Hit a Million-Dollar Serve on National TV!

Ever dream of serving for the big prize, in front of thousands of fans? You can live your dream through a tennis-industry-wide sweepstakes called “Racket UP, America!”

If you’re the lucky winner, you’ll receive a trip to New York City to attend the “BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup” in Madison Square Garden on March 1, which will feature the top women tennis players in the world.

In the unique promotion, anyone who buys a new tennis racket—of any brand, and at any tennis retailer or pro shop—through Sept. 30, 2009, could win the chance to serve for $1 million. Consumers simply register their racket purchase at playtennis.com/million. Other prizes include a trip for two to the 2010 US Open Men’s Singles and Women’s Doubles finals and 20 $500 tennis merchandise prize packs. (Free entry available, see website for official rules and details.)

The BNP Paribas Showdown on March 1, which is part of “Tennis Night in America,” will bring together four of the world’s best women pros who are 2009 Grand Slam winners or No. 1 players, vying for $1.2 million in prize money and the Billie Jean King Cup. Serena Williams is the defending champ, and so far, she and Svetlana Kuznetsova have qualified for the Showdown. Williams won the 2009 Australian Open and Wimbledon; Kuznetsova won Roland Garros.

The Showdown’s format will be two one-set semifinals followed by a best-of-three-set final. The “Racket UP, America!” sweepstakes winner will hit the potential million-dollar serve between the second semifinal and the final, in front of the MSG crowd and a television audience. The winner also will meet tennis legends Billie Jean King and Ivan Lendl, along with other tennis champions.

“We are thrilled to be able to have the ‘Racket UP, America!’ sweepstakes winner go for a million dollars at the BNP Paribas Showdown,” says Jerry Solomon, president of StarGames, which is partnering with Madison Square Garden to produce the event. “This is what Tennis Night in America is all about—a real celebration of tennis. We’re happy to help bring attention to such a worthwhile industry-wide promotion.”

“‘Racket UP, America!” is a collaborative effort by the tennis industry designed to generate excitement and interest in the sport while helping to stimulate retail sales. “Tennis is a fun, social, healthy, lifelong sport,” says Jon Muir, president of the Tennis Industry Association, which is spearheading the promotion. “We’ve been thrilled that over the last eight years, tennis participation has grown 43 percent, far outpacing all other traditional sports, according to the SGMA.”

Official rules and details are at playtennis.com/million. And follow “Racket UP, America!” on Twitter and Facebook. For more information, email info@tennisindustry.org.

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