And the results in rankings didn't happen overnight either. Doesn't mean Dent shouldn't try.


I agree with you. I think the medical timeout should be able to be used for heat exhaustion. Courier has become a cranky guy--but I still love him.

Didn't Courier also say that if someone was suffering from heat exhaustion and/or related cramping that he/she should just retire right then and there instead of having the medical time-out option? Also pretty harsh, although not nearly as dangerous as trying to play through it and risking one's life.

Also, is it always a matter of conditioning? I'm just thinking that, all else being equal, someone like Courier who grew up in south Florida where it's hot and humid a lot of the time would have a natural advantage over someone who grew up in a cooler or less humid climate.

Oh, I definitely agree.

I was pointing out to a previous poster that winning doesn't preclude a commentator from criticizing a player's weaknesses, be they strokes or level of fitness.

And my point is that he may already be trying and we just haven't seen the results yet. I'm not excusing the guy for having more than his share of physical issues, but people make it seem as if he can flip a switch and be able to play in 120º heat with no problem.

I remember Chris Evert talking about it on NBC all the time, even when Hingis was on her big winning streak. Evert always called it "powder puff", particularly the second serve. She also criticized her lack of athleticism in comparison to the Williamses (although she praised her tennis strategy and quick thinking).
Along similar lines, Pam Shriver never missed a chance to attack Hingis on every level, personal and professional. She tried to spin it as Melanie Molitor being a bitch because she "rudely" ignored Shriver's sage advice on what Hingis should do...oh, but maybe that was just because English was her second language, Shriver would snit. Maybe it was because Molitor didn't think that someone who never did anything beyond win some doubles with Martina the First (now, how hard would that be for an average tennis pro, anyway?) was the be-all and end-all of tennis advisors. I got the impression after sifting through Shriver's spin that Molitor probably listened politely, then ignored her. I would have, too. Hate.Pam.Shriver.

Yeah, my post was just an ITA thing.

I believe he did, and that's perfectly fine...in theory. But without the medical timeout, they simply are going to try to play through it. That was my problem with his comments. Of course, you won't be forcing anyone, but past events have shown that pro players try to get through things like that (for the most part). Getting rid of the medical timeout is dangerous in that context, IMO.

To answer my own question about a big match where the heat "done Hingis in" - I was thinking of the 02 Aussie Women's final.

As others are saying, high heat can bring serious, life-threatening consequences. I gather that Dent has a history of supposedly "giving in" too easily. But is it fair to be a "keybaord coach," sitting at a PC in an air conditioned room dissing a player for being affected by extreme heat?

Of course, I (and my Swedish/English/German/French genes) don't like really hot weather much at all. I prefer making fun of people who don't want to go outside when it's cold. :)

Heretofor I have been unaware of the growing concern about gambling by players on tennis. Did they mention this during the Davis Cup broadcasts? Here's a story:
Article on Match Fixing - Davydenko/Sargisian

A quote:

Wow. That was a big problem a few years back but I had no idea it was rearing its ugly head again. Aww man, I like those two.

Yeah, there were some rumors revolving Yvevgeny Kafelnikov. I don't believe them because I love him (and, to be perfectly honest, he was playing like crap then and shouldn't have been favored at all). :) Anyway, it doesn't look like they can pin anything on Sargsian unless he was the one who made the bet.

Bryan Brothers rail against new doubles changes

(You have to register so here are some hightlights.)







Also, electronic line calling will not be used at this year's USO. Apparently it was deemed "not ready" after testing done at Arthur Ashe.

Anyone see the Agassi/Srichaphan match? After abusing Srichaphan's last name repeatedly, Brad Gilbert finally started calling him "Paradorn." My ears cried out in relief, which is strange because they're usually so quiet.

Three days of Andre. Nothing wrong with that.

BG's (hey, if that's what Andre calls him, that's what I'm going to call him) placement on the court cracked me up for many reasons: 1) the players could hear what he was saying about them--I especially liked Andre questioning Paradorn's game strategy that he overheard BG telling Cliff and PMac 2) he was really trying to avoid talking during points but PMac kept asking him questions and never--through all three days of coverage--seemed to figure out that BG didn't want to talk during a point while on the court itself 3) BG trying to whisper.

I felt bad that Cliffy didn't get acknowledged when the tournament official was thanking BG and PMac--what was up with that?

Andre was so giddy after his win that his speech was most definitely off-the-cuff. ("I get. . . a watch? That's an E-bay item right there.") I also liked that Andre switched to Adidas in part because they agreed to give lots o' money to the foundation. He'll get that college yet! And how ridiculously adorable are those two kids?

I watched New York against Houston in Team Tennis this weekend--well, part of it. Martina Hingis continues to impress. Can someone tell me again why she isn't playing on the WTA tour? I just luuuurrrrve her. And she plays doubles like a real doubles player!

Is she still dating Sergio Garcia? I seem to remember something about that.

I don't think we're ever going to see Chucky on the tour again. For one, the competition has really intensified, and I don't think her ego will stand that she probably wouldn't even be in the top 10.

I would love to see her have a comeback a la her namesake Miss Navratilova though. She could just play in doubles and mixed. I don't think she's dating Sergio Garcia anymore.

Wow, you guys look at the results of the acura classic cup. Upset after upset after upset.

Sania MIRZA def Nadia PETROVA (4) 6-2 6-1

Ai SUGIYAMA def Daniela HANTUCHOVA (14)7-5 4-6 6-2

Shuai Peng def. Elena Dementieva (3), 7-5, 6-4

Akiko Morigami def. Flavia Pennetta (15), 6-1, 7-5

Well, those are what you would call mild upsets (except for the score against Petrova). Dementieva is a hell of a fighter, but most of her losses (especially to lower-ranked players) are due to that ridiculous serve of hers.

I was at the Legg Mason Tuesday. I had a great time. I finally saw Tim Henman live! Too bad he lost. Oh well. This was my second time and also the second time I've seen a pro tennis tournament. I've defended most of the announcers in the past, but the tennis is even more enjoyable when you don't have to listen to them go on and on ad nauseam. If we could only selectively mute them...

Oh, isn't that the truth. I'd like to be able to hear the players, the ball "thwocking" and the fans (okay, sometimes not the fans).

Glad you had a good time in DC--wasn't it beastly hot? Sorry about Henman, more sorry about Max.

Another upset at the Acura Classic

Ai Sugiyama defeated Sveta Kuznetsova 2-6 6-4 6-3

Shuai Peng won also

Asian women tennis players are on a roll

Hey guys, I'm back! Moved to Grand Rapids, 140 miles west of (and much redder than) my native Detroit.

Turned on the TV Sunday afternoon and there was my Andre playing in a final. Wow! How awesome was that? I don't even want to think about the fact that he was playing all week and I didn't get to see it.

GR doesn't have TTC so my all-tennis all the time life was shortlived. Even though we have Comcast, we are TTC-less still.

re: the Dent drama
In addition to the conditioning (which I think is a solid problem for him), Taylor acts like a spoiled brat when his game is off and he is losing. It's embarassing to watch. Here is a man, who despite Genworth's claim to the contrary, has solid tennis genes. Therefore, he should know about conditioning and sportsmanship. I just don't believe his Aussie dad likes his attitude.

Holy crap, there's doubles on my TV as we speak! Shocking.

Ratings Rise for US Open Series



Legg Mason and Acura Classic TV schedule for the weekend:

Excellent! Now that I've seen it in person as well as one TV, I am officially in love with the blue court. My love affair with the "reality TV" commercial is still going strong.

Has anyone else noticed Andy Roddick has slipped to #5 in the world rankings? He's very close to Safin though, so he may be back to #4 next week. Coincidentally, the #8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 players are all from Argentina (Gaudio, Coria, Cañas, Puerta, and Nalbandian).

Shuai Peng does it again.

beats Kim Clijsters 6-4 6-4

Wow, Blake vs Roddick in the finals in DC. That's the second all-American final during the US Open series. It's so nice to see James playing well again. I was worried because Berdych is pretty talented and higher ranked than Blake. Go James!

Damn! Blake was playing really well. Unfortunately, so was Roddick.

Good article by Michael Wilbon about the state of men's tennis.

Did anyone catch Topspin on CBS yesterday? It was all about the My Ride bus tour that Andy, Mardy and the Bryans took last December. Mardy in that sheer green skirt was hilarious.

I loved how Gilbert interviewed the Bryans yesterday during the Roddick/Blake match just so they could continue to rip the ATP on the doubles changes.

I was pissed that instead of showing the awards ceremony and speeches after the match yesterday, ESPN showed part of the Roddick/Srichaphan match from Saturday. The HELL? I hate it when awards ceremonies aren't shown from matches because it's like getting no payoff to what we just watched. Plus, I guess Andy and James said some really nice things. And James had everyone sing Happy Birthday to his mom.

Just when I'm feeling good about ESPN's tennis coverage they go and do something stupid.

I am no fan of the Bryan brothers but I wanted to kiss them both after letting the ATP have it with both barrels. Good for them, and I agree. And when they get to combined rankings in order to play doubles? That is going to suck beyond comprehension.

Oh, he had me until this:

Shut up, Wilbon! Those names are probably the first step towards marketing the personalities you think are so lacking.

I'm not fond of the 4-game sets in doubles, but the combined ranking is a billion times more ridiculous. I can't even fathom who thought that was a good idea.

The weird thing is, they (meaning the ATP and ESPN and other networks, etc. etc.) seem to think that singles "stars" playing is the only way to make doubles interesting which is why they think the combined rankings would work. They should try, [sarcasm]I don't know[/sarcasm], airing some doubles and then they would see how quickly the fans take to the Bryan brothers and Max (hell, they just need to come here for that) and Bjorkman and all the Black siblings and how much fun Rochus is (and how he makes X more interesting when they play together--how much fun was that French Open doubles final in 2004 that actually aired?) and on and on and on.

LOL! I thought that "X" was the algebraic unknown (as in O. Rochus makes everyone more interesting), but then I realized you meant Xavier Malisse. Yes, that final was great.

Some of the few great singles and doubles players have been able to prolong their careers by playing more doubles (Sanchez-Vicario, Kafelnikov, Bjorkman, etc.). I doubt Hingis would have much of an impact on singles, but she could still be a top doubles player.

I still miss Monica Seles. It's looking more and more unlikely that she's coming back.

There have been rumors that they are quietly planning her farewell ceremony at the US Open at the end of the month.

I agree with Wilbon. Nicknames don't give tennis players personalities, acting like you have a personality does.

Anyway, I watched tennis for the first time in months on Saturday -- how often does Paradorn Srichaphan do his "360-spin after a half-volley" move? Cliff and Patrick sounded like they'd never seen it before.

They've always had personalities. In that same article, Wilbon says he was "stupidly critical of men's tennis players' personalities and artistry" before Roddick and P-Mac set him straight. If they don't want casual fans to continue thinking the players' don't have personalities, marketing them seems like a step in the right direction.

Most importantly, the nicknames are cool. So there!

I agree about combined rankings. Teams like the Bryans will need a wildcard to get in a tournament unless they start playing singles. So stupid. I like what Jon Wertheim said in his mailbag last week:

He also made a good point about the top singles players. The ATP in recent weeks has made comments about the number of players pulling out of tournaments and how that issue needs to be addressed. Yet they want those players to play doubles at every event also.

ESPN2 schedule for Canada Masters:

8/8 ~ 730p - 930p
8/9 ~ 1p - 3p ; 730p - 930p
8/10 ~ 1p - 5p ; 730p - 930p
8/11 ~ 1p - 5p ; 730p - 930p
8/12 ~ 1p - 3p ; 7p - 9p
8/13 ~ 1p - 3p ; 830p - 1030p
8/14 ~ 3p - 5p

For anyone that missed Facing Federer, it's airing on ESPN Classic 8/13 at 11a.

And for anyone that missed it, watch it--if only to come away with an all-abiding love for Tim Henman. The man is funny.

You mean everyone doesn't already have an all-abiding love for Tim Henman?

Edit: Cañas has been suspended for 2 years for testing positive for a banned substance.

Isn't that something? Two years. That is some serious time. Weird what BG was saying about the other players/ATP officials waiting for it to be one of the Argentinians.

Hey, Distant Sun, did you notice that we got our wish (and the wish of many others) when the broadcast mikes went out during the Agassi/Martin match? Just a few minutes but all that was heard were court sounds. It was beautiful.

I think ESPN should always keep BG on the court: when he is that close to the action he talks less and seems to think more like the coach he is--less stupid talk.

From what I've read, Puerta, Chela, Coria and now Canas have all been either suspended or investigated by the ATP for drug use. Of course I believe some of them were absolved of the charges, but it's a little fishy that all of them are from the same country.



I agree, he's actually good in this role, and he has an obvious rapport with at least Agassi and Roddick.

Sadly, I missed it. That sounds like bliss.

Here's another vote for keeping BG on the court.

Agree that Brad is better the closer he is to the court. If James Blake ever leaves his coach (which I don't think he will) I actually thing that Brad could be a good coach for James because he always has good analysis of James' game when watching him. Speaking of James, I have to agree with you all who wish that ESPN had showed the Roddick and James speeches at the Legg Mason tropy presentation yesterday. I read a summary of them and they both sounded awesome and heartfelt.

I was happy to see tonight that after they showed the Agassi match they then showed some of the Rusedski match and some of the Henman/Hrbaty from a little earlier. This could be a sign that we will get a variety of players.

Really looking forward to Nadal/Moya match tomorrow and am really happy they will be showing it during their daily coverage. The mentor and the mentee. Carlos has had good success on the hard courts in the past and Nadal has repeatedly said that he wants to suceed on courts outside of just clay so should be interesting. Pmac sounded excitied as well.

Maybe we will get a little bit of Hewitt before and the Coria/Ferrero after the Nadal/Moya. And the Roddick/Mathieu night match may be pretty quick in the evening so maybe we will even get some doubles action that night. It would be neat if they show some doubles and then discuss the proposed changes.

Regarding Coria and his drug suspension - that is a sad case. Coria was given a nutritional supplement by a trainer. It turns out that the supplement contained nandrolone. Coria said that he never knew it was contaminated. I actually believe him and so did the ATP. At the end of his case the ATP essentially said that Coria took a supplement that he never knowingly knew was contaminated. But he was still suspended (although the suspension was reduced.) After the Coria case, the ATP really started hammering the warnings about not just taking vitamens but finding out what is in them. Interestingly, Rusedski was able investigated for essentially the same thing as Coria a couple of years later (same substance and everything) and got off scot-free.

Speaking of Argies, I know my lil' David is clean. I don't think that there have ever been any whisperings about him at all. I was happy to see PMac mention that Nalbandian could be a threat during the US Hardcourt series. Last time I saw him play, which was on grass in Australia for the Davis Cup, he was looking really, really good.



So sad that he lost today. I loved the Open Access from Wimbledon where he had a long interview with Murphy Jenson. He is just precious. Such a pleasing personality. And he is a doll in Facing Federer 2.

Although Coria and Rusedski were the most publicised, over 30 players were found with at least traces of nandrolone, and Rusedski claimed that he and his group managed to show a consistent imprint that proved they'd all been contaminated from the same source. I'm pretty sure that neither he nor Coria ever conclusively proved that their positive tests were the result of ATP supplements, but the ATP couldn't prove that the nandrolone definitely didn't come from their supplements so they had to clear them. Plus, the ridiculously high volume of 'positive' tests meant something weird had to have been going on. I don't think they ever really worked out what the hell it was, especially as many of those tests came after the trainers had been instructed to stop giving out the supposedly contaminated products.

Anyway, what I'm basically saying is none of the Argentinians can be condemned for being caught up in that scandal (and Rusedski's future broadcasting career is justifiably safe), but Canas got caught for a diuretic, something completely different. He's blaming the ATP as well though, so it'll probably go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if he's still allowed to take it there after the appeals he's already gone through.

Have the pre-US Open, Stateside, hard-court events always been called the "US Open Series"? I have never heard of the term until I happened to watch some ESPN stuff the other day. Has it always been so or is this something they just thought up this year? Is it an official title, or did American sponsors/promoters think it up?

I believe this started in the last couple years. The players get bonus points based on their hardcourt play during the summer. Those points can equal additional prize money if they win the US Open. The whole thing is explained on the US Open Series website.

Hewitt had a chat on espn.com yesterday. It wasn't very informative but I did find this interesting:

Changing doubles to be more viewer-friendly is not a bad thing. Beach volleyball, for example, became more popular once they abandoned side-outs for rally scoring.

Of course the current players have personalities, but how about they be interesting enough to market themselves? McEnroe, Connors, Borg, Becker, Agassi -- none of them needed a stupid nickname or the ATP to sell them as players worth watching.

It's the ATP's job to promote the players and the tour itself. That "New Balls Please" campaign a couple of years ago failed miserably because it alienated the older players.

Watts, that quote from Hewitt goes back to the Wertheim quote you posted the other day: the ATP should not be acting as the union for the tournament directors. The ATP should take advantage that they are not owned by the owners--they are a governing body unlike most other governing bodies in sports. They shouldn't act like the player's union either, it should be all about the sport. The tournament directors are only looking at their bottom line but that shouldn't be affecting the ATP's decisions.


But not only are the changes not viewer-friendly, ESPN has already said it doesn't matter because they are not going to air the doubles anyway.

Tennis was a much higher-profile sport in the US back then (and there weren't so many other viewing options). Besides, I'm not sure those players actually marketed themselves in any real way other than playing great tennis. They just benefited from the fact that people were actually watching. People would fall in love with players like Federer, Nadal, Hewitt, Safin, and Roddick if they gave them a chance.

Tennis is a thriving, popular sport just about everywhere except the USA. This is the only major country where Roger Federer's excellent play hasn't made him a household name. I think the USTA and the ATP have a certain responsibility to highlight tennis in a major market like this one. The US Open Series (which started last year, Adina), is a great step in the right direction. If they don't do something, tennis is in danger of falling down to the level of soccer here in the US.

Finally, I still don't get what's so bad about the nicknames. Even if you think they're stupid and/or corny, some of them are, to use a British expression, spot on. Kim "Miss Congeniality" Clijsters is a no-brainer. I think the differences between Venus and Serena are summed up quite nicely with "The Goddess" and "The Diva." What's Roddick's problem with "Rocket Man"? He might want to check out his winning percentage when he can't overpower his opponent. I don't know... I can't see what the problem is.

With the exception of Becker, but throw in Lendl and some other foreign players, all of the other players marketed themselves pretty darn heavily in the late 70's into the early 80's. They were always on commercials promoting something and they promoted themselves on tv shows etc. You knew as many foreign players as you did US players. The odd thing is I don't really remember tennis being on tv all that much, and this was before cable.

Re: the recent US Open commerical
My problem with it is it's geared for a too young of an audience. Also, I can do without looking at the Serena "the diva" Williams ad growling at me through 10 stops on the subway each morning. It's funny because it looks nothing like her now.

Ah, but which came first? Did they become big stars because they marketed themselves or were they able to market themselves because they're big stars? If Rafael Nadal were in a commercial, most people here would wonder who he is... and he's the #2 player in the world! Anyway, I'm not saying tennis is on TV less than it was then; I'm saying it wasn't crowded out by other sports. Tennis was certainly bigger than racing and wrestling (to name a few) in those days.


That's an interesting point. While I think it's important to capture a young audience, I would hope it isn't alienating older fans.

I'm going to say both, but, for the most part, they delivered on their hype. I think that is a problem for both tours.