Wow. I didn't expect the women's final to look like that - congrats to Sharapova (was I the only one that thought her father was going to shake her head off during that hug?).

And... am I the only Andy fan in here? I just love him. Maybe it's because he's just so quintassentially American - little snappy remarks, really fun when he wins, and a total dick when he loses. He's fun. He reminds me of the best athelets from high school... I feel like I can relate to him. And he's pretty hot. Too bad he will get absolutely cremated tomorrow during the final. Good luck Andy.

I like Andy, too and I think he will win tomorrow. He won Queens.

I am in agreement that the television coverage is awful. Remember a few years ago when HBO had the coverage and you could watch it all the time.

I'm happy for Maria. She played so well for a 17 year old and Serena didn't just hand it to her. Serena was so gracious, too. She did so well to get to the final after the tough year she had. Hopefully, this will give us some good tennis in the future.

It is for those exact reasons that I don't like him. He has been fawned over by the American commentators for so long he believes too much of his hype. I don't get the he is so hot thing either.

One other reason for not liking him...he is not original. Tries to imitate Sampras too much (for reference see his attempt at jumping scissor kick) and now he is trying to grow some facial hair ala Bjorn Borg because he thinks it will bring him good luck. And he hasn't won nearly enough tournaments to be doing the Johnny Mac atttitude thing.

I don't know who will win tomorrow, but I hope it is Federer. I just really enjoy his all around game with Roddick it's all about the big serve.



Not saying that Federer will win but it should be noted that Federer didn't play Queens he won the other grass court tournament, which Roddick didn't play in.

I know it's harping, but still true. Loved how McEnroe spoke today of a recent Federer victory strictly in the sense that it impacted Mardy Fish's comeback. I really need to stop getting angry about this...

Re: the Agassi ad, I think it's really ironic since Taylor Dent has tennis genes as well. I also love the Venus "Whack-A-Mole" ad.

Re: Federer/Grosjean match, ESPN also showed it at 8pm EDT last night.

I definitely liked that they gave a warning during the Sharapova/Serena match that they were about to give the results of the Roddick/Ancic match. Hurray for the mute button!

And gee, NBC, could you promote McEnroe's CNBC show a little more? Last night's wrap-up show was ridiculous.

At the time, I was really happy when HBO stopped covering Wimbledon because it meant I could get rid of HBO. I thought TNT did a pretty fair job with their coverage but now I really miss HBO's airing Wimbledon, like you said, all the time.


But I was not near the TV at that point so I had to stick my fingers in my ear and hum. However, I'm glad they said that they were going to announce the winners so I knew to hum.

Wow, you mean Federer actually WON that match? Listening to McEnroe I could've sworn he was down 2 sets and 3 breaks. I mean according to Mac Roddick was just dominating throughout. Jeez. "I'm just so proud of him!" Then when it became clear that Federer might win in 4, the mantra became, "Andy fought so hard, Andy left it all on the court, Andy's got nothing to be ashamed of, Andy, Andy, Andy." I kept waiting for them to point out that Roddick was arguably playing the match of his life and was still down 2 sets to 1, so credit to Federer. What was I thinking?

McEnroe really made a mistake early on when they showed the graphic about consecutive match wins, with Federer moving up the ranks, by saying something about "really" rooting for Roddick now. I miss objectivity.

BUT! That match was beautiful. As much as I wanted Federer to win (hey, I'm no commentator) the two of them playing so well made the butterflies in my stomach worth it. And I thought Roddick's post-match speech, while very rehearsed, was gracious. Good for him.

I must say, I think Mary Carillo is the absolute best. I remember when John McEnroe didn't want her commenting on men's matches. . .I'm glad she overcame that kind of predjudice because when that Jimmy guy mentioned (AGAIN) that Federer is just like Borg she came back with all the reasons why that isn't true. Good for her to see beyond the demeanor and tell that Federer's is a very different kind of calm than Borg's. Also, judging by her comment on thinking that Serena recognizes that Sharapova has been taught well, she seems to agree with my opinion (maybe that's why I like her so much) that it is time for Serena to look at coaching outside of the family.

I could watch FedEx play all day, that's all.

As for Serena (and Venus), I don't know what's happening, but their basic stroke mechanics have really receeded as of late. The power is still there, but the balls are flying all over the place - it's very disappointing to see this, cause they're so much better than that.

I'm ok with MacEnroe loving the American players. Why not. He is American. I also like how Andy (and Serena) went to the other side of the net to congratulate the winners.

I felt that Roddick just went to hard in the first set. I felt at the time that he was putting everything in that set and would not be able to keep it up. Federa is so smooth and calm and patient.



I'm not getting this from Andy. I think he is young, consistantly being hit with the same questions ("How does it feel to be the future of American Tennis"), and he is trying to win. I don't know how these kids do it. And I would love to be number anything in the world of tennis. Being Number 2, is certainly something that takes a lot of committment and drive. So good on you, Andy. And good for Serena. And bring on the US OPEN and hopefully full coverage of all the players.

It might be the scoreboard alone, or the scoreboard and Johnny Mac combined, but I love NBC coverage. OK, it definitely must be about the scoreboard.

In the post-match interview with the BBC commentator, loved Andy's comeback:
Q: Do you think this rivalry will go on for years?
Roddick: Well, for it to be a rivalry, I'm going to have to win a few.

So very self-effacing. Good for him. Would have liked to see the Sharapova/Williams final live but wasn't home.
Castallack wrote:Bwah! So very true. For those not in the know, BOTH Dent's parents, much like Jaden's parents, were on the pro tours. Excellent point!

I have a problem when it's no longer illuminating, tells me nothing about the quality of either player's game much less the quality of the match. Maybe they ran out of things to say about Federer?

Hee, I'm so glad that Sharapova & Federer won. It's like Karma bit the networks in the ass or something. But what was funnier though was watching Sports Center on Sunday night just to have a look at Patrick McEnroe, a much more biased Roddick supporter, find words to say. He looked like he'd been hit by a bus.

. . . and CNN made it seem as if Federer was a huge underdog. They never mentioned that he was the defending champion or that Roddick hadn't been #1 for quite a long time.

The part about this being an American victory bugged the hell out of me. Yeah, it's July 4th weekend but seriously, making the comment once would have been enough, and I could have ignored him. However, he made this comment about 4-5 times I think. The networks or commentators just really don't get that tennis doesn't have to be American to be enjoyable.

Andy's alright, but not good enough to act the way he does sometimes. He does seem to be following his own hype a little too much. I remember thinking Agassi had the same bratty arrogance (without enough wins to back it up) at one point. Andre turned it around, so hopefully Andy'll grow out of this, too.

Don't ever trust CNN for "sports" commentary. It's no surprise why CNNSI folded.

Roger was the #1 seed, the defending champion and he's the underdog? Yeah, right. He's more like the "European no-name", who's still an unknown quantity (even after 3 GS wins) for most Americans along with the Ferreros, Safins, Moyas, etc.

In a similar situation, CNN will probably do the same kind of thing if someone like Jan Ulrich wins the Tour De France in an "upset". Whatever.

I also loved Andy's statement - something like - I threw everything at him I had including the kitchen sink. He threw the bathtub back at me. Also when he answered the question of the rain delay hurting the game-he reminded everyone that Federer had the same condition and used it to his advantage. All in all he seems like a pretty nice fellow.

Watching the Monday morning Sportscenter I would have thought Roddick won the match if I didn't know better. They started by showing about five or six of Roddick's aces. Then they showed Roddick winning a couple of rallies. Then they showed Roddick hitting a couple of balls out to show how Federer didn't really beat him, he just made mistakes and beat himself. Then they showed match point with Federer winning. Now if I was just a casual sports fan who hadn't watched the match and wasn't aware that Federer is solidly number one in the world and was a strong favorite to win, then I would definitely have gotten the impression that Roddick is really the best player and just had some bad luck and this foreign guy isn't really that good. I have absolutely no doubt that was ESPN's intention. They're determined to paint Roddick as the guy to beat in tennis no matter how much they have to manipulate reality to make it so.


Not really a similar situation. Yes, people who follow cycling (not me) probably know that an Ulrich win would not be an upset. But Armstrong is the five-time defending champion whereas at Wimbledon Roddick was not the defending champion.


This quote from McEnroe about Federer is in an AP story this morning: "He's got every shot imaginable. There's not a shot he hits that's not very well struck," John McEnroe said. "He's got a chance to be one of the greatest players who ever lived. He's got a ways to go to reach Sampras' 14 Grand Slam titles. I don't think he'll do that, but he's got a chance to win a lot of major titles." It's pretty obvious that the announcers have been told by NBC and ESPN to hype up the American players and downplay those pesky foreigners. I believe that McEnroe was rooting for Roddick to win, but it's clear that McEnroe thinks Federer is a better player than Roddick when he's speaking his mind and not just saying what he's been told to say by the networks. Here's a link to the whole article if anybody's interested:
http://news.google.com/url?ntc=0M5A0&q=htt...1522EDT0387.DTL

All of this was still better than my local news announcer who named the losing semi-finalists as "Gross-gene" and "Ann-sis." I kid you not. Sigh.

I agree with you. Just looking at the type of tennis that Federer plays you can see that McEnroe would be a fan. Roddick's style is everything that McEnroe has been so vocal against in the past--if Mac wasn't getting "suggestions" to chat up Roddick we would have gotten more than a couple of his "bring back wooden racquet" speeches.


Heh, remember when everyone had to learn to say Ivanisevic?

During one of the many, many rain breaks over here in the UK, a comparison was made between a potential Federer/Roddick rivalry and the McEnroe/Connors rivalry (or maybe McEnroe/Borg, I'm not sure) of the past, aligning Mac with Federer. McEnroe's response was something along the lines of "Just to be mentioned in the same category with that guy is fantastic/an honour". So yeah, I think it's fair to say Mac's a fan. I think he appreciates the all-court game Federer has - he may not have won much in the French yet but he certainly looks capable of it.

Jon Wertheim again is the voice of reason:Go here for the story. And really, people, that's all we're saying.

The overnight ratings for the Men's final improved over last years. All because of Andy, or so the article tells us. *Rolls Eyes*

Mary is wonderful and she WILL disagree with Mac which is always nice.

I just get embarrassed for MacEnroe when he is so blatantly biased. It just seems like he doesn’t even start to compliment the competitor until he realizes his favorite is going to lose. Don’t get me wrong, I like Mac, but dang, tone it down a little. It comes too close to the ugly American thing.

That being said I really liked the way Roddick handled losing to Federer. I also enjoyed the line about it being a rivalry as well as his line about how he threw the kitchen sink at Roger, but then he (Federer) went in the bathroom and got the tub. He seemed very gracious to me, but I have to confess this was the first year I’ve actually watched him play. I have this terrible tendency to forget how much I like watching tennis until Wimbledon rolls around every year, and then I only seem to catch from the quarter finals on. I need to work on that.

Need to add that I also enjoyed the Sharapova win. She seems like such a sweetie and played a great match.

The beauty of knowing someone since being a kid. And she's always sarcastic when she does disagree, which makes her that much greater.


I do have to remind myself that she is only 17 and to let some of what she says go. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw her on "Regis & Kelly" this morning--she seemed gracious and genuinely happy to be there. Plus, she gave Regis her winning racquet and he was overwhelmed, so that was nice and dang she's tall.

The thing I can't stand about Mary Carillo is her insistence at referring to tennis as 'ball'. "He plays some great ball", etc. I don't know if she's trying to get the jocks interested in the sport by referring to tennis as ball, but that's a basketball reference and it sounds really stupid to use it for tennis. And her little snickering laugh bugs the hell out of me as well. She has come a long way from her early broadcast days.

Thanks for the link to the Agassi/Graf commercial. I was thinking it was a car ad all this time. That kid is way too old to be theirs, but with the view of baby legs kicking from the other car seat, it's clearly supposed to be their children. I agree that it puts more pressure on their kids to be great and play. I also remember hearing Steffi was such a great athlete that she could have been on the German Olympic team for short distance running. I have a feeling if these kids chose to participate in any sport, they'll excel.

The thing that bugs me most about her is when she shares little personal info about the players. She makes it seem like she knows these things because she's an insider and pals around with all the players when actually she is usually just repeating something she read or heard secondhand. I remember one Agassi match last year when she told this cute story about something Jaden did. The whole story was almost word for word from an Agassi article in the Washington Post a few days earlier, but Carillo made no mention of the article and made it seem like she knew this info because she's such close personal friends with Dre and Stef. She does this all the time.


The way I heard it is that during the 1988 Olympics Graf did some training with the German track team just to keep in shape until the tennis events started and she was keeping up with the track stars during practices.

I'm a little late, but just wanted to say I loved seeing Federer win and Roddick lose. If you don't like watching Federer, you don't like tennis. Roddick? Well, I'm sure he's probably a nice guy, but he just seems like such a brat. I don't know. He has been getting better, so maybe it's just a lack of maturity.

Sharapova really played a great match. With the Williams sisters down right now, she has an excellent shot to get into the top 5 very soon (maybe even to the top spot). As for the Williams, people are counting them out a little too early. Funny how Serena getting destroyed by Sharapova made everyone forget about her demolition of Capriati and her stunning comeback against Mauresmo. She and Venus won't be out of the top 10 long -- every point they earn through the rest of the year is extra.

you're right Distant, Venus and Serena will probably be cleaning up during the U.S. Hardcourt season, and move into the top 10 again (hopefully top 8 in time for the U.S. Open).

Interestingly, Anatasia Myskina will likely move into the #2 ranking by the end of the summer with Kim Clijsters' inactivity. Justine Henin-Hardenne appears to be ready for the U.S. hardcourt season, and she has lots of points to defend (Montreal, Los Angeles, U.S. Open)

Oh man, she did that this time too. She told some story about Brad Gilbert getting ejected from his son's match like Brad or someone had told her firsthand and it came from a NY Times Magazine article that had come out the day before. I couldn't believe it! It was practically word for word, including the writer's humorous end quote ("For once, Brad Gilbert was speechless.") And yet, I still like her better than 90% of the other commentators out there.


I love Federer as much as the next fan but I don't think Roddick is a brat. I think he's a young guy with a great sense of humor who doesn't take himself too seriously. I think the fact that he helped save people's lives in a hotel fire speaks to maturity more than on-court antics disprove it.

Back to topic (sort of), did anyone see Sharapova's media blitz yesterday? I caught a minute of her on the Today show and I know she was on Regis and several other shows. And the flip side of the "What do you think of the Kournikova comparisons?" question: yesterday, the local sports announcer here was interviewing Kournikova (she's doing World Team Tennis as she did last summer) and asked her "What do you think of comparisons of Sharapova to yourself?" I won't be sad when that ends. Plus he kept referring to her in teasers as "World-Famous Tennis Beauty, Anna Kournikova." Ouch.

Me too. And I honestly don't think this is unususal for sports commentators. Unfortunately, my obsessive-compulsive nature leads me to read all the stuff that is eventually quoted by commentators but, hey, whatever works for them.

I agree with Castallack about Roddick being a good guy vs. a brat. And when I heard the story from the player (name?) who, along with his wife, had to climb from their balcony to Andy's in Rome, I realized how much more serious that fire was then early press purported it to be.

And still, I love that Roddick will always give props to his opponent when he loses. He doesn't do that, "I was off my game today." crap. He always gives credit where it is due and will point to the shots that his opponent nailed him with. The fact that he gives specifics gives it even more credence.

RE: fire: It was Schalken--which made their match this Wimbledon that much more interesting to me. I read the foreign press when I couldn't get enough info from the US papers and realized how serious that fire was. I remember that Safin lost all his tennis equipment and Mirnyi lost all his clothes (okay, I have to go daydream for a minute now. . . ).

It was Sjeng Schalken. Anyway, I don't actually think he's a brat; he just comes across that way for a reason I can't quite say. Maybe it's the fact he's a Nebraska fan? Heh.

Re: Anna, McEnroe and I agree on one thing -- I hate the whole "Kournikova with a game" description. Despite her struggles and lack of a title, Anna was a pretty good player. She was never in a class with Hingis, Davenport, and the Williamses (or Sharapova now), but she was no slouch. Sadly, that gets lost in all the hype.


I like that, too. However, I don't think "I was off my game today" is always crap. Sometimes, it's a perfectly valid reason and I appreciate the players being candid about it. For example, the 2003 French Open match where Venus lost 87 of 100 points to Zvonareva on unforced errors immediately comes to mind. I don't know if Venus gave that excuse after the match, but that's clearly what happened.

LT, we must meet. You are KILLING me with this comment. Max Mirnyi. *sigh* Course many of those tall skinny white boys (did I say that?) do it for me. Gotta love Eastern Europe. Marat Safin, anyone?

In one of those odd cases where different athletes share the same name, there is an Austrian Stephanie Graf who won silver in the 800M on the track at the Sydney Olympics. Wonder if that rumor had a source in the name confusion.

OK, folks I started a thread for McEnroe over in the Talk Shows forum. Oy.

It seems like many of same media types who are slamming her now (see: SC anchors), were the same damn people who drooled over her and hyped her purely based on her looks.

Yeah, Kournikova is not the horrible/rubbish player people like to claim she is. She was a damn good doubles player, 19 titles including 2 Grand Slams and ranked No. 1 for a good period.

I actually enjoyed watching her play doubles because she was a great volleyer and hustled like crazy. But she never ever solved her serving problems. God. I've never seen anyone double fault as often as Kornikova, not even Dementieva is as bad. And I just don't think she's mentally cut out for singles or individual sports, she'd make a great teammate, but seems fragile. Despite all that, I do not feel sorry for her at all. It does suck though that Sharapova still has to answer those stupid Kornikova questions.

I know Sharapova is too nice (and perhaps smart) to say this, but just once I'd like to hear her respond deadpan, "Yes, we're both blonde, Russian, and attractive. That makes our tennis exactly the same. Dumbass."


ETA: I forgot to watch the McEnroe show debut! D'oh!

I listened to RadioWimbledon's broadcasting of the post-match interviews with the players. It was so refreshing. I was having a Beavis and Butthead moment (hee hee) because at one point, a reporter asked Serena a question for the umpteenth time, and she responded, "you can go back and read the transcripts I answered that question yesterday." And I know that sounds ridiculous but if you could hear the questions these idiot reporters were asking you would understand it was an excellent remark for Serena.

Anyway, the point I was going to make was a reporter asked Sharapova if it was hard coming to the US at such an early age and leaving her mother behind. You could just hear the exasperation in her voice when she responded. "I've answered this question so many times." And then she went through the whole story as if she has it memorized, which of course, she does.

I remember a reporter asked Serena if she has any off court interests. yes, really she did ask that question.

Well, certainly, the "Same name" issue for the runner Stephanie Graf has been interesting to say the least. Even though it is clear that "Stephanie" is listed on all the race sheets and biographies, the TV Commentators still insist on calling her "Steffi" when calling the 800M races (Aside here: Maria Mutola's arms - oh. my. goodness.), which will likely confuse the viewer even though she's from Austria.

As for Steffi Graf the tennis player, yes, she apparently ran the 800M well enough in time trials that she could have very well made the West German Olympic team for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

If we're talking about commentators, who I miss is Jim Courier. He did a great job with commentary on a cable network (TNT?) a few years back. My only complaint was the way he described high mph aces as having "mustard" on the ball. The hell?

I am hoping Jim will be with USA for the Open. I think he usually is. He's been away for most of the year due to injuries (see conversation upthread.)

Yeah, JuanitaSmi the Radio Wimbledon post-match interview sessions were certainly ah, "refreshing." (Here I thought Jim Gray and Bud Collins were the height of unprofessional interviewing.) After the final one journalist asked Serena what part of her game she planned to work on, to which she said, "My serve and my forehand." Then not FIVE minutes later another one proceeded to ask the EXACT same question only this time Serena paused a minute and in a tone that sounded like she was talking to a 3 year old said, "My serve, my forehand, my backhand, my volleys, my overheads, etc." On and on like that. I love post game/match interviews where the athlete is clearly smarter than the interviewer.


IIRC in an interview a good while back (a couple of years ago?) some fool asked Sharapova if she viewed Kornikova as her role model. She responded (very closely paraphrased): "No, it's hard to look up to someone who hasn't won any titles." Ahem. If she at all imagined that winning 4 titles including Wimbledon would kill the Kornikova comparisons I'm sure she's since been disabused of that notion. The only difference now is that Kornikova is getting asked about Sharapova too.

Good Lord! Don't they know that Serena doesn't even consider herself as just an athlete anymore? She's an entertainer, y'all! She sure is. I was quite entertained by Maria smoking her.

Re: my previous post about the joys of the Tennis Channel, this week they are showing the Hall of Fame Championship in Newport. Sure, it isn't the Tennis Masters Series but it's something. Now if only they'd get the Tennis Channel here at work...

Castallack: brag, brag, brag!

I wanted to go to that tournament because Steffi is being inducted to the Hall of Fame on Sunday. *sigh* it was sold out by the time I got around to looking into it.

Big issue I have with Mary Carillo: Her insistence on asking rhetorical questions to the host (Cliff, Ted, etc) or the viewer -
"She's really looking nervous out there, isn't she?"
"She really spanked that shot, didn't she?"

I don't know if she's expecting a response or what - it just seems to lead to lots of dead air afterwards

Federer won again. He needs some serious rest.

Looking ahead to the U.S. Open, it'd be nice if Todd Martin and Tim Henman both get a favorable draw. It's definitely about time Tim did better at this tournament. Todd doesn't have much left, so I'd enjoy one more run under the lights.

That is the truth. I'll read the full transcript for a post-match interview and be appalled at the stupid questions repeated over and over. The worst is that when the player finally gets exasperated we see that soundbite on tv, making the player look like an ass.