Tournament Also Launches New Web Site
Popular WTA Tour Stop will be First Women’s Event in Los Angeles To Use New Instant Replay Technology
(Carson, CA) ---- Instant replay technology and a player challenge system will be featured for the first time at this summer’s JPMorgan Chase Open at The Home Depot Center on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California.
The 37th annual Open, scheduled from August 7-13, 2006, and presented by Herbalife, will integrate Hawk-Eye’s electronic line calling technology along with a player challenge protocol first used at the Nasdaq-100 Open in March of this year.
If a player challenges a line call during a given match (each player may challenge a maximum of 2 calls per match/set), an official replay will be provided to ESPN2 and The Tennis Channel, the official broadcast partners for the JPMorgan Chase Open. The replay will also be shown simultaneously to competing players, officials and fans via newly installed video screens in the tennis stadium. The improved technology will be used at all 10 US Open Series tournaments throughout the summer that are linked to the US Open.
“We believe this new technology advancement will be a great new feature for our fans,” said Bill Peterson, Tournament Director for the JPMorgan Chase Open presented by Herbalife. “It will add a new dimension and help take away any questionable line calls. Overall it is a great feature for tennis and we are proud to showcase it this summer.”
In other tournament related news, a complete redesign of the JPMorgan Chase Open website was relaunched today (www.jpmorganchaseopen.com). In addition to updated and new detailed background information for tennis fans, new interactive elements such as streaming video and a photo gallery from some of the past 36 tournaments have also been added to the website. Fans can also view professional tennis tips as well as United States Tennis Association (USTA) high performance information.
“This redesigned website allows our fans the opportunity to experience tennis in a technology friendly format,” added Peterson. “With upcoming announcements on our player field, new promotions, ticket offers and other tournament news, this website will be the first place our fans should check to find out what’s new and exciting at the JPMorgan Chase Open. It is an easy place to buy tickets and it will be a great way to check on the latest results, as they happen.”
The field for this year’s tournament will be announced in the coming days and the official website will have complete bios as well as the tournament bracket. Real-time scoring on the web is another new feature which will be used throughout the August tournament.
The JPMorgan Chase Open is part of the US Open Series, which links 10 summer hard-court tournaments to the famed US Open. This year’s Open marks the third time players competing in the US Open Series tournaments will be vying for bonus prize money at the US Open (August 28th – September 10). Players competing in the “summer season” of tennis at participating WTA tournaments will receive US Open Series points which will ultimately earn the winner of the series the opportunity to double her US Open prize money.