Oh, I hate when they do that! If a match is on ESPN I hold my hand up to cover the crawl (but it's so hard not to look). . . if it's ESPN2 you're just screwed.

Well, we have Myskina and Dementieva in the final. I think American TV overall shot themselves in the foot with this one - from what I've seen in the past year, they showed pretty much NIL of Myskina during any of the grand slam tournaments, and very little of Dementieva .

It comes as no surprise when the casual fan goes "Who on earth are these gals?" when they tune in to the final, because American TV makes no effort to show these athletes during the earlier rounds. If American TV continues to put its nose up in the air with regard to the internationalism that is Tennis today, all tennis coverage will be regulated to ESPN2 or even more exclusive Cable access, due to poor ratings and cutbacks. American Broadcasters seem to still be in denial about the fact that there are only 4 American male players in the top 30 - and continue to hype Mardy Fish, James Blake, Taylor Dent, Robby Ginepri etc. as if they're actually "stars". Puh-lease


Personally, I think it's pathetic, because US Coverage for other individual sports like Golf and Auto Racing don't for a moment care that much about the nationality of its athletes.

Total and utter word, Bungalow Joy. The Williams sisters are two of the most arrogant sulks in the game today, IMO, and they almost never give credit where credit is due. All they give are excuses for why they sucked, as though the other player just got lucky to play them on an off day. And, I'm sorry, but I refuse to accept that Venus and Serena, while great players, are so much better than everyone else that the only possible way they'll lose is when they play badly. Although it might've been true a couple of years back, the competition is catching up, and people are outplaying them and beating their asses fair and square.


Exactly. The networks, with their "USA, all the way!" attitude are shooting themselves in the foot. There are lots of great non-American players in the game now, and by basically focusing only on Americans while neglecting everyone else (except Federer and any skinny blonde tennis player/model), fans never really get familiar with the other players. So, when a situation like this arises with all the Americans out, a lot of people feel there's no reason to watch a bunch of "nobodies" play. If the coverage were more balanced instead of trying to create American superstars, ratings might actually increase.

I have never been more happy to find a forum here than I was when I saw this one. My family and I constantly complain about ESPN's awful coverage and the fact that everyone here also hates it makes me very satisfied.

The thing that bugged me the most (besides the Williams sisters over anything) was how they completely ignored Ferrero. I may be biased because he's been my favorite player since he came on the tour (imagine me, an American, not having an American favorite player), but not showing last year's winner because Capriati's taped match can be showed really sucks.

It is very unfortunate that ESPN's coverage is catered to the casual tennis fan. I just saw a poll that said 61% of Americans aren't going to watch the French Open anymore now that there are no Americans left. Things like that only reinforce ESPN's stupid coverage choices.

It is extremely rare to find instances where either of the Williams sisters credited an opponent's good play for their defeat but they are hardly the only tennis champions to have had that attitude. I was a huge Graf fan but I'll be the first to admit that she was not always gracious about opponents who defeated her particularly when it was a much lower ranked player. Same with Navratilova and Evert. And don't even get me started on guys like Connors and McEnroe when it comes to poor losers. A belief that you are always the best player on the court and the only thing that can stop you is your own poor play seems to be fairly common among tennis champions.

I do think that this attitude is now starting to backfire on Venus and Serena. They seem to feel that they are so superior that they can go out and play their best at any time without playing a lot of tournaments. Yes, they can walk on a court and beat the majority of players at any time but they have to get it through their heads that talented players like Clijsters and Henin-Hardenne have vastly improved over the last year or so (when they're healthy) and Venus and Serena can't consistently beat them unless they get out there and play more tournaments and keep their match toughness.

Veering back on topic - I totally agree that the American networks are killing themselves by not promoting non-American players. They got so spoiled with the Sampras/Agassi era and now with Roddick and the Williams sisters that they seem to have completely forgotten that a few years ago some of the most well-known and popular players in America were foreign-born: Navratilova, Borg, Graf, Becker, Seles, Edberg, Lendl, Laver. Some of these players were just as popular in America, or even more so, than players like Evert, Connors, Austin and McEnroe. There isn't any reason that Federer, Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne and others can't be stars here.


Yeah, these guys are middle of the pack also-rans and probably always will be. The worse news for American Broadcasters is that their boy Roddick is not as good as they are hyping him up to be either. He is definitely a top-ten caliber player but he's not going to dominate the game.

When it comes to the Williams sisters, people either love them or hate them. All I can say is I've seen these two give credit to their opponents at times. Not a lot, but when it's due they give it. Just because you don't go out and give your opponent credit every time you lose a match does not make you arrogant. It all goes back to competitiveness. You don't want to concede anything to your opponent if it's not deserved. When Serena and Venus are on their game, they win. I have never seen Serena and Venus play extremely well and lose a match.

Back to topic, ESPN is going to cover the games that they think most people will want to see, not necessarily which is the best match. I am happy to read on this board that there are posters who enjoy watching all players on the ATP/WTA tour. I am not, however, naive enough to believe that a majority of the American audience that watches tennis believes this also.

Boy, ain't that the truth. When I was a teenager in the 80's it never even crossed my mind to not have that huge crush on Becker--who cared that he wasn't American? They showed him all the time and I loved it. Of course, it turns out now that those mid-80s days were horrible for ratings but I was too busy watching great tennis to know, or care, about that.

American TV should have used the Agassi/Sampras years to really showcase international players so the sport could sustain itself on American TV after they weren't playing. Golf is huge because (in recent years) they used Woods transcending the sport to show the other players--of course people, like my dad, are sick of having the commentators always talking about Woods no matter how he is doing.

The other thing I wish they would show on TV is doubles. Those are the best matches to watch. Fast and exciting.

Here is an article ranting about the unnecessary tape delays and the hard-to-follow scoring box.



With all of the ESPN channels available, why not pick one to show live coverage? Do they really have to show Extreme Table Tennis Championships?

The U.S. networks were ridiculously spoiled with respect to American men's tennis in the 90s. Agassi and Sampras (with supporting cast members Courier, Chang, Washington, Martin, etc.) meant that American men could be featured whenever they wanted to - no questions asked. That is just is no longer the case anymore.

Unfortunately, the international players themselves didn't do themselves a favour either for gaining recognition on U.S. Networks by getting eliminated early in Grand Slam tournaments (Marcelo Rios, Goran Ivanesevic, Thomas Muster, Petr Korda, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Richard Kraijeck among them).

I think U.S. network's embracing of Golf's international flavour is a byproduct of the fact that for each Ernie Els, K.J. Choi, Stuart Appleby, Sergio Garcia, Darren Clarke etc. that is shown, there can also be a Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, etc. that can be shown to "compliment" a non-U.S. player in terms of broadcast time.

Tangent: I've seen highlights of this Myskina girl, and geez, doesn't she seem really skinny? From now on I'm calling her Myskinny.

Regardless of what ESPN wants to believe, tennis is an international sport. As the French finals show: All Russian women's final and the All Argentinian men's final.

What boggles my mind is from a marketing perspective -- if you watch tennis you know that the commercials tend to run to higher end products: Porsche, Lincoln Navigator, financial companies, even more Nikon commercials than Kodak commercials. So if the advertisers can recognize that the tennis demographic is a more sophisticated one, why can't the network program accordingly?

As I've said before, I LOVE Andre Agassi. I will watch any match he's playing. But if I can listen to LIVE tennis via Radio Wimbledon in two weeks' time, why EVER would I watch recorded matches during the day? It's asinine.

I do think many of the ESPN commentators know what they're talking about: particularly Mary Carillo and Mary Jo Fernandez. I very much enjoy Cliff Drysdale as well. But stop bemoaning the Americans' losses and give us good tennis. It's a Grand Slam -- there's good tennis all around.

I don't think that the tennis demographic is so much "sophisticated" as it is affluent, compared to other sports (same goes for golf, to some extent). And my guess is that you'll find as many, if not more affluent casual fans who will only watch when Agassi, Roddick, or the Williams sisters are playing than affluent hardcore fans who will watch even if it's Bohdan Ulihrach vs. Sjeng Schalken.

The key words here are French finals. Since the French Open is played on clay, it's one of the most unpredictable tournaments all year, and, in my mind, the most difficult to win. Several of the players who excel on clay, especially on the men's side, don't play the other slams because they'd get bounced out in the first round. I wouldn't be surprised if the two men who played in the French final today skip Wimbledon.

Guillermo Coria is in fact already committed to playing the Queen's Club grass-court event this week in England, so I presume he's committed to play Wimbledon as well (although he lost 1st round last year). Not sure what Gaston Gaudio's plans are.

As for those who excel on clay not playing other slams - that's pretty much not the case anymore. Case in point - Juan Carlos Ferrero was Last's year's French Open Champion but also was last year's U.S. Open finalist.

LOL @ Ulirach vs. Schalken. I don't think Ulirach is playing much anymore since his drug suspension (correct me if I'm wrong)

Jon Wertheim makes excellent points about the ESPN coverage in his column this week at Sports Illustrated online.

He even slams the new scoreboard. Again? Hated it. Hope they change it before Wimbledon.

Thanks for pointing out the article. Great read.


I think I just fell in love a little.


I think I just fell in love a lot.


And Bwah!

Also adore that next week only questions about non-Americans will be answered to:

And, Andre and Andy pairing up for doubles? Didn't go too well for them, huh?

Surprise, surprise. Kuerton and Gaudio, despite great runs in the French Open, have suddenly developed injuries and won't play Wimbledon.

Well, Kuerten has that hip that keeps giving him shit, so I'm not all that surprised. However Gaudio does.

Clay courters are notorious for dropping out of Wimbledon. I believe many Spainards have said that the only thing grass is good for is the cows. I think this is such a cop out. I mean the Americans go to the French even though clay isn't their best surface. Who knows what can happen if they go. Maybe one of the favorites gets upset, and their draw opens up. Kuerten even made it to the quarters one year. If Sampras went to the the French year in year out, with little chance of winning, the Clay courters can go to Wimbledon.

By the way, did anyone see the French Open Men's Final? Was that one of the craziest matches ever. I mean Coria was totally dominating. So much so that I went to the store at the start of the 3rd set thinking this thing was over. But, lo and behold I come back 45 min. later and Gaudio is up in the 4th and Coria can barely walk. Then Coria all of the sudden is back to full strength and looks like he is going to win it and then eventually loses it 8-6 in the 5th. That must of been a heartbreaking loss.

Gustavo Kuerten has never been the same since hip surgery. A shame,really. Same thing happened to Marcelo Rios as well.

As for Kim Clijsters, looks like she'll also be missing the entire U.S. Hardcourt Season and the U.S. Open. IMO, she played way too many tournaments last year (as did Justine Henin-Hardenne), and now is suffering the consequences (she played a full schedule of doubles too last year with Ai Sugiyama).

I couldn't agree more. At least they're not hiding behind the "unfair" Wimbledon ranking system that they claimed for many years. I remember Mary Carillo commenting on this a few years ago calling the clay courters who drop out of Wimbledon whiners.

I'm going to stick up for the clay-court players. (Not all of them, the higher-ranked players i.e. the ones with winnings and endorsements are not included in this.) Unlike many American players, European players do not end up with endorsement deals up the wazoo and a lot of them have absolutely no federation (from whichever country they hail) money coming to them. Everytime they travel they have to pay for housing, coaching, food, etc. out of their own pockets. You've probably noticed quite a few players don't have their regular coaches with them for tournaments not close to home. For many players, going to a tournament where they don't have a good chance of bringing home a worthwhile paycheck is just not in their budgets.

also in defense of the clay-court players, the clay-court season can be quite long, especially if you choose not to play much of the spring U.S. hardcourt season and concentrate on competing on clay @ Monte Carlo, Rome, Hamburg, Madrid, etc. etc..

And once again, I must re-iterate that so-called "Clay-court" specialists are now getting excellent hardcourt results.

FYI: Andre has pulled out of Wimbledon with a hip injury. Now, does this mean that he'll stick it out one more year to get a Wimbledon in or should I make sure that I get to every single one of his matches at the Open to "say" goodbye? (Heh, ESPN with all their "Slam Coverage" must be plotzing.)

Does ESPN have the US Open this year as well, or does USA network still get it? If it's ESPN, I hope USA bequeaths the Streisand "zen master" footage to ESPN. It wouldn't be a US Open without seeing that clip.

As far as I know, USA still has the weekday coverage of the US Open. And to that I say, Thank God! But I think the coverage by them is starting to suck as well. The USTA schedules the matches so that AgUGHsi and Blahdicks or the Williams sisters matches happen to be on the show courts where the TV cameras are. Thank God they have Michael Barkan (sp?) running around the grounds with a camera guy looking for some good matches.

Actually, that has nothing to do with TV coverage. . . that has everything to do with butts in the seats. (Which, I might add, is great for me because I'm not overwhelmed with people on the back courts when everyone is inside--the only problem is how quickly those first round matches are over and then everyone swarms the grounds.) I think USA has done a really good job in the past with coverage and I'm curious to see how the buyout will affect coverage, if at all, this year.

However, as much as I am not a fan of the Williams sisters, nothing will ever make me not love Andre with the heat of a thousand suns. I have followed his career (obsessively) since the late 80s (my mom told me to watch "some kid with long hair --- I think you'll like him") and even though I now wonder what the hell I was thinking buying those bike shorts with the denim over-short (I cannot believe I just admitted that) nothing he has ever done has made me stop being a huge fan.

(Oh, and yes, USA still has the US Open this year--ESPN is just doing a bunch of coverage leading up to the Open.)

When Andre first started he was pulling a sort of "I'm a Christian Tennis Player" thing that was a total head-scratcher. But I turned into a real fan, especially after he changed his game and came back full guns. Despite annoyance that American audiences only respond to marquee names, Andre justifies the attention: great player, always a threat, and always fun to watch. Who'd have thought that long-haired popstar would turn into such a great sportsman, too? A gentleman. I don't want him to leave.

Oh yeah, that was bizarre, I must be blocking that out. At least Michael Chang was around at the same time telling the media that he won matches because God loved him more than his opponent so Andre came off, even during that period, more even-keeled.

USA does the US Open but we do get John McEnroe because of the NBC affiliation.


Thank you, LT. And Amen to that!

OMG, I just found this thread, saw the title and laughed!!! I reading now...woohoo!

ESPNClassic is doing a weekend of tennis leading up to Wimbledon's start on Monday. Also, at 8 p.m. Monday night they will premiere SportsCentury Steffi Graf. I know I'll be watching that one.

I totally don't remember this phase. Someone please give me some details. I do however remember Michael Chang's religousness. I recall Mary Carillo saying something like he always signed his autographs with "Jesus loves you" or something, which considering how many fans he probably had ask for autographs is really something.

Over the weekend, David Nalbandian dropped out of Wimbledon with a torn abdominal muscle. Can you remember a year when so many top players were injured and dropped out of tournaments. The Belgiums, James Blake, Gaudio, Kuerten, and of course, Andre Agassi are all out. Anyway, Wimbledon, here we come!

I don't remember Andre talking about it in interviews I saw on TV or anything, but I do remember reading about it in print articles. He even said his favorite thing to do was read the Bible. It's kinda funny cause he ended up knocking Steffi up and all that. Heh.

I don't remember Agassi as a born-again Christian either. However, yesterday ESPNClassic ran the SportsCentury episode about Agassi. Mary Carillo was interviewed noting that Andre had gone through many phases in his career: "the Zen Master, even studying Catholicism and then becoming a born-again Christian." The way she made it sound, it was the young Andre searching for something more.

I too am surprised about all of the big names out of Wimbledon. But when you look at those names, all stand a better chance on the hard courts so I can see where they would not want to play grass for a few weeks and risk further aggravation to an injury. The women's side of the draw is wide open as well: no Henin-Hardenne and no Clijsters. Venus and Serena are always a threat but neither has won a major in 12 months.

I was very optimistic that ESPN would read our comments and Jon Wertheim's article and get rid of the annoying scoreboard. No such luck. Watching Wake up with Wimbledon this morning, there is is in all its annoying glory.

you can bet that on the women's side, Players like Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati are thinking this is their last best chance to win Wimbledon, unfortunately they have to deal with questionable health (Davenport) and a rather unlucky draw (Jen is scheduled to play Serena in the quarter-finals). As well, will Amelie Mauresmo stop this under-acheiving (argh)? My prediction is yet another Russian (but neither Myskina or Dementieva) may break through to the semis or even the final (Maria Sharapova or Svetlana Kusnetzova).

Did anyone else get to watch any of this? It was really good, and fun to flash back to a lot of the moments. The weirdest thing was watching as the wooden racquets were replaced by the graphite/titanium/etc. and, as a result, all the touch go out of the game. The other thing was realizing that all my likes/dislikes of players was so directly influenced by rivalries: didn't like Steffi because she kept beating Martina (then I didn't like Monica because I had started to like Steffi and Monica would beat her), didn't like Stefan Edberg because he would beat Boris, etc. etc. Fun stuff--and, since each episode was created in the year it was descibing, I enjoyed the commentators talking about things like Martina quitting the sport (in '93) and Edberg being "a force at Wimbledon in the 90s" with no irony that this was right before Pete changed his backhand and swing.

Those were the official Wimbledon films that ESPNClassic was airing. I probably watched 8 of them over the weekend. I also enjoyed seeing the behind the scenes tournament details like watching Alan Mills pen notes to include with the flowers given to the ladies finalists before their match.

Tennis magazine has yet another article about ESPN's poor coverage. This one offers suggestions as to how to make it better.

Does anyone know if Martina Hingis is doing commentary throughout Wimbledon or just for the first day? I forgot how annoying she is.

Thanks for reminding me about another thing that has gone by the wayside: even as late as the early 80s everyone involved in the tournament (commentators, umpires, etc.) were calling all the women by "Miss" or "Mrs." I didn't notice when they stopped but by the 90s they seemed to be calling all the women just by their last name.

As for Hingis, she definitely does commentary (I think for Australian tv?). Was she doing American stuff today? So sad that Max looks like he is quickly going out. He's had a really bad year so far.

LT: I remember last year, Lindsay Davenport stopped during one of her French Open matches to scold the chair umpire. She had just gotten married and he kept switching calling her: "Mademoiselle Davenport" and "Madame Davenport". She finally told him, "Pick one. I don't care which one, but pick one." Hee.

I was surprised see the scoreboard when Chris Evert was married to Brit John Lloyd. Instead of the name on the board being "Mrs. C. Lloyd" it was "Mrs. J. Lloyd". That would annoy me.

Martina was doing some stuff for ESPN this morning but I don't think she's going to be a regular. But I only caught the "Wake Up" program so I don't know if she was doing play-by-play. Course Jon Wertheim says Hingis has perfect recall of every point in any match she's ever played. My favorite was a few years ago when Todd Martin went into the booth at the U.S. Open with McEnroe and Ted Williams. He did a great job IMO.

Oh, you're right! I remember thinking he should be a commentator when he retired (you know, if ever). Whatever happened to Jim Courier commentating? I liked him--well, maybe that was some hormones coloring my opinion of his commentating skills (same with Luke Jensen--I don't care how dumb he is. . . have you seen those abs?).

Actually, I think she's working for EuroSport. I think she did a good job during the Navratilova match. Her accent is hard to listen to though.



I think he got hurt in some kind of accident some time ago and is still recovering.

As for the coverage I saw today, it was a slight improvement over the French Open coverage I think. However, when they started coverage right when play for the day started I thought we'd see matches right off the bat. But alas, not. A big chunk of that hour was Patrick McEnroe doing his usual Andy Blahddick blow job. The way he's talking, the rest of the men's field might as well go home already and just let he and Federer play for the title. HATE.

Yeah, WTF is up with this? Do they really think that people would wake up early to see The Patrick McEnroe Early Show. If there is live tennis going on, then, by all means, show it. That being said it does seem like an improvement from the French Open. They showed mostly live matches throughout the day.

Did anyone find it eerie that Martina Hingis was commentating on the woman she was named after. I think Hingis is 23 and Navratilova is like 47. I thought that Hingis' accent was pretty tough to listen to also. I miss watching her play. She must of freaked out when she saw that the Williamses, Capriati, and Davenport all lose in the French with Myskina ending up winning. If she would've played she might've had a shot.

I caught Martina Hingis during Navratilova's match. Yes, it was odd to have her serve as commentator for her namesake. I as well don't think she's "ready for primetime" just yet. She is blunt though and that could make for some hilarious moments.

Courier indeed was in a golfcart accident. It was pretty bad. He has an event in Texas every year. One of the networks aired it. Courier and Corina Morairu (sp?) played doubles against Johnny Mack and Chris Evert. It was entertaining. But he's not 100% yet from what was said during the match.

Did anyone catch that movie-tie in promo they did on ESPN last night? I thought I was watching Wimbledon and then all of a sudden the highlight shots were intercut with scenes from the new King Arthur movie. Why it wasn't scenes from the new Wimbledon movie, I have no idea.

[Broken record] I HATE the ESPN scoreboard. I can't EVER tell what the score is.[/broken record]

Did anyone else watch the Steffi Sportscentury last night? I didn't like how they jumped back and forth from the 90s to the 80s and back and I really didn't learn anything new from her playing years but I loved the post-retirement stuff. She seems so happy. Yeah for her. And I think I could watch her and Andre swap stories about each other for a full hour and be really happy. Loved the dog stuff.


I'm at work so I've got the IBM real-time scoreboard up. Love that thing.

LT: Have you also discovered RadioWimbledon? I have the LiveScoreboard up too and it's faboo.

And again, I agree with your comments about the SportsCentury ep. Loved the interview with Andre and the dog story was darling.

Yup, and right now I'm "watching" the Malisse match. What is ESPN featuring today? What did they do yesterday with all the rain delays?

Oh, and since both Andre's and Steffi's episodes featured Sally Jenkins as a commentator I'm really hoping she is setting up to write Andre's autobiography. IMO, she is the best sports writer out there making cohesive and entertaining books.

Andre's dad (Mike Agassi) has a book due out in September.

Poor Coria, is his first round match ever going to end?

As for Mike Agassi putting out a book. . . aren't he and Andre somewhat estranged? Or did I make that up?