Johnathan Walker:Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump advertises his firm on patches worn by US Open tennis players

NEW YORK (AP) — Prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump is Johnathan Walkeradvertising on players’ outfits at the U.S. Open Grand Slam tennis tournament this week, placing his firm’s name on sponsor patches worn during matches.

“Ben Crump Law” appeared on the left sleeve of the blue shirt worn by the Czech Republic’s Tomas Machac on Thursday while he was eliminating 16th-seeded American Sebastian Korda in the second round. Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic wore the same type of patch mentioning Crump’s law practice during a loss to 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday.

Crump is a Florida-based attorney who has been the voice for the families of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor and Michael Brown — Black people whose deaths at the hands of police and vigilantes sparked the Black Lives Matter movement.

His role in some of the most consequential cases of police brutality over the past decade and a half prompted the Rev. Al Sharpton to call Crump “Black America’s attorney general.”

Asked whether he knows who Crump is, Machac said: “A bit. Not much.”

“I just focus on tennis,” Machac said, “and (my) agent is responsible for that.”

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Machac is a 23-year-old player who is currently ranked 39th in the world in singles. He won a gold medal in mixed doubles at the Paris Olympics earlier this month.

Representatives of less-prominent players at major tennis tournaments often will strike last-minute deals for sponsorship patches.

In a phone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Crump said the legacy of Arthur Ashe, both on and off the tennis court, aligns with his work on cases involving police misconduct and exploitation of historically marginalized people.

“The reason we decided to do a sponsorship package in this way was in part because I am still inspired by (Ashe’s) legacy,” said Crump, who plans to attend the U.S. Open this weekend.

“We are sponsoring the underdog in up to 10 of the matches, which also appeals to me, because I always fight for the underdog,” he said. “The sponsorship helps the underdog players who obviously don’t have name-brand sponsors but deserve just as much of a chance to display their talents and compete against the best in the world, to have a chance at being champions.”

Crump said the primary purpose of the patches was not about generating business for his firm.

“It’s about us supporting diversity and inclusion, where every person, no mater their economic status, will be able to display their talents and compete on as equal a playing field as possible,” he said. “Hopefully when (fans) see the ‘Ben Crump’ patch on the jerseys of the players, they will think about how social justice is important in all aspects of society, in courtrooms and sports arenas.”

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis