The Tennis Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

Why did the jumbo-tron immediately pan to Cilic's girlfriend after he was presented with the Champion's check for $3 million? I know she was probably gleeful at his winning the title but that gleeful expression could be interpreted as quite something else. All that was missing was the 'Ka-ching' cash register sound effects!

[Soapsuds]

wow they paid a lot of money to get the Open....CBS was paying only 20 million to carry it....

[ChitHappens]

John Ourand ‏@Ourand_SBJ 21m

CBS's US Open Men’s Championship drew a 1.9 overnight, down 32% from last year’s 2.8.

Women got a 4.0, more than double. RT @Ourand_SBJ: CBS's US Open Men’s Championship drew a 1.9 overnight, down 32% from last year’s 2.8.

[ChitHappens]

All matches will be aired? That is a huge plus. Tennis Channel can't be happy about that.

[DramatistDreamer]

And I present that to all the misogynists who squawk at equal prize money. Sometimes entertainment is not about punching a time clock. The Gentleman's Championship at Wimbledon was far more entertaining tha the Ladies Championship but that's the beauty of equal prize money--it is often a trade off. I just wish someone would slam the door on this argument where the sexists are concerned.

Anywho,

I don't know about ESPN, they can be really petty. I don't subscribe to cable so I watch on their WATCH ESPN site because my ISP participates in ESPN3 but I am often frustrated by the piss poor quality of their stream and the blackouts of their matches. I watched most of the U.S. Open on usopen.org. I saw the semifinals and finals on CBSsports.com and the streaming was far superior.

I am kind of lamenting the idea that tennis will only be on paid networks. No longer can people from all walks of life tune in to CBS, NBC, ABC or even PBS to watch. I guess Tennis has given up trying to appeal to the masses and has accepted its niche designation.

[ChitHappens]

Last year, the USO Women's Championship was 5+, the men's, the following day, WITH Nadal and Djoker, was 1/2 that. Could have been a Monday thing but Serena always does better than her male counterparts in attracting viewers.

[Soapsuds]

I knew the men's final would tank....and Serena would be doing much better.

ESPN does a lousy job of covering the tennis matches and I agree the ESPN3 coverage is awful...the picture is so bad...I got better picture quality from us open.org.....But this is only for the US Open....ESPN needs to hire Mary Carillo back.....I just cant with some of the broadcasters...

ESPN and ESPN 2 will have matches on...I dont know how all matches will be covered....they havent been able to do that before...and with only 2 channels.....even with my direct tv I only get 6 matches to pick from plus two extra on ESPN 3 which suck cause of the picture quality.

[Soapsuds]

1

Novak Djokovic SRB 12290 - - - - - 2

Rafael Nadal ESP 8670 - - - - - 3

Roger Federer SUI 8030 - - - - - 4

Stan Wawrinka SUI 5625 - - - - - 5

David Ferrer ESP 4495 - - - - - 6

Tomas Berdych CZE 4240 - - - - - 7

Milos Raonic CAN 4225 - - - - - 8

Kei Nishikori JPN 3870 - - - - - 9

Marin Cilic CRO 3845 - - - - - 10

Grigor Dimitrov BUL 3710 - - - - - 11

Andy Murray GBR 3150 - - - - - 12

Jo Wilfried Tsonga FRA 3100 - - - - - 13

Ernests Gulbis LAT 2615 - - - - - 14

Juan Martin Del Potro ARG 2365 - - - - - 15

Roberto Bautista Agut ESP 1935 - - - - - 16

John Isner USA 1925 - - - - - 17

Fabio Fognini ITA 1870 - - - - - 18

Gael Monfils FRA 1845 - - - - - 19

Kevin Anderson RSA 1840 - - - - - 20

Feliciano Lopez ESP 1770 -

[~bl~]

I thought USOpen.org streamed really well and preferred their announcing to ESPN and CBS.

ESPN has at least 5 different television (non-online) channels: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, and ESPN Classic (which I have) and (a Spanish language one that I don't.) So they may have enough to options for next year. We'll see...

Edited September 10, 2014 by ~bl~

[Soapsuds]

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/09/10/serena-williams-parties-after-us-open-win-misses-tv-appearances/

[ChitHappens]

I wish Serena had shown up for the interviews as I wanted to see them, and I think she might have had it not been for her fashion show yesterday. Partying all night, interviews and fashion show?

[Soapsuds]

I am surprised no one has commented on this...just found a pic...

[ChitHappens]

That's quite the boner!

[ChitHappens]

Hello!

[London]

Li Na announces retirement. Very sad.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/sep/19/li-na-double-grand-slam-retire-knee-injury