| Courting Anna, Monica |
By DOUG LUNNEY -- Winnipeg Sun
It took a few months to court Anna, but Hartley Miller and Earl Barish say it was worth the effort.
The co-promoters confirmed yesterday that Anna Kournikova and Monica Seles will headline an exhibition tennis event at Winnipeg Arena on Dec. 15.
"It was a fun match to play," Miller said of the negotiations. "It was never combative. It was never tough in a sense that the agents and athletes were being unfair. It had a lot to do with logistics and timing and just to be able to nail down the athletes."
It required a six-figure deal to bring the two here, but Miller said it's obvious Kournikova and Seles aren't coming to Winnipeg to help make ends meet at home. So why would they come here?
"This is great for the game of tennis, it increases their exposure and they get to play in front of a good crowd," said Miller, president of MackMatt Holdings.
About 10,000 tickets go on sale Saturday at the arena's box office and all Select-a-Seat outlets. A limited number of courtside seats are $150, with others going for $85, $55 and $35, including all taxes.
"We'd like to sell out, but 7,500 would be a nice number to keep everybody happy," said Barish, president of DreamWeaver Productions.
"Having Anna is going to be huge," offered Tennis Manitoba's executive director Rick Bochinski. "We're confident it's going to sell out.
"It's about as big as you can get in terms of tennis for us. It's in some ways like attracting Tiger Woods or Ernie Els or a real big golfer."
As happy as Barish and Miller are with Kournikova and Seles, they weren't their first choice. Barish wanted the Williams sisters, but backed off in July when Serena beat Venus for the Wimbledon title.
"It was obvious they were in a class of their own," Barish said. "We thought about Jennifer Capriati and Monica Seles and Anna ... we found out Jennifer doesn't do any touring -- it doesn't matter where, she just doesn't do it.
"That left us with Monica and Anna, which is fine."
Seles and Kournikova will play in Minneapolis Dec. 14, then take a private jet to Winnipeg later that night. They'll have a brief meeting with the media prior to playing here, then leave Winnipeg that night.
Kournikova may be the most photographed player in the game, but Miller didn't know yesterday if fans would be allowed to take pictures at the event.
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