Ok, I'm an idiot. I just presumed espn.com's notice of today's match would be incorrect since they showed this same match last night.... But it's on: Roddick-Melzer. I don't understand why we can't see some of the Coria-Ferrero match, or the Henman-Davydenko.... I really thought twice about complaining, because all week (between work and night classes) I've been trying to squeeze in all the great tennis they've showed. And now it's finally the week-end and we get the repeat. Sigh.



I agree, Harry24. I thought it was kind of fun to watch Roger doing that, as well as the unnerving of the announcers -- and then just when there was room to worrry that it was truly going to cost him, Roger was able to pull completely out of it.

I am deeply hoping, however, that we do get to see the Fed-Baghdatis match this evening.



Me, too, jimena! And while espn.com doesn't say they'll play it, but I think there may still be hope.

One more thing: anyone notice Cliffy's disapproval of Roddick's "hot-dog" shot, while PMac thought it top ten of the tournament? I thought it was great of Cliffy to put it out there that that kind of play is not universally adored.....

Edited because I came back and only now see that virgil beat me to it!

Not only are they showing the match again, but the first time they showed it was also on tape. So, they are showing the same taped match two times in a row. Just when I was so proud of ESPN for giving us some actually good coverage, they go and fuck it all up. ESPN never fails to disappoint. Not to mention the fact that on the sports ticker scroll they advertised the Hewitt match, so everyone watching was expecting to see Hewitt.

Baghdatis was the only guy besides Agassi to take a set of Federer at the US Open. This could be really good.

This just infuriates me. Why - after doing well for ESPN are they doing the same horrible Americans only- and twice even- policy that they have had before. This is like the French Open all over again! I wanted to see the Chela spitting incident. ESPN- you suck!

Seriously, what the hell? I think they all just took the night off, weren't even around for the Hewitt/Chela & Nadal/Reynolds matches that they had advertised. They didn't even mention them today, not even in the score crawl at the bottom. And when they signed off promo-ing the Agassi match tonight, it was still mid-afternoon light out behind them at the desk.

ESPN sucks. As usual.

What happened?

Apparently Chela got all agitated and pissed at Lleyton in the fourth set of their match; that on a changeover he spat in his direction. The story is that Lleyton had two break points in the previous game and on a very odd error from Chela (in other words a shot he clearly should have made) he went up to three break points; thus pulling vintage Hewitt by yelling "come on" really loudly.

I guess Chela took offense to Lleyton's yelling and celebrating on an error of his and proceeded to serve the next point with the intent (so it seemed to most people watching the match) of hitting Lleyton. Apparently he aimed directly at him and it was clear he changed up his serving style because he immediately got a foot fault call at that point.

Anyway, Lleyton won the game and on the changeover, when Chela walked by his chair (Lleyton was already sitting), he spat in his direction. However at the net, at the end of the match he told Lleyton he wasn't trying to spit on him and Lleyton just said "whatever, it's over". Later in the press room, Chela again insisted he wasn't spitting at Lleyton.

However tons of reports from people were up close at the match and commentators from the BBC; say a whole different story. Now personally since I haven't seen the match (and only going by reports) I can't judge. However if Chela's intent was to spit at Lleyton then that's just damned out of line.

I know many will defend it with "oh Lleyton yelling come on all the time is annoying or whatever" but I'm sorry if Chela is weak-minded enough to make that get to him, then he should have answered Lleyton ON THE COURT. In other words, whip his ass in the match, you don't go spitting at people. I mean seriously WHO DOES THAT? It's like were you raised by animals?

The thing that makes the the most mad about today's sucktastic coverage is that last night they said that they would show the Hewitt match and talked about Nadal- but then just showed a rerun of a pretty boring Roddick match. In other words- they LIED to their audience the day before. That's false advertising ESPN. Bah!

As for the whole Hewitt/Chela incident- I do think the spitting is wrong. However, I also think that cheering an opponents unforced error is also very wrong and unsportsmanlike. I wish I could have actully seen the darn thing to be able to comment on it further.

They had better show Federer/ Baghdatis (sp?) match. I really Mario from the little I have seen, and he has a fantastic charisma. I'm also really looking forward to the Andre/Pim Pim match- but I'm not worried that they won't show that- it has Andre in it- of course they will! ;)

This is what I posted in another Tennis discussion group:

Well, as I mentioned on an earlier ESPN thread I thought the only reason we were getting coverage of some "non-traditional" matches was because they were forced to fill air time while waiting for the scheduled Americans to hit the court. They are doing better than last year, but I still believe that the coverage is as follows:

1) You're an American

2) You are a native English speaker. (Its some sort of mystic linguistic brotherhood! ) So we often see Tim and Lleyton. I wonder if Alicia will get added to this list?

3) You're too damn good and we can't ignore you, and BTW you speak pretty damn good English, so I guess you are okay. (Roger)

4) You are the current designated hot PoA (Piece of Ass) . Of course, this used to be Anna K and now the mantle has been passed to Shriekapova. I must say that Shriekapova's father freaks me out big time. Everytime they show a close up of him I feel the need to take a scalding hot shower and wash the baddness off my eyes.

Heh, Khyber. I think you're on to something, and I think there's lots of evidence to support it. Though I think it'd be hard to include Tim in point #2. Last night when I reported his loss to my husband, he said, "Henman is playing this tournament??" Granted, he's not watching a whole lot (only Point #3, so he can keep a close eye on me!) and he knows what he knows from me, but as a through-and-through ex-pat Brit, I do feel I pay close attention to any mention and have had pretty much nary a one this time 'round to report....

The interesting thing about #2 is also that it's what broke down today with the Hewitt-Chela match, (while also never even promising any Tim). Anyone want to hazard a guess as to why they chose not to show it? I mean, it's not like that Roddick match was a classic! (I fell asleep the first time around, personally.) And I can't really imagine that they'd shy away from a controversial moment - even if they somehow thought they were going to protect LLeyton.... Don't know; just fishing here.

And as for #s 3 and 4: Ha! God, I'm glad for #3, but hateful of #4. And I could NOT agree with you more about Yuri. Sheesh - he makes the former incarnation of Papa Williams seem sedated.

And for the record, Lleyton's thing makes me agitated just watching; I can't imagine if it was inappropriately directed at me. Not excusing anything, but just saying..... Too bad Blake didn't take him out, and then maybe we could have watched Chela!

That's not really fair. Sharapova is the reigning Wimbledon champion and, unlike Kournikova, she is a genuine threat to win the tournament. But I do agree about her father.

And mine, too! Not to mention other Roger fans... the mood was positively apocalyptical at the RF message boards from the time he got broken in the first set of the match!



By any chance, do you post on MTF? I feel I've read this before.

Anyway, saying Hewitt is annoying and unsportmanlike is not justifying Chela. However, Chela is not known as a spitter. That's not his behavior of choice. It's a one time thing. Being annoying and unsportsmanlike IS Hewitts behavior of choice. I think he's a horrible little man on the court.

I'm not saying the girl can't play, she can. I'm saying why her matches are shown on ESPN. Maybe you didn't see how they were marketing the year ending championships in LA. They had billboards and print ads of Sharapova with a semi-seductive look on her face and the tag line "The closer you get the hotter it gets." That is PofA marketing, not tennis ability marketing.

Roddick is doing those ESPN commercials. Maybe its tit for tat?

Yes, I did see how they marketed her. I also saw that she won the year end WTA championship. She is a legitimate threat to win the Aussie Open and therefore deserves to have her matches shown on ESPN.

I've been in Lleyton's corner for that last couple of years and it used to irk me a great deal when he wasn't given any credit for the changes he made in his behaviour and the fact that he seemed to have matured. He had toned down the "c'mons", was complimentary to opponents in the post-match interviews and seemed to be almost introverted on the court at times.

But now, WTF? Did the breakup with Kim, coupled with newfound biceps o' steel create this pissy, angry frat boy? Maybe he looked back over his career to date and found that he had better results when he was more obnoxious. Whatever it is, his attitude at this year's Australian Open is making him impossible to defend anymore.

As for the coverage, as long as Roddick is young, american, reasonably good-looking, quotable and has a game the casual viewer can appreciate (i.e. big serves) his matches will likely be on continuous play. It is suprising though that with the Connors-esque of Hewitt and the spitting incident, that the Chela/Hewitt match wasn't considered good enough for TV.

No kidding. Is the pressure too much? Is he just thriving on the negativity? Was Clijsters that good of an influence? Seriously. He's back to being an insufferable jerk. Whenever he screams "come on" I just wish he was a bug and I could stomp him.

Well, they've now shown the Chela-Hewitt incident twice during today's Agassi coverage but I agree with what has been posted. A Roddick blow-out is not what I wanted to see today. And I was just beginning to feel the ESPN love.

That film of Sharapova and her lover, er, Dad skeeves me out too. And while I'm on the skeevy topic, the sallow Hewitt family gives me a bit of the heebie-jeebies as well.

I'm feeling the snow, LT, you know I am. But I love it and every time the announcers snicker at how warm it is there while we poor folks in the US suffer in the snow, I want to slap them. Some of us like Winter!

Bwah! And oh so true! Thanks for phrasing it so cleverly. Hee.

I was trying my damnedest to stay up and watch Andre's match last night since ESPN was actually showing live tennis (who knew it was possible?) but I gave up the fight towards the end of the second set. Not that I had seen much of the second set. This 16-hour time difference is a killer but I'm up for it so please keep showing the live tennis. [/Disclaimer for ESPN/ABC execs who might be reading] Glad to hear Agassi pulled it out after losing the first set. That's why the Slams go 5, right?

Fear that I will be rooting against Joachim Johansson due to the Hewitt-fam factor. Hewitt still equals The Hate for me. Now that he and Kim (his only good point) are no longer together, there's no reason to feel guilty about it. And shades of Kuznetsova/Belgian story with the repeating and relishing of the Hewitt/Chela match. I recognize it is a story but I think twice in 1 hour is ridiculous. Loved Pam calling Brad Gilbert on his "tennis got a black mark" thing.

And when do you think the announcers will consistently say JJ's name right? As a matter of fact, I'm surprised they haven't just given up the fight and christened him JJ (or "Double J" -- shades of Saturday Night Fever). I have heard "Joe-ah-keem" and "yo-ah-keem", which I think is accurate; the more Spanish sounding "Joaquim"/"whah keem" and I think last night PMac actually said, "Joe - keem". It would piss me off to no end if it was my name. Hell it pisses me off and it isn't my name.

More commentator-related criticisms:
Pam Shriver: Girlfriend, what The Hell is going on with your hair? The messy-do in the booth was so not happening for me. And what were you wearing in the stands for the courtside reporting? /catty remarks

Brad Gilbert: Is still a fish out of water. He got tripped up a few times. Being verbose is not a good quality for a commentator. Say it succinctly, Brad! Get the memo.

Cliff Drysdale: Love.

JuanitaSmi, I sometimes wonder whether Cliff Drysdale isn't a little vacuous, and that marvelous, incredibly classy accent masks it. What do you think? You've obviously been watching the ESPN coverage a lot more closely over the years than I have.

Ugh, those big servers are just the worst. The Johansson-Agassi match was unwatchable IMHO. No rhythm, no nothin'.

I stayed up to watch the Joachim (I love that name)-Andre match up until the third set. But it's true. It was unwatchable. His serve is too much and there was absolutely no rhythm to the match. I like him though, because of his go for broke attitude. But when he's serving like that? Not so much.

I thought Joachim was exposing Andre's weaknesses- I didn't think he was moving particularly well, and seemed flat footed at times. He's going to need to improve that to beat Roger. That's going to be a good one.

I totally agree. The US ESPN shows her matches because people see Sharapova as Kournikova's successor. PofA marketing strategy.



Yeah, you have a point, but there are other legitimate threats to win the Aussie Open, like Coria and he never has his matches shown on the US ESPN, AFAIK.

The thing that annoys me with the coverage in the women's matches is that they have shown ALL of Sharapova's matches- and yet they have not shown any of Amelie Mauresmo's matches. (I will finally get to see her when she plays Serena). She is also a legitamate threat to win the Aussie Open. I have wanted to see Alicia Molik play and I will finally get the chance to because she's playing Venus.




So true! They haven't shown Coria (whom I love), have only shown a smidge of Nalbandian and have barely shown any of Marat Safin. Why are they not showing Safin? He is a legitamate threat, a fan favorite, always entertaining, good looking, and very, very witty in English. WTF?

I know they will show Roddick's match tonight because it is live and the first one scheduled. But oh- how I would love it if they would show the Hewitt-Nadal match- that should be so entertaining! And a way to get new fans more interested. And the Coria-Nalbandian match- a battle between two of my favorites. It would be nice if they would show some of these matches on Monday. Venus Williams/Alicia Molik is schedueled (which I am interested in as well). But what do you want to bet that if the match does not take the full 3 hour time block they will once again show the Roddick match that they are showing tonight.

I am still angry and feeling burned about how ESPN promised to show the Hewitt/Chela match but then just repeated a crappy Roddick match.

The guys on ESPN yesterday were saying that it would be Roger's last day match that the second week of men's matches would all be night matches. That means we folks in the states won't be seeing a lot of men's tennis live, right?

My opinion is that Drysdale rarely has anything really astute to say about any of the players or the game, but then he rarely says anything idiotic. I'll take the latter over the zealous announcing style that others use that usually results in asinine, tripping, trippy commentary.

Sad to say, I think that's true. Though I have to say, I'd love to have the opportunity.... Maybe to get up at 4 in the morning, much like for Wimbledon.

I'm trying hard to stay up now just to "watch" Coria-Nalbandian unfold online.... Thank heavens for that real-time scoreboard!

They are playing the Nadal/Hewitt match right now on the radio feed on the Aussie Open website. It's like old timey tennis fun. It is sad what I will do to find coverage of good tennis matches since ESPN is returning to its ways of suck.

And it's a really, really good match so far- why is ESPN not showing this live? Aaargh!

Well, the match will be on AOradio live at 3:30 a.m. EST for those crazy enough to stay up.

Andre looks so lean... it's working for me! Woo hoo!

I know this discussion should be over but I wanted to comment on this. Tennis fans know it is bad form to cheer for an error--tennis players doing it? Inexcusable, unsportsmanlike behavior right there. And I haven't heard about so much dislike for a player in the locker room since Jeff Tarango. Kim made a bigger difference than I ever realized--Hewitt is taking on Krajicek-proportion dislike from me.

The commentators: Maybe because I'm avoiding the Roddick matches but some of the blush seems to have come off the rose for PMac. I'm sure he is waxing poetic during the Roddick matches, but he isn't going on about him during the other matches I've watched (maybe I'm blocking it out) so yeah. LOVE Dick Enberg. He is just old-school sports to me and he can mention another sport without it sounding bizarre. . . unlike Gilbert. Brad only knows how to speak in sports (and not tennis) metaphors and they don't always fit so well (understatement). Pam dropped an incredible number of points to me by saying that the Chela/Hewitt incident(s) were "great" and "[kept] things interesting." UGH UGH UGH to that. If I liked that crap I'd like the Eagles and TO, or the Vikings and Randy Moss, or the Ravens and Ray Lewis (or be able to stomach my own Giants and Shockey) and so on and so on (oops, now I'm relating tennis to another sport).

I haven't watched any of the women's matches yet but I'm sure Mary Carillo is still doing well and I love Cliff Drysdale. I just do.

As for ESPN2--they must love the Australian Open because they are free to be all noble about staying with a match (as long as an American is involved) since we are talking about pre-empting whatever they put on at 2-3am. Not too hard, that. I was actually happy about them re-running the Agassi v. Johansson match because 1) I did like that match. I hate big servers but I liked Agassi still adjusting during a match. Also, when Johansson realizes that he would be a brilliant serve and volleyer he is going to be real fun. 2) ESPN2 did not pre-empt tennis to re-show it. Of course, that was because the night coverage was starting with Roddick. HOWEVER, not showing Safin v. Rochus was wrong on so many levels. Rochus is easily one of the most entertaining players on the tour and it was an awfully tight match.


I think he looks a little frail. What is really funny to me about the weight loss is that after years of his tennis shirts fitting really well we are now back to them hanging off of him (check out the shoulder seam when he plays). I guess Nike hasn't sent over the smaller size yet.

I stayed up to the wee hours of the morning listening to the Hewitt-Nadal match on AO radio and - wow- fantastic match.

ESPN 2 had better show some of that. It was really exciting tennis.

And as for the Coria-Nalbandian match - I'm sure there is no way in Hades they will show that match. But if pigs do start becoming airborne congrats to David- heard he was playing fantasticaly, with great returns and orchestrated points, in the last 2 sets. Hope that Coria is not injured again...sigh.

re: Brad speaking exclusively in sports euphemisms
Did anyone catch Phil Jackson in the booth with Chris Fowler and Brad Gilbert? Did anyone else see Brad drooling over being next to Phil Jackson? Just checking.

Edited because I actually can spell "euphemisms".

Juanitasmi, hee. Yes I saw Brad Gilbert about to faint being near Phil Jackson. What I thought was even more awesome was that Phil and Brad were bonding about coaching and Chris Fowler clearly felt a little left out. Plus, Fowler pissed off Phil with asking him about the Knicks job, and since I hate Chris Fowler I love to see him squirm.

I can also tell that Brad and Christ might just hate each other a little. When they were discussing Federer saying re Agassi "well I'm number one, so I guess he should raise his game, not me" Fowler was all pissy about it and Brad (rightly so) was like "well...yeah. He is number 1." I love Brad Gilbert.

And right there: why I love Roger Federer. He's beaten Andre their last four meetings and the US press still insists that Roger is the one who needs to adjust. But Roger is so confident and loves playing so much that when asked if he would rather play Andre or Johansson (and Roger really is un-aceable right now) he picks Andre because (paraphrased) "playing Andre is always interesting." It's fascinating, I listen to certain players, like Roger and Andre, and as much as they want to hold up that trophy they are so into the process of getting there--they want the thrilling matches in the second week where they need to think on their feet. I love that. I think I'm a little wired for that match. I might just wake up on my own to listen to it live.

Heh. I laughed at this, because I bet this also would be true! As well as your intended sentiment! Though I MUST say, I in no way mean to equate CF with some people's messiah....

It's heartening to hear you all staying up to catch the radio tennis! I'm going to try that.... I have a harder time these days (4 months pregnant!), but I really love the matches live. There's something terribly wrong for me watching matches taped. (Granted, mostly it's because I have no stamina and can't keep myself from finding out the results before I even leave home. I know.)

But what if we were to send some kind of group petition to ESPN2 to show these matches during the middle of the night? I kid you not, I would come home from work, go straight to bed, and get up at whatever time just to watch them. If they want to show selected matches later on in the afternoon, then more power to them, but I want to be able to catch it live. This would also free them up to show some of the matches they don't want to show closer to prime-time for fear of lack of viewership. I.e., if they want to show Roddick's matches for the masses, then why not leave us tennis junkies the opportunity to catch the Coria and Nadal matches. I really don't think it's too much to ask.



I think you are right, LT. Though I do have to admit I never picked up too much on it to begin with and never minded him too much. *ducks* But I'm appreciating even more his kind of passion for the sport and for people's attention to different details, and I think Cliffy and Dick both bring out great things in him. And I have to admit I like his deference to both of them as his elders, and as people he respects.

And Cliffy just has me. I don't know why. Maybe I'm a sucker for the accent, but I love the old-school affinity he has for good tennis.

Dick Enberg makes me think of all my formative years when my mom would wake me up at the crack of dawn for Wimbledon matches. We'd watch in the dark and Dick's soothing voice and excitement for the event feels like part of those treasured memories. Glad to have him for this event.

So, c'mon, ESPN. You've got your people at work for you. And we can all tune out what we want when they go to the desk and start making mountains out of molehills (looking at YOU, CF.). Just put aside those craptastic fishing shows and the gazillion hours of Sports Center, and give us the live tennis!

Edited to apologize for length....

Wertheim's mid-Slam gradesare in and he gives ESPN a B. No, I'm not lying:

And Wertheim even chimes in on the Dick Enberg love.

Anyone other than me annoyed that the new cnnsi.com splash page removes the tab for TENNIS? Now we're at least two clicks from the tennis news. It bugs me that even a sports site like Sports Illustrated minimizes the game.

LT: Roger said playing Andre "is always special."
Roger, you are a class act!

Speaking of our favorite ex-pro commentator, PMac owns up to his own biases in his picks column on ESPN.com.

You guys know I love my guy. But also, this is true.

re: Cliffy
I'm with the others here who can't nail it down but just love Cliff Drysdale. Yes, the voice is great but he's also, much like Roger, a class act. You don't hear him going on and on about the controversies that the other commentators drone on about. And he respects the game. I remember his outrage over the bad call that Serena got at the French (? how can I have forgotten which Slam it was already?) last year. But like the best, he knows the history.

And here I was muting the TV every time Brad came on. I have to give him props for saying that. I've never minded Chris Fowler that much, but I agree that he likes to stir up things unnecessarily. And as far as what Roger said, I think that people asking him if he has to raise his game to beat Agassi must be firing him up. I mean, Roger's beaten Andre the last four times they've played, and in three of those meetings he hasn't played his best. So really, Andre's the one that has to come up with the goods. I'm pretty sure he's capable of doing so, but he still has to do it.

I'm so glad I don't have to give press conferences every other day, because I know I would come across to some people as a hot headed arrogant bitch.

I'm chiming in on the Cliff love. I've always liked him, and I don't know why. I guess I'm also a sucker for class (and the accent).

IIRC, Serena got a series of horrible calls at the US Open against Capriati. I don't recall the French, though. I do now she played horribly then.

Gilbert has been getting a lot better as the AO has progressed. Although he can still annoy me, he also can bring up very valid points and is pretty good at seeing through bs. He is also less awkward than he was the first couple of days.

And please don't ban me from the board for saying this, but as Brad Gilbert gets less annoying, he kinda gets better looking.

I will also like to chime in on the Cliff and Dick love. I also really like Mary Carillo, although she can sometimes annoy. I loved how she called Gaudio a "chowderhead" during the Master's Cup- hee!

I wish they used Mary Joe Fernandez more.

Oops Sorry- I'd be happy to sign any petition you create.

Can't believe JW gave ESPN a B. Up through Thursday- yes, after that, no way.

I think Mary Jo might be taking some time off this year. I believe she was pregnant with twins last year.

I respect/like Brad Gilbert more as a coach. Having him in the booth full time is beginning to wear on me.

I noticed during the Baghdadis-Federer match, Cliff was having trouble comprehending that it is in fact 2005 instead of 2004, saying "last year" many times in reference to 2003 - only to have Patrick McEnroe correct him.

Don't worry Cliffy, by the end of the tournament, you'll get it right.

I think Brad really wants to irritate Chris F. intentionally....

Also, Brad's knowledge and respect of the women's game has to be almost nil...

(paraphrasing)
C: So will win: Venus or Alicia?

B: Have to go with America all the way.

Ugh.

Hey Brad, it ain't the Fed Cup buddy.

I will be spoiled before I watch the quarterfinal between Federer and Agassi (business trip tomorrow, don't want to be distracted wondering, etc. etc.) but I realized that even if I didn't listen on the radio in the wee hours, and even if I wasn't spoiled, I would still know who won since ESPN will cut the match to fit the time alloted. You can always tell as the final half hour starts in. And Castallack, you must be biting your nails by now. Poor Nalbandian--any other location and people would be actively rooting against Hewitt. Too bad David is getting him in Australia.

And, hey look! Max is in the quarters in doubles. I'm hoping for a Mirnyi/Bjorkman v. Blake/Fish semis. That would be brilliant. And then a Mirnyi/Bjorkman v. Bhupathi/Woodbridge final because, you know, tension amongst the ex's.

Eeeek! Omigod! (other teenybopper sounds). Looks like ESPN2 has decided to show the Federer-Agassi match live tonight at 3:30 a.m. Sleep- who needs that. And I saw this afternoon that they decided to show around 3 hours of the Hewitt/Nadal match. Yipee!

TSN also has that 3.30am start time for their pickup of ESPN2 coverage. I was thinking of just following it on the net, but now - I can stay up all night while actually watching it, not just listening to it. Although TSN isn't showing coverage of the Williams/Mauresmo match early in the day...Oh no we Canadians need to watch our wrestling.

No WAY! Wow! I'm going to start whining every time I want to watch something! I was just on espn.com trying to figure out how to get quickest access to programming, and coming up totally empty!

WooHoo! You guys going to be around? I'm off to bed right now! Ooh, but Amelie is finally on.... This is the kind of stress I enjoy at majors, ESPN: too MUCH tennis!

P.S. What's the ex- story with the doubles, LT?

Too funny. I never thought of it that way!

I love this board. We are so crazy.

OopsSorry: It refers to the fact that Todd Woodbridge and Jonas Bjorkman are former doubles partners. And Mmmmmmax Mirnyi and Mahesh Bhupathi are former partners.

We so crazy.

I cannot believe that I turned the computer on at 9 p.m. and saw that Agassi/Federer would be live. And I have a meeting in the morning. *sigh* Oh well, I'll set the alarm for 4 or maybe 4:30 a.m. and see the end of it.

Ahhh, thanks. I was trying to process their romantic partners and making it way too complicated, imagining who was going to be in the stands....



And me not so bright. Heh.

Since we've been talking about class acts, I thought I'd include this from my Henman newsletter that came in today. He's just so decent.



Love. Him.

You know me so well, LT. Because I decided to watch the taped Hewitt/Nadal match this afternoon (stupid "skipping ahead for time constraints" grumble grumble), I avoided all tennis news and so didn't find out about Nalbandian till late afternoon. I didn't have the draw in my head very clearly and so next went to check his next opponant. Oh no, Hewitt! Yikes! At least I'll finally get to see the Nalbandi-man in a full match on TV. But who did Roddick sleep with to get the draw of the century? Holy Jebus.

OK, now how am I going to watch Agassi-Federer and still function at work? Come on, snow day!

Re: Brad Gilbert, I find him colorful, but he really has to learn to face the correct camera. And a couple of times Chris and Pam have been speaking to each other and he's off looking in the other direction. Um, Brad? You're supposed to pay attention...

Also, I see the Bryan brothers are playing Blake and Fish in doubles today. I'd love to see at least some of that match.

Although I am so happy they are showing the Fed/Agassi match live I really have a bone to pick with ESPN in how they are ignoring Marat Safin.

After the Serena/Mauresmo match tonight they are showing the Sharapova/Kuznetsova match taped instead of showing the Safin/Hrbaty match live.

They have shown every second of Sharapova’s matches and they have not even spent 5 minutes on Safin. Yes- we get that Sharapova is a pretty, leggy blonde who can play really good tennis. She is seeded #4 at the AU. Safin is also seeded #4, and although he’s not a leggy blonde, he is a very handsome fellow with a hilarious sense of humor and awesome natural talent. He has personality plus and it seems that ESPN would want that. Show the S/K match later and let us watch a wee little bit of Marat please.

Did you notice that after the post match interview with Serena, that they gave away that Mary Jo gave away the winner of the Sharapova-Kuznetsova match? They could've given some warning or something.



This really is pretty ridiculous. Safin one of the most entertaining guys out there and it is like he isn't even there. I really would have liked to see his match with Rochus. They completely ignored Mauresmo and have only shown one of Lindsay's complete matches, and they are the top two seeds. They showed all of Venus' matches and she clearly was not a threat to win this. I do give ESPN credit for showing the Agassi-Federer match although I can't see myself giving up my sleep for the night to watch it. Damn job!

Word- I can not believe how much they have neglected Safin. Doesn't make any sense.

I am glad that Rafael Nadal has some US screen time on ESPN. I was really impressed with Nadal in the Round of 16 even though he lost to Hewitt (glad that ESPN showed some of that match). He has a lot of mental poise and good skills for an 18 year old. And I like his little fist pumps. He was cracking my up with how emotive he was during the Davis Cup, and he was really cute with how happy he was with his second round win at the Aus Open this year. He has some really good shot making ability, and as the other skills in his game solidify as he matures, I could really see him being a top 3 player. He is just fun to watch and I'm glad that he will be around for a good long while.

And even though he is kinda ugly, I actually find him hot (I'm 17 so it's no cradle robbing or anything). Plus- his interviews in broken English are quite adorable. One of about every three of his sentances are "blah, blah, blah, no?" Such as:



So very cute. Great- like a need to have yet another tennis crush.