An Interview With Ken Meyerson

Recently, Ken Meyerson, Andy’s manager and President of SFX tennis, took some time out to talk to AR.com.

So, on a basic day to day basis, what does Ken actually do for Andy? When he’s traveling to tournaments, which is now only occasional, things are more hectic, but on a general day in the office, Ken “makes big deals for Andy.”

How does Ken decide which deals would be best for Andy? Andy has many sponsors, for example Reebok, American Express, Babolat, and Rolex watches. Andy’s team wants to make sure that Andy is being portrayed in the right image through his sponsors. This can be a difficult process and involves a “checks and balance system” between Ken, Andy, Ginger Roddick (Andy’s PR manager), Jerry Roddick and Donald Dell (ProServe founder).

Working with Andy, also means working with Andy’s popular coach, Brad Gilbert. Ken says he is in touch with Brad often, working out Andy’s on and off-court schedules among other matters.

Some of you may remember reading, last spring, about Andy being so anxious not to miss a single episode of American Idol that he had the series put onto DVD and sent to his hotel in Rome! Ken was the man organising this, but assured me that it was the “first and hopefully last time” that Andy would make a request, as it cost $500 to convert the eight DVDs and get them sent to Europe. Usually Andy’s requests of his manager are for concert tickets as Andy is a “music buff”. Much more manageable than American Idol DVDs!

Andy has been significantly praised for his hosting of the U.S. TV show, Saturday Night Live. As a result of this, has he received many more offers? “No real unsolicited acting opportunities” replies Ken. However, Ken believes that if he were to go all out and market Andy for some acting, then Andy could have some success. However, Andy has decided to stick with tennis for the next eight to nine years!

Charity is very important for Andy and he participates in many events throughout the year, however he cannot attend all of them. Ken says this is “disappointing” and they’ve unfortunately had to turn down three events that Andy did last year. However, Andy has just appeared at two new events with Elton John and Andre Agassi that were extremely successful, as reported on AR.com!

SFX and Ken manage a wide range of players. When asked how he manages his time between all the clients, Ken replied “work hard and very rarely take a vacation.” However he also commended his great team whom he works with to help ease the load. Many members of the US Davis Cup team are also managed by Ken, who, commenting on the upcoming final, said he’s very much looking forward to it while admitting that it will be tough on clay. He remains optimistic that the US can bring the trophy home.

Ken’s job is 24/7, but when he does get some leisure time, he admits to being extremely competitive, playing tennis, and running once or twice a week. His ambitions for the future are more personal as he would like to extend his family and “get in better shape”.

Ken likes players with a lot of personality. So when I asked Ken who he would have loved to manage, his answer was not surprisingly, Ilie Nastase, who is known and remembered for his great character.

Lastly, for anyone thinking of pursuing a career in sports management, this is the advice that Ken has for you: “Hard work, take risks, make a promise and keep it, and be nice to everyone!”