Dream Girls

(Ed. note - I'm off to Fort Lauderdale in a few hours, but I wanted to get this post up before I left. When I heard that Matt Van Tuinen,, one of my favorite PR guys in tennis, is going to be working with Venus and Serena Williams on their winter exhibition swing, I thought it might be fun to have an "insider's" view of what might be called a "typical" day in the life of a tennis superstar - at least,  a superstar not focused on the immediate task of winning a tournament.

*By virtue of his job, Matt isn't in a position to give you a "critical" look at his subjects, but then a critical viewpoint isn't mandatory, nor is it always the most interesting or relevant angle from which to approach a subject. This report ought to give you a pretty good idea of just what goes into one of those "hit and giggle" exhibition matches - especially if you assume that all the players do is show up at some arena at 7:30 PM, play a make-believe match until 9, then retire to the nearest nightclub.

Special thanks to Matt, presently one tired puppy, for delivering this so quickly! --- Pete)*

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Hi everyone, my name is Matt Van Tuinen and I am running PR for the third annual McDonald’s Williams Sisters Tour, which features exhibition matches between Venus and Serena, celebrity musical performances and fundraising activities, which benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities and other children’s causes.

I don’t work for IMG, which runs this tour, but I became involved recently as they needed someone to help with the PR (I run PR for the Pacific Life Open and the Pilot Pen).  I worked with Venus this summer in New York during a media day for the launch of the US Open Series with James Blake so that made me a good fit for the Tour.  It was a great experience and I had been interested in working with Venus again and Serena as well for that matter.  So I jumped at this opportunity when my phone rang a few weeks ago.

**

Anyway, the Tour opened in Denver,Colorado, this past Thursday, November 30th and will make stops this week in New Orleans on Tuesday, December 5th and Charlotte on Thursday, December 7th.

Pete asked me to document my day with Venus and Serena in Denver to give the TW tribe a feel for what it is like to work with this type of exhibition.I'm sure I am not as subjective as Pete would be, trying to give more of a fly-on-the-wall perspective of a day with two of the best known tennis players, or athletes really, in the world.  But, I hope I can still provide a fresh perspective…

Wednesday, November 29

11:15 PM -  I’m in bed, praying that I’m ready for the insanely busy 20+ hour day that will take place tomorrow. You can’t imagine how many details our group had to have nailed down before this point.  We did our best, but in the end we will inevitably have to deal with some problems.  Despite my worries, I fall asleep quickly. Thank goodness, I am going to need the rest.

11:30 PM – The phone rings…Carlos Fleming (Venus’ agent, the guy in charge of the tour, and truly one of the greatest guys in the industry) is calling to tell me that the sisters have arrived and want to run through the exact details of the day…ugh…No problem, see you in five minutes.

11:40 PM - I meet Venus, Serena and their sister, Isha, who handles a number of their business affairs.  I had never met Serena.  I always felt that she cast an imposing presence on television, but she doesn’t seem so imposing in person.  She has a soft voice and a sweet, disarming smile.  Carlos and I do a quick rundown of the day, and everyone retires for the night.

Thursday, November 30

12:15 AM - – Back to bed…mind is whirring…I last see the clock at 1:00 a.m.

5:15 AM – My wake up call…this is painfully early.  Some people get up every day at this time and I am just dumbfounded at how they can do it.  I have had a little practice over the last month as my wife delivered my first child, a little girl, on November, 1st. So waking up every three hours or so has been a regular occurrence at my house.  Not that I am the one bearing the brunt of the burden, but I do wake up when she cries, and help out periodically.

5:50 AM – Meet folks from the Colorado Tennis Association to head over to the Broomfield Event
Center (the venue for the exhibition, on the outskirts of Denver) for the morning show with FOX 31. They have wrangled a couple of the ballkids for that evening to hit some balls with the television reporter and give him some tips. The sisters will be here later in the morning. They got in late, and have a big day ahead which includes a three-set match, so they are getting some extra rest. They will be here for the
7:00 a.m.hour.

6:10 AM – Meet the ballkids and their moms, and get set up…

6:40 AM – I do a television interview with the reporter and we hit the highlights of the day and the event that night…

7:15 AM – The morning show reporter hits some balls with the ballkids on the air…he is terrible with a capital “T.”  No, terrible doesn’t do it justice…make that downright embarrassing.  Tennis definitely isn’t for everyone.

7:25 AM – The entourage arrives…bodyguards, agents, people helping with the tour, drivers, and Venus and Serena.

7:30 AM – Venus walks over to talk about the upcoming television interview, and she is walking very awkwardly.  I ask her what’s up, and she says she forgot a belt and her pants are falling down.  I look at her pants…yup, she needs a belt. I offer mine, which she looks at disdainfully, and comments that it is unfashionable.  I let her know that her pants falling down would be a far worse fashion statement.  She agrees and puts the belt on…crisis number one diffused.

7:40 AM – The sisters do an interview with the Fox 31 reporter…

7:45-8:30 AM – The sisters do about six or seven phone interviews with radio stations from around Denver, sign a gazillion programs for giveaway later tonight, and fire off emails to friends/family/business associates on their Sidekicks and laugh with Isha.

8:40 AM – One final interview with Fox 31, and now we are done with TV…nice.

8:45-9:45 AM – The sisters do more radio interviews, sign more autographs, do a couple of public service announcements for the Colorado Tennis Association, and a few interviews with The Tennis Channel.  The Tennis Channel is doing a “No Strings Attached” show about the entire Tour.  It will air in late December.

10:00 AM – We leave the Broomfield Event Center and head to the Ronald McDonald House of Denver.  On the way, we stop at - where else - McDonald’s, for breakfast.  I ask Carlos if this was a mandatory stop…he laughs.

10:30 AM – At the Ronald McDonald House it became blatantly obvious why Venus and Serena enjoy this tour and why they do it every year…the kids.  An example would be eight-year old Vivien Doucette.  She recently lost her sister to congenital heart disease. She was back in Denver because her other sister is now sick and in the hospital.  No one should have to endure this, let alone at age EIGHT.

At the Ronald McDonald House, Vivien got to hang out with Venus and Serena, make a Christmas card and sip some hot chocolate.  I could tell she was in heaven, and a smile was on her face the whole time.  I didn’t catch this, but in a Denver Post article the next day, her dad, Josh Doucette said, “It actually made us cry to see her so happy, she loves the Williams sisters.  It has been unreal waiting for this day, she’s was up at 4 o’clock this morning.  A day like this will definitely help Vivien more than us, but to see her happy helps us also.” Tell me that doesn’t make you want to help someone, serve some food, donate toys, just make the world a better place this holiday season.

11:00 AM – Meet the press, not with Tim Russert, but with all the TV stations and major newspapers in Denver. The sisters conduct an interview for the local ABC station with a 12-year old kid.  I never got opportunities like this as a kid. Not that I’m bitter or anything…

11:30 AM – We are off to Manual High School where there are 1,000 Denver Public School kids waiting in an assembly…

12:15 PM – Pandemonium.  The decibel level in the gym must have just hit 130 when they introduced Venus and Serena.  The cumulative power of 1,000 kids screaming is powerful. There is a local skip-hop team (double dutch) that performs for the sisters, and are amazing.  Venus gives it a try and impresses everyone.  She is skipping her own rope while two people swing ropes around her.  All the kids go crazy, and all I can think is it’s a damn good thing I gave her that belt…

1:30 PM – After a question and answer session, we take off from the school.  We stop at M&D’s (I think that’s the name), a soul food restaurant in downtown Denver.  We commandeer the entire front of the restaurant and proceed to inhale lunch.  Fried catfish, fried green tomatoes, bbq pork sandwiches, fries, chicken wings, etc…amazing food - and apparently the diet of champions.

3:00 PM – The sisters crash for a few hours while the rest of us scramble to nail down the final details for that night.

5:00 PM – We are all going in different directions now.  Carlos is taking Venus, Serena and Isha to a VIP reception at the hotel, I am off to the arena to finalize the run-of-show, others from IMG meet with volunteers, the musical talent for the evening (Sammie - not Davis Jr., but the R&B artist), the ballkids and others.

5:30 PM – I find out the PA announcer is sick, and there isn’t a backup that has experience around at the moment.  This piece is fairly crucial as the lights guys, sound guys and everyone participating tonight will take cues from the PA announcer.  The search begins…

6:15 PM – Venus and Serena arrive and sign autographs at a meet and greet with a group of fans.  They must have signed their names 500+ times today.

6:30 PM – We found a PA announcer thanks to the folks at the Broomfield Event Center, and he seems legit.  I just felt a couple of  muscles relax.

7:30 PM – Showtime…well almost.  The weather in Denver has been terrible, so we push the start time back 15 minutes to allow more fans to get in their seats.

7:45 PM – Sammie performs the national anthem and a three-song set.  On comes the intro video for the Williams sisters.

8:00 PM – We are on schedule and the sisters have just come out to a full house and an energetic crowd.

8:15-9:30 PM – Serena wins the exhibition 7-5, 6-3.  This definitely wasn’t the finals of the US Open, but there were moments of sheer brilliance and I can see glimpses of why they have both previously been ranked No. 1 in the world.  The fans in Denver got a great show, and I think they enjoyed the level of tennis that they saw.  This is a market that doesn’t have a professional tournament, so they got a taste of what it is like.

I would be shocked - absolutely floored- if one, or both, of them did not have a significant impact on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour next year.  They both suffered injuries all last year, but the desire to be the best and play at the highest level has not waned.  Tennis is still the most important thing in their lives.

9:45 PM – Fans filter down/maul each other to get to the court to get Venus and Serena’s autographs.  Who started the whole “It’s valuable/cool to have a famous person’s signature on a photo, program or t-shirt?  I get the concept, but I wonder where it started.  Who signed the first autograph?  Maybe someone can post the answer.

The real mind bender for me is why someone would have them autograph something they never wanted autographed in the first place.  This happens when people don’t bring something specific or buy something to be autographed, but then find themselves face to face with a celebrity and can’t pass up the opportunity.  I saw it happen.  A woman asked Venus to autograph her purse. What does one do with that?  Do you show your friends and say…Hey, check this out, I had Venus Williams autograph my purse.  I know it has absolutely no relevance what-so-ever to tennis, but it was all I had, and you don’t pass an opportunity like that up.  Maybe it will be worth something someday…

I now confess that I have numerous autographs from famous athletes and they are on display in my office. None are on something I use on a day-to-day basis.

10:00 PM – I am hanging out with Venus and Serena in their locker room.  Venus returns my belt, and reminds me to bring it along in case of future fashion emergencies.  They then break out into dance moves as music plays on Serena’s computer.  I am privy to a side of them many don’t get to see.  I am seeing how light-hearted and fun they are to hang out with.  Players are so guarded with the media these days; most don’t get to see this type of emotion.

10:45 PM – Venus and Serena take off to catch the red-eye flight back to Miami. We’ll see them again on Monday night in New Orleans.

11:30 PM – Our group convenes back at the hotel to drink a few adult beverages, compare notes on the day and shoot the breeze.

1:00 AM – Off to bed.  All in all, a terrific day.  Major catastrophes avoided, major media coverage secured, a successful event is in the books.  Still, we have two more events to go.  Much more work still to be done.

--- Matt Van Tuinen