Lindsay Davenport made a comment during the 2006 U.S. Open that Andre Agassi made tennis “cool” and attracted lots of people to the sport of tennis.  Agassi is a champion and he has incredible charisma, that intangible “star power.”  But part of what helped Agassi expand the appeal of the sport of tennis to the masses was his myriad TV commercials.  Agassi’s “Image is Everything” TV ads, which he’d probably prefer to forget these days, definitely caught the public’s attention.  During the Grand Slams, non-tennis fans tend to tune into tennis because of the extra media coverage.  During the 2006 U.S. Open, Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick seemed to generate the most attention due to the clever TV commercials from their sponsors, i.e. Nike for Sharapova and American Express for Andy Roddick.  The commercials were quite humorous and memorable.  As a result, the ads expand the fan base of Sharapova and Roddick to both avid tennis players and casual sports fans.  By not creating a memorable TV ad,  Nike missed a chance to put a little shine on World Number One Roger Federer’s star and thereby add to his fan club.  By airing a clever TV ad featuring Amelie Mauresmo, Reebok could have heightened awareness of her Grand Slam titles at the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon.