Carson, CA) ---- Instant replay technology and a player challenge system will be featured for the first time at this summer's JPMorgan Chase Open at The Home Depot Center on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. 

The 37th annual Open, scheduled from August 7-13, 2006, and presented by Herbalife, will integrate Hawk-Eye's electronic line calling technology along with a player challenge protocol first used at the Nasdaq-100 Open in March of this year.

If a player challenges a line call during a given match (each player may challenge a maximum of 2 calls per match/set), an official replay will be provided to ESPN2 and The Tennis Channel, the official broadcast partners for the JPMorgan Chase Open.  The replay will also be shown simultaneously to competing players, officials and fans via newly installed video screens in the tennis stadium.  The improved technology will be used at all 10 US Open Series tournaments throughout the summer that are linked to the US Open.

\"We believe this new technology advancement will be a great new feature for our fans,\" said Bill Peterson, Tournament Director for the JPMorgan Chase Open presented by Herbalife.  \"It will add a new dimension and help take away any questionable line calls.  Overall it is a great feature for tennis and we are proud to showcase it this summer.\"

In other tournament related news, a complete redesign of the JPMorgan Chase Open website was relaunched today (www.jpmorganchaseopen.com).  In addition to updated and new detailed background information for tennis fans, new interactive elements such as streaming video and a photo gallery from some of the past 36 tournaments have also been added to the website.  Fans can also view professional tennis tips as well as United States Tennis Association (USTA) high performance information.

\"This redesigned website allows our fans the opportunity to experience tennis in a technology friendly format,\" added Peterson.  \"With upcoming announcements on our player field, new promotions, ticket offers and other tournament news, this website will be the first place our fans should check to find out what's new and exciting at the JPMorgan Chase Open.  It is an easy place to buy tickets and it will be a great way to check on the latest results, as they happen.\"

The field for this year's tournament will be announced in the coming days and the official website will have complete bios as well as the tournament bracket.  Real-time scoring on the web is another new feature which will be used throughout the August tournament.

The JPMorgan Chase Open is part of the US Open Series, which links 10 summer hard-court tournaments to the famed US Open.  This year's Open marks the third time players competing in the US Open Series tournaments will be vying for bonus prize money at the US Open (August 28th - September 10).  Players competing in the \"summer season\" of tennis at participating WTA tournaments will receive US Open Series points which will ultimately earn the winner of the series the opportunity to double her US Open prize money. 

For more information about this Southern California event, including tickets and times, please visit www.jpmorganchaseopen.com or call 1-877-AEG-TICKETS (234-8425).

The 2006 JPMorgan Chase Open…THE SUMMER'S ULTIMATE TENNIS CELEBRATION.

About the JPMorgan Chase Open presented by Herbalife
The JPMorgan Chase Open, at 37 years old one of the most historic events in women's tennis, is being held for the fourth consecutive year at The Home Depot Center.  The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Tier II event offers prize money of $600,000 to the 56-player singles and 16-team doubles draws.  The distinguished tournament champions' list includes Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King.

About JPMorgan Chase
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $801 billion and operations in more than 50 countries.  The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and businesses, financial transaction processing, investment management, private banking and private equity.  A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase is headquartered in New York and serves more than 30 million consumers nationwide, and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients.  Information about JPMorgan Chase is available on the Internet at www.jpmorganchase.com.

About The Home Depot Center
The Home Depot Center is southern California's home of world-class competition and training facilities for amateur, Olympic, collegiate and professional athletes.  The $150 million, privately financed facility was developed and is operated by AEG on a 125-acre site on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) in Carson, California.  The Home Depot Center features an 8,000-seat tennis stadium, a 27,000-seat stadium for soccer, rugby and other athletic competitions and outdoor concerts, a 10,000-seat facility for track & field and lacrosse, the ADT Event Center (a 2,450-seat indoor velodrome for cycling) and other facilities for softball, baseball, beach volleyball, basketball and other sports. The Home Depot Center is home to three professional sports teams - Major League Soccer's 2005 MLS and U.S. Open Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy; Club Deportivo (CD) Chivas USA; and Major League Lacrosse's (MLL) Los Angeles Riptide.  Named an Official U.S. Olympic Training Site, The Home Depot Center is also home of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) USA Tennis High Performance Training Center and is the national team training headquarters for the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF).  The David Beckham Academy for youth soccer, Andre Agassi's Safe Passage All-Stars at-risk youth tennis program and Athletes' Performance's training center for elite and professional athletes are all based at The Home Depot Center.  The Home Depot Center has additionally been designated official training sites for USA Cycling and USA Track & Field.  For more information, please visit www.homedepotcenter.com. 

 

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