any other tournament. Would it be so out of line to get the on-court talent to listen to a few sharp barks from the producers? You know, "Bob Bryan: Chip your backhand down the line, smash the lob down the middle and then chest bump high and hard with Mike!" Or, "Lleyton, go corner to corner for three minutes, dig out a pass, and yell 'C'mon!' as loud as you can at the suits in the corporate boxes. Then ask a smiling Bec to serve them cocktails and take some pics with the courtside show girls." There are more than likely more Tennis Channel employees at the tournament than there are players in the main draw. In fact, there might even be more TCO folks in Vegas than there are players in the ATP draw and the Hilton Cup draw, the women's $50,000 USTA Challenger. But at least they are trying to make the event more than just a run-of-the-mill 32-draw, pre-Indian Wells and Miami appetizer. © TennisReporters.net 2008
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