nadal (via peter bodo's blog post, the oxymoron: nadal v. connors, 1/17/07)...
these are boon times for tennis fans. not only has the quality of the tennis at the "happy slam" been spectacular (on the men's side alone, baghdatis d. safin; hewitt d. baghdatis; federer d. tipsarevic, tsonga d. gasquet), we've actually had an opportunity to see the matches LIVE.
espn/espn2's been offering three windows for live viewing--during the first week, there was morning, prime time and overnight coverage--plus "encores" of select match-ups in the afternoons.
the programming was smart to boot: in previous years, programmers seemed to forsake quality match-ups for "americans only" broadcasts (agassi, roddick, blake, the williams sisters) or alternately, the "sharapova show," with repeats of those same matches played ad nauseam--and i do mean nauseam--until the final rounds of the tourney.
this year espn finally lived up to the "worldwide" part of it's moniker. it seems the only programming blip so far was a decision to show the williams sisters' playing early round doubles, instead of showing nalbandian--considered a serious threat coming into the open--who was locked in more contentious singles match.
not that we have been--or should be--denied the opportunity to see roddick, blake, serena and venus williams, and maria sharapova, or federer or henin or nadal, for that matter, but with the expanded live coverage on espn (and more live and taped programming on tennis channel), viewers have been able to witness the depth and quality on both the men's and women's sides, from tour veterans and up and coming players from all over the world, which is a real treat for tennis fans, and which may actually help dedicate new ones.
and let's acknowledge the yeoman work of chris fowler and the team of commentators-- cliff drysdale (a favorite), mary carillo, mary joe fernandez, patrick mcenroe, darren cahill (love him, too), martina navratilova, justin gimelstob, bud collins, among others. "cliffy" and mary jo remarked that fowler had been on air for something on the order of 17 hours and 35 minutes. that's a lot of rallying, replays and in-studio banter to have to deal with. say what you will about the commentators' style and some of the things that escape their lips--which bloggers and their enthusiastic readers (like me) have lauded or criticized without reservation--but they've helped deliver some great tennis moments. we can't take their role in this for granted. as wise man/writer-editor-blogger extraordinaire, steve tignor reminds us, there were times when live coverage of the australian open didn't exist, except in our dreams...
if you don't get espn or tennis channel, or you just can't get enough-- even with the unprecedented tv coverage--check out steve tignor's "concrete elbow" blogs, which live on the tennis.com and espn sites, and peter bodo's tennis world blog. the "action" is just as lively! i will devote another whole post to tignor's stuff, as basically anything he writes becomes one of my personal must-reads. but i owe a particular debt to bodo for his intriguing analysis of nadal v. connors this week, and the unbelieveable photo of nadal (above).
dreamy, indeed.
