You can definitely tell that Hantuchova has added some weight/muscle. She looks much better this year. It was scary to see her last year.

Yeah, not only was it great to see that she put some much-needed weight on, but that she herself knows just how sick she had gotten. Good for her.

Jennifer's weight/fitness has always swung. She's an apple (no waist, no hips, etc) instead of a pear (small waist, bigger hips) and that's a body type that any new pound is really visible. Also, tv really does add some serious weight. I look at Lindsey Davenport--thin as can be but her round face and schlumpy posture always make her look way larger than she is.

One style I had really hoped wasn't going to invade tennis is the super-low slung look. My wish did not come true--what the hell was Golovin wearing?

Golovin was one reaching stroke or minor wardrobe malfunction from letting us see if she was a natural blonde. And Serena had on a skirt that looked like one of those spinning buffers/scrubbers from the automated car wash.

That whole match was one big Glamour Don't

I think it was Mary Carillo who said she looked like she was dressed more for a beach volleyball game. Bwah!

So ESPN announced that they will be showing the Roddick-Schalken match at 1pm (in all time zones, sigh) whereas the Wimbledon site shows it starting at 1pm British time at the earliest so I guess we'll have the magic of tape on that one. My assumption is that ESPN will show Mauresmo-Suarez at 7am Eastern and NBC will show Serena-Capriati at 10am on tape delay (it starts at 7am Eastern, same time as Mauresmo-Suarez). The wildcard will be if/when the other men's quarters will be shown but I doubt any of them will be live.

Hey, I like Sjeng Schalken as much as the next guy, but I need to see Henman/Ancic and Federer/Hewitt.

You know, they should boot Hingis for the rest of the week and have Goran as a guest commentator. The english would still be broken, but it'd be a lot more entertaining.

I like that idea.

I want to see Federer/Hewitt. That has the potential to be a great match.

Yuck, those of us in the central timezone saw Capriati Vs. Petrova twice in its entirety this morning. First on ESPN then on NBC. HATE.

Damn. Tim is just killing me -- not to mention all of England! He had his two worst matchups (Hewitt and Grosjean) as underdogs on the other side of the draw and he was probably going to play Roddick in the semis and Federer in the finals -- two players against whom he has a winning record. They need to help him out by making the courts as fast as the used to be. Oh well, he always makes it interesting. Henmania '05 is only 50 weeks away...

A friend, who is married to a Brit calls me to report the news. We have been calling each other throughout the Championships with "turn the TV on now" or "I can't watch anymore."

Her last phone call, "Well, I can stop watching now." *sigh* I was even rooting for Schalken mistakenly believing Tim would have a better shot against him. Oh well, I still have Lindsay to root for.

Screw Katie & Matt, I want my tennis at 9am! If it weren't for Radio Wimbledon I don't know what I'd do. Their commentary for the Henman/Ancic match was good stuff.

What the hell happened to Capriati today? I missed the match on radio, but w/ a score of 6-1, 6-1 she clearly got her ass kicked!

I've never been a fan of Martina Hingis, but I did feel a little love when she was in the studio after the Serena/Serna match (3rd round). She basically said that Serna didn't have anything to threaten Serena, but if she "lost a few pound" that might help! The look on Chris Fowler's face was priceless.
JuanitaSmi was right:


So true.

Uh oh, we've got a rain delay people.

The Serena/JCap match is on NBC right now. Basically, JCap couldn't handle Serena's serve. Also, Serena is on fire.

No, Tim would've desperately needed to have Roddick in the semis. That would've taken some of the enormous pressure off (maybe Wales?). Outside of his losses to Sampras (who was just too good for him), he usually loses to an underdog -- someone the fans think he "should" beat. Well, except for Hewitt, but I don't think he's even beaten him.

Man, I am so frustrated. The Federer/Hewitt match, admitted to be the match of the quarters even by the commentators, is cut off in the 2nd set (and it was live!) because NBC's coverage has ended and ESPN has promised the Roddick-Schalken match (which is on tape) at 1pm. Many unprintable expletives are emitting from my mouth right now.

On the other hand, I'm surprised and gladdened that NBC started with Henman-Ancic (which was live) before going to their coup of the week, Williams-Capriati (which was taped).

Castallack: Last I checked, they're on a rain delay at SW19 (as of this posting time) with Federer/Hewitt on serve (5 all) in the second set. And since it's nearly 7 p.m. in London, there's a chance that match won't finish today.

Thank you so much for the update! I've been afraid to check out the Wimbledon (or any other sports) site in case I find out results from Roddick-Schalken which I am watching on ESPN right now.

Play has resumed.

Just discovered this thread, should have known earlier that TWoP would be a great place to inquire and bitch about the television tennis coverage. For two days I’ve been bewildered by ESPN’s west coast tennis coverage. As noted, they are not showing those of us in the west coast any tennis between 10am and 1pm, when NBC has its coverage. On Monday, I thought I figured it out. Watching the NBC coverage it was obvious they did a special live west coast only show, picking up the Roddick match in progess live and then switching over to the Henman match (which, from what I read here, was taped, tho I thought at the time it was live also). Ok, I figured, it makes sense. If instead of showing us the same show they showed the east coast, they went live with us, they would be duplicating exactly what ESPN would be showing when they took over the coverage after NBC went off air. So I figured the ESPN coverage I missed was the exact same thing (the Roddick match, at least) NBC showed. So I guess I could understand why it was blacked out here.

But Tuesday made no sense. I’m quite sure that NBC’s coverage was the same on both coasts….The Serena Williams match followed by the end of the Sharapova match. Both quite obviously on tape. I know that ESPN was contractually obligated not to show the Serena match or even tell us the result, they said so right on the air! So ESPN’s coverage must have been quite different from the NBC show. But when I got home….no ESPN tennis again. They showed one hour from 1 to 2 pm, screwing us out of three hours of tennis that must have been at least somewhat different from what NBC showed. I can think of no reason for this.

Here’s the thing….they are advertising that they are showing us tennis at 10:00AM…all their promos say 1:00pm EDT/10:00 PDT. And then they turn around and not show us the tennis! As I said, it may have made sense for a last minute switch on Monday but not yesterday. If they are never going to show tennis opposite NBC’s coverage, why advertise otherwise????? It’s like at 9:59 AM pacific time, some lawyer shows up and says, “Hey guys, you can’t show this on the West Coast.” And the next day they forget about it until the same guy shows up again at the last minute.

And if they can’t show it opposite NBC, show us the whole freaking four hours after NBC goes off air, not just the last hour. Most of it’s taped anyway, and we are getting screwed out of a lot of good tennis action. You know, even tho he’s Swiss, I’d actually like to see more than three points out of a Roger Federer match! He’s only the number one player in the world and is apparently playing the game as well as anyone ever has. It would be nice to see him play a set or two.



LOL! I’m thinking tho that she must have been wearing something under those shorts, no? It is amazing that she can “safely” play tennis in that outfit, tho. I was definitely anticipating a slip up, with all the running, reaching and stretching you have to do to play tennis (she was playing tennis, wasn’t she? I really wasn’t paying much attention to the ball). I figure she must have those shorts taped to her body.

I've been wondering if I should ask one of the mods to rename this thread: "The Andre & Andy Show AKA Tennis on American TV" given the upcoming USA coverage of the U.S. Open and the intermittent NBC coverage of all finals. Then again, I do tend to overthink things. Anyone?

ETAThen again, there is something to be said for bitching exclusively about ESPN. Like I said, overthink much?

This stinks. They show ALL of the Roddick/Schalken match. But they only showed the first set and a half of Hewitt/Federer. Right now ESPN is showing the fourth set but skipped showing the third set!!!! I am pissed because I really wanted to see Federer kick Hewitt's ass in that third set. Federer won it 6 love. I love to see him play and can imagine all the amazing shots he was hitting to win in that fashion.

Hm, that's an interesting thought, JuanitaSmi. There's tennis all over, including the Tennis Channel which some of us are lucky enough to pay through the nose for. On the other hand, as long as the mods don't think we're off-topic for discussing tennis on other channels, it probably won't matter.

And I sympathize with what you're saying, CaptSpaulding. I don't know why ESPN would advertise their Pacific show time when they know it's just going to be blacked out. [ot] love your name...hooray for you![/ot]

ETA:

I'm watching that too. That is my #1 complaint about tennis on American TV, when they skip ahead through the magic of television. I want to see the baseball game where they skip ahead 3 innings because no one scored. Arggggh!

What is the Tennis Channel like? I've never seen it--Cablevision doesn't even come close to offering it. Do they should lots of old matches?

As for the thread title. . .I hope it doesn't matter because I'm sure the US Open coverage (and lots of tennis before then) will garner some "interest."

Well, I can relate to that, but at least you got to see the Roddick match, Castallack. Being on the west coast, we once again lost three hours of tennis and I didn't see any of that match. Sounded like a good match, based on two tie-break sets. Also saw less of the very entertaining Federer/Hewitt match than the rest of you. We west coast tennis fans should file a class action suit against ESPN.

And thanks for the sympathies and the compliment on my name. Just don't call me shnorrer.

I assume they eventually hope to go on to bigger things, maybe even the Slams some day. At the moment what they show is 95% tennis-interest shows such as player bios, coaching techniques, etc. They do occasionally show old matches and even showed the BJ King/Riggs "Battle of the Sexes" a while back. But the best thing they do, and the reason I subscribe is, every so often they get rights to one of those Tier I or II events in Europe or Asia that gets covered with one sentence in my local paper ("Federer beats Hewitt at Quatar Open Final" etc.) and show it live in whatever time zone it is (what else do they have to show?) and then repeat several additional times. They have incredible, subtle commentary (NO talking during points, very little talk about events extraneous to the match at hand) and make no distinction between say, David Nalbandian and Andy Roddick. They show every set, every point, and if the match lasts 4 hours, there's nothing to pre-empt but a profile of Mardy Fish so it just keeps going. And here's a shocker, Davis Cup involves other countries besides the US and whoever the US is playing! They show most of the other Davis Cup matches going on around the world. It's bliss, really. I hope they add more events and more cable systems. Definitely make it known to Cablevision that you want it.

Sorry about that, CaptSpaulding but there seems to be a rain delay today so you may just see those matches yet.

Wow! Mauresmo finally shows she has balls. That was a great match. Serena is all heart.

That sounds great. You have made me incredibly jealous. And, yeah, I should tell Cablevision but considering they do not even think BBC America is important. . .

*smirk*. Sorry.

Two great semis, although I got desperately sick of hearing Tracy Austin repeatedly say that Lindsey Davenport 'isn't the fatest player around the court'. We get it Tracy, you think she's fat. Fine. Now say something else. What did we ever do to you Americans anyway? Take Austin back or we'll send you Virginia Wade!

Even McEnroe was excited about women's tennis today.

Oh, and is it wrong that I'm now referring to a 17-year-old Russian as Mmmmaria?

Tracy said it? That's awful.

If Mmmmaria wins on Saturday, she will almost certainly be endorsing several products on U.S. television by the end of the year and Anna K's already-weak marketability is gone as we know it.

I'm assuming that's a typo and Tracy said Lindsay "isn't the fastest player around the court." Otherwise, it would really be awful.

And with these words from Sharapova: "I don't read (newspapers). Sometimes I look at the pictures. . . to see how I look." I am now firmly behind Serena to win.

ETA: Let me clarify. I think that statement shows very much any 17-year old's thought process, Sharapova isn't being any more self-conscious/centered than any teenager, I'm just not ready for the 17-year old to win this one.

Another stumper....how did ESPN handle the coverage of the women's semi yesterday (7/1)? I didn't set my TiVo to tape past the assigned sign off for ESPN, figuring it would run right into NBC's coverage (East Coast time, anyway), and they would have to sign off at Noon EDT, 9 PDT. So as I watched the first few games on ESPN, I kept waiting for them to warn the audience that the would be leaving the air soon. But the never did and my TiVo recording stopped in mid stroke. How could they run long (in the East) and overlap NBC's coverage?

I assumed that maybe it was a contractual thing in ESPN's favor and they could show the Williams/Mauresmo match, and that therefore NBC could not show it. But I was delightfully surprised that my NBC coverage picked up that match right where ESPN left it. And what a match it was. I was planning skimming thru that one to get to Sharapova/Davenport, but instead I was compelled to watch the whole Serena match instead.

Anyway, my question is, did ESPN show the whole Serena match at the same time as NBC was showing it? Or did they just do that in the West Coast since it wouldn't directly be competing with NBC, which delayed it's West Coast coverage. Could it be West Coasters actually got a break instead of getting screwed as we had the past three days? Anyone know?

This time I didn't get screwed since I watched all of it at night, long after it aired and I got to see the Serena match in it's entirety. And while I prefer Dick Enberg to Ted Robinson I'd rather watch it on NBC because of ESPN's hideous on screen scoreboard and the damn ticker at the bottom.

Won't be back here to very late tonite after I watch the men's semi's...hoping I can stay unspoiled throughout the day!

CaptSpaulding: I think I am going to start an online petition to get ESPN to WAKE UP to the idiocy that is the "new" scoreboard. Hate.

I was pleased to see that ESPN's ET coverage of the Wimbledon match-of-the-day was the Williams-Mauresmo match, which aired in prime time for us (ending around 10 p.m.) so it was probably airing at the same time on the West Coast if you watched it in the early evening.

I was a bit disappointed that Enberg called Mauresmo, "Amelia" rather than "Amelie" but what are you gonna do. I was willing Mary Jo Fernandez to pipe in with, "Amelie Mauresmo ..." but she's too gracious.

Anyone else see the commercials on ESPN for the U.S. Open Series? Someone decided to bill the U.S. hardcourt season as the U.S. Open Series. Coverage begins Friday, July 16 on ESPN, for what that's worth.

Yeah, this can't be said enough -- especially when it's obvious they should just use the same type of graphic NBC does.

Last month's Tennis Magazine talked about it. It's a bunch of networks and looks something like this:
ATP tour: LA (ESPN), Indianapolis (NBC), Toronto (ESPN), Cincinnati (ESPN), Washington (Fox Sports Net and CBS), Long Island (Fox Sports Net)
WTA tour: Stanford (ESPN), LA (ESPN), San Diego (to be determined), Montreal (ESPN), New Haven (ESPN, CBS)
The Tennis Channel will show early rounds (lucky Castallack) in addition to what is above. The whole thing leads up to the US Open.

Basically, Tennis's governing bodies (ATP and WTA) are trying to get more people interested in watching tennis by making a cohesive tv package to create a specific season with these different broadcasters--looking at golf as the success they want. According to the article, the critics of the US Open Series say it is just hype trying to "cover up a struggling sport with low television ratings." I do tend to agree with that. I've been able to watch all those events in the past, but then again I'm a fan who goes looking for the events. I only caught part of the ESPN commercial, did they mention the other networks? If they didn't, having a cohesive tv package won't work because people won't know where to look for the events elsewhere.

They did NOT mention the other networks. It just ended with "beginning July 16th on ESPN".

I will check my Tennis magazine for that story. It arrived Monday -- so helpful to get it in the second week of the Wimbledon fortnight. [/facetious] I rely on that magazine to program my VCR for the matches. Nasty email correspondence with the circulation department ensued much to my dissatisfaction.

Love the Agassi/Graf ad with Taylor Dent and the little kid. Is it really their kid? And is it CGI, or can he hit the ball that good already? The coverage sucks, weather's not helping. At this point I'm basically watching to see that ad again.

All I want is a little live tennis today. Is that too much to ask? Anyone w/ a computer knows the rain delay ended a half hour ago! So why am I watching Sharapova/Davenport for the 4th time in 2 days?

iMissEthan,
I don't think that's their kid. I love that ad though.

iMissEthan, why wait to see the ad? Go here. There was a family picture in People magazine in May. It's not Jaden. Thankfully, his hair is much shorter. Although, it does look like Presley Gerber, Cindy Crawford's kid.

Andre gave an interview a few months ago that said how proud he and Steffi were when Jaden hit the ball over the net for the first time. He will be 3 in October and the boy in the commercial looks closer to 6. Probably CGI regardless.

Turn to NBC. They have Ancic/Roddick on right now.

I'm in Central time...so I get Williams/Mauresmo!! Again.


Ah Radio Wimbledon, my saving grace.

Hey, does anyone think there's a chance IN HELL that we'll get to see Lindsay Davenport's mixed doubles match? She and Bob Bryan have made it to the semis.

This is, of course, assuming Martina Navratilova and Leander Paes EVER finish their match, which has carried over for THREE days. Guillermo Coria much?

I was so hoping that during the Roddick/Ancic match that they would at least update us on what was happening in the Federer/Grosjean match. Especially since that match started first. I was even hoping that they would cut back to Center Court after Andy won the first set. I get the bad feeling that we'll only get to see a tape of Federer/Grosjean. And even then, they probably won't show the entire thing. And oh joy (sarcasm), it's yet ANOTHER rain delay and they decide to show Williams/Mauresmo AGAIN. Since Wimbledon is supposed to be the best of the Grand Slams, I know this will sound blasphemous, but sometimes I really hate Wimbledon.

Navratilova/Paes ended up losing to Cara and Wayne Black.

Rainer Schuettler and Barbara Schett have been waiting literally three days for this match to finish so that they can play their Mixed quarter-final.

As for Maria Sharapova, all that tongue wagging from the commentators is something else...

Lindsay Davenport's inability to win three set matches is going to be one of her negative legacies (unfortunately)

.
It's definitely not their son. I read somewhere that the kid in the ad is the son of a teaching pro so maybe he really can hit the ball, but I'd bet there was at least some CGI involved. I agree that the ad is cute but I'm not sure that it was a very good idea for Agassi and Graf to agree to do it. A lot of people are going to assume that it is Jaden and that he really is some kind of tennis prodigy. Doesn't that put even more pressure on him if he does decide to play tennis some day? It's not like Agassi and Graf need the money. Oh well, he's their kid not mine so I guess that they know what's best.

Plus, the camera always seems to cut away from close-ups after FakeSon hits the ball, so for all we know, he could be hitting the ball out of the court.

Maybe it's just me, but I sure wouldn't assume the kid in question is a prodigy after seeing the commercial (which I love, btw). All of his shots look so clearly edited, but YMMV. It reminds me of Sandra Bullock in Two Weeks Notice, where you can clearly tell there's some editing between her hitting the ball and where it lands on the opposite side of the court.

Keep an eye on Tennis Magazine in the next few months. . . let's just say I've been hearing some stuff. I really hope what I've been hearing is true because that magazine has turned into a (really ugly) rag.


During all the first week rain, I was talking to a guy I work with who lived in London for quite a while and he said the only reason he's glad he doesn't still live there was all that rain.


I agree. After all their pre-natal talk about not wanting their child to feel any pressure (at that point agents were lining up to sign the unborn child) agreeing to this ad seemed odd. Especially the full-length version where the boy gets in the car next to the infant. However, like the American Express ad last year, it's so darn cute that I love it.

Oops, sorry, yes that was a typo. Meant to be "isn't the fastest". I'd still like to get rid of Tracy though. Ooh, I know, Lindsay can replace her in the booth, if this really does turn out to be her last year. She seems fun and relatively intelligent in interviews.

I really hate ESPN/NBC right now. What the hell was that coverage about today? Okay they show us Roddick/Ancic but no Federer/Grosjean! I think have the Williams/Mauresmo and Davenport/Sharapova semis memorized by now. I for one really enjoy the way Roger Federer plays not to mention that he almost always looks as though he puts some effort into his on court appearance. Unlike all the other young twenty year olds in their baseball hats. Seriously is too much too ask that the number one player in the world gets some play?

Besides I think Federer is quite adorable and I do think his tennis is quite nice to look at.

Just in case anyone suffers from insomnia like myself, the Federer/Grosjean match is on right now..at 3:00AM Eastern time. And Federer's girlfriend has really bad hair.

With as many channels as NBC and ESPN have between them it would seem that they could find a place for live tennis no matter what time it is here.

I really don't like the way he puts his hair up in that little bun. I think he'd look better if he just used the headband to keep his hair back.


Shhhh! I think that's supposed to be a secret. American audiences are supposed to believe that our boy Andy is number one. Never mind that he was only number one in the world for a few weeks after the US Open last year. He's the number one AMERICAN and, after all, isn't that what really counts?

Exactly. The general American tennis fan probably believes that the top 5 tennis players in the world are Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi, Mardy Fish, Robby Ginepri and Taylor Dent, with Lleyton Hewitt, Roger Federer and Marat Safin not far behind. J.C. Ferrero, David Nalbandian, Gulliermo Coria, Carols Moya and Rainer Schuettler are not even blips on the American tennis consciousness (but then again, I could say the same thing for Anatasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kusnetzova, etc).

Well, congrats to Sharapova. She just played some really good tennis and deserved to win. Also, big congrats to Serena for being such a gracious runner-up. I think the Mauresmo match took a lot out of her, plus I doubt she expected Sharapova to not show any nerves at all and to just play out of her mind like that.

I predict that Sharapova will be endorsing Verizon Wireless within a few months.

On the TV topic - Ted Robinson is so very painful to listen to. Yes, this was an upset, but for him to be gushing about how this was 'one of the most astounding moments in the history of the finals' was just ridiculous. Then after the match he had to get in that this was really an American victory, too. Okay, whatever.

ETA - lmao at Sharapova telling Bud Collins that her lobs usually 'suck'.