Happening much faster than I expected, the Lexus US Virtual Open tennis finals were held yesterday in a match between Benjamin Melinger and Peter Reyes, with Melinger winning after a fierce battle:

Melinger, of course, wins the grand prize, a year-long lease of the upcoming Lexus IS-F. I can’t help but wonder how great this would be, if Melinger is a New York native and not simply visiting the city. Can you imagine parking, gas, insurance?

For more photos and a detailed breakdown of the event, be sure to check out Geekanerd’s coverage.

Update: Joystiq has more coverage from the event, including this video of the final:

The US Virtual Open, sponsored by Lexus, is taking place in New York right now, and while I had seen digital mockups of the court, WiiNintendo.net has posted up some photos from the event:

From the photos, it looks to be a lot of fun, especially with the small tennis court that allows players to face off head-to-head. I would love to hear some first person accounts of the tournament, if any of you out there were lucky enough to attend.

There’s a new IS commercial airing as part of Lexus’ US Tennis Open Sponsorship, featuring Andy Roddick chasing a tennis ball through New York streets:

There’s a few interesting things about this commercial, one of which is a major disappointment. As you may know, Lexus is also sponsoring a US Tennis Virtual Open during the real life tournament. Using a Nintendo Wii, participants will compete in hopes of winning a year-long lease of an IS-F. Now, according to Brandweek, this commercial was also supposed to feature an IS-F, but instead it’s just an IS 350. Boo.

On the bright side, though, a “behind-the-scenes” video has also been released, showing the tennis ball auditions, which is a cute little touch:

“Would you be willing to shave for this part?”

Lexus will be sponsoring a “Virtual Tennis Open” to go with its sponsorship of the real-life U.S. Tennis Open taking place next month in New York City.

The three-day virtual tournament will use the Nintendo Wii as the gaming platform, and will take place on a scaled down tennis court, pictured below:

The winner of the tournament will receive a one-year lease of a Lexus IS-F and the opportunity to watch the actual US Tennis Open in Lexus’ luxury suite.

Here’s more details:

Tennis and gaming enthusiasts will take to the virtual courts at Rockefeller Center, in the heart of New York City, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sept. 4-6. Professional tennis player and ESPN on-court analyst Luke Jensen will instruct participants and provide commentary as they compete on Nintendo’s Wii console. For each serve hit during the virtual tournament, Lexus will donate $1 to the Andy Roddick Foundation (up to $30,000).

“As a sponsor of the US Open we created this event to bring the excitement of Flushing Meadows to Manhattan,” said Steve Jett, Lexus national marketing communications manager. “There’s nothing like the thrill of competing in the US Open, and while tennis enthusiasts may never experience the roar of the crowd and feel the courts beneath their feet, the Lexus Virtual Open at Rockefeller Center gives them the opportunity to get a taste of it-and win a one-year lease on a new IS F performance sedan, the same vehicle Lexus is awarding to the Men’s Singles Champion.”

[Via: Kotaku]

This SC 430 commercial featuring Andy Roddick and Christopher Fairbanks defies the usual Lexus formula of heightened drama and takes an altogether different route:

This went completely over my head, with such a strange combination of elements. A famous tennis player, a comedian, a tree frog story and a sixties era green-screen, how could these have come together in a Lexus commercial?

The poor SC 430, can’t even get a good commercial.

The final Lexus commercial from the US Open has just appeared on the Internet, courtesy of my favorite Youtuber, bbakshow:

Surprising as it may be, people searching for this commercial have made up an significant percentage of my traffic since launch, and I’m very happy to have found it. Being my first time seeing it, I can see how it could capture a golfer’s imagination.

When I posted about the making of this commercial almost two months ago after discovering an image on Flickr, I was lucky enough to have Bob Gunning, the general manager of the golf course featured in the commercial, post up some details:

I’m the General Manager of Longniddry Golf Club in East Lothian, Scotland where some of the GS450 commercial featuring the guy who drives around in the rain trying to find a golf course was filmed. As you can see from the photos in the News section of our website, the producers brought their own rain-making equipment even though it was raining at the time! The commercial also featured the iconic 13th hole at The Glen Golf Club in North Berwick.

So there we have it, the video is posted, I’ve filled in the blanks, and my virtual road trip is now over.

Update: The music for this commercial, which many of you have been interested in, is performed by Jimmy Haun, and is called Yellow and Blues. You can download it from his Myspace page.