Tennis Umpires Get Help at U.S. Open

N E W   Y O R K, Aug. 23 -- Beneath a grand piano sitting on a giant stage, defending U.S. Open champion Leyton Hewitt and all-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras smacked tennis balls Thursday in separate practice sessions on Center Court at the National Tennis Center.

As Hewitt practiced serves with a hitting partner, a technician ran his fingers over the piano keyboard, testing speakers throughout the stadium. The grand piano will sound the opening notes Saturday for Arthur Ashe Kids Day and the official start of the two-week $16 million U.S. Open Championships.

Singer Vanessa Carlton will perform in the all-day event with tennis stars Andre Agassi, Serena Williams, Andy Roddick, James Blake, and Alexandra Stevenson. Musical stars Mario and BBMak will join the festivities.

This week, final preparations are underway. Hundreds of technicians and electricians are positioning equipment and splicing cables that will carry sounds of music and big-screen video signals throughout the 46.5-acre grounds, which formed the site of the 1939 World's Fair at Flushing Meadows.

There was one snag: Six local electricians, hired as part of an agreement with city officials, failed to show up to begin connecting the giant video screen overlooking the center's food court.

"I don't know where they are," said a contractor, "we notified them and expected them, but they didn't turn up." Assuming their arrival later this week, officials said the delay probably won't affect operations by the time of Monday's opening matches.

New Technology for Tennis

Early one afternoon, in a small room crammed with laptops and cables beside the stadium court, Cristo Wilson, a young computer programmer, bent over a handheld screen to test a new system.

Using new technology tailored to tennis, the devices will allow more than 75 chair umpires and statisticians to record virtually every serve and ground stroke that will be hit over the course of the tournament.

Upstairs in the stadium, Chad O'Neill, an electronic technician, strung wires across a broadcast booth to connect the Center Court radar gun, which records the speed of serves.