Final Observations at The Sony Ericsson

Watching some of the three set physical battles of Nadal, Tsonga, Ferrer, Djokovic this week, the idea sparked: Maybe the ATP should consider to drop slams from best of five to best of three during the first week of action or first four rounds. Maybe even entirely. It’s scary how much physicality is required by the players to win matches now, the points are marathons in themselves sometimes. And by doing so, maybe it would allow super titans like Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Ferrer, or the future wave of stars, to last a year or two or three longer in this sport.

Five setters are always special, exciting theater but in this day and age of shorter attention spans and other competing sporting attractions, if the ITF, ATP and players council suddenly were to announce an end to the three out of five format, I would understand.

Leander Paes awed me this week, I watched two of his matches with Stepanek. He is a commander on the court and like Gans said, a vivacious personality, how many of those have we ever had in tennis? And he’s a winning machine. He’s won seven Slam doubles titles and 11 Masters Series since turning pro back in 1991. But looking at his results, he’s never won a Slam or Masters title with Nestor, Mirnyi or Knowles. Some of Paes winning partners have been Bhupathi, Zimonjic, Black, Dlouhy, Damm, Rikl, Stepanek, Navratilova, Melzer.

I really loved the music they played in the stadium before and during matches, they played this one cool new song which has the lyrics “I got a feeling” every day and it never became annoying. Props to the music man DJ inside the stadium.

ESPN’s tennis coverage is simply fantastic. I really enjoy all of them for different reasons. Some people criticize Chris Fowler because he’s not really a tennis guy but he knows enough about the game, has a clear love and enthusiasm for the sport and an ability to draw the best out of his boothmates. He’s funny and sharp and has a smooth sports commentator voice. Howard Cosell was not an actual born and bred boxing, football, baseball guy, he was a former lawyer, but Cosell made any sporting event he commentated about better just by his supreme broadcasting talents. When I see Fowler and hear him, I feel the same way and am delighted that he is covering our sport.

I like Mary Joe too. She is a solid professional, has a nice clear voice and she broadcasts similar to her WTA playing style, not overly flashy just basic, simple, technically solid, she never says anything unfair or against anyone.

Brad Gilbert is a legend in the sport, for his career as an overachieving player, coach of Agassi, Murray and Roddick, and also as the author of one of the best tennis books ever published, “Winning Ugly.” His insights and match observations are always welcome and never dull or pointing out of the obvious. I like how he works the crowd too, interviewing stars like Dirk Nowitzki and coaches of players. I’d also like to see the wives or girl/boyfriends interviewed too, like Kim Sears or Jelena Ristic. Those two get more face time on TV then some of the top 100 players. I’d like to hear what they think of tennis, what goes through their minds.

Patrick McEnroe and Cliff Drysdale are also legends from different eras, both very intelligent, funny, know the sport and players inside out. They are the best of the best at what they do. The commentators make sports even better than what they are, and they can also hurt the event and sometimes make you want to turn it off. But in tennis I never feel that way, ESPN’s team know and respect the sport and players and serve it brilliantly and entertainingly.

ESPN’s coverage of tennis is just superb, balanced, lively, when the telecast starts, a comfortable, delighted, thrilling feeling sets in. We know were going to see a world class tennis match and the TV broadcast is going to suitably cover the action. There’s no complaints, I can’t think of any area to criticize. Well done to ESPN. Can’t always say the same about network coverage of other sports though. Perhaps tennis and the one on one aspect, is the easiest, most interesting and funnest sport for a commentator to work for.

Key Biscayne might be the nicest place to visit or live in America. It’s an oasis away from the rest of the country in a way. You exit Miami and get on the Rickenbacker Causeway (toll $1.50) and take the highway about six miles to a paradise, the climate this time of year is just perfect. There are thousands of residences too on the key, a mix of high and low rise apartments, upper middle class and also luxury, spectacular homes. Cycling seems the most popular sport, you can pedal over to South Beach in less than two hours, through Brickell, past American Airlines Arena, and the 395 Causeway.

Like the U.S. Open, the Sony Ericsson is almost like two different tournaments. The first week, especially the first weekend is very well attended and there are lots of matches all over the grounds. The lines to sit inside the courts can be long during the weekend, but things change when Monday of the second week starts. Also, it’s neat to see the players and famous tennis figures strolling around the grounds, I saw Gisela take photos and talk with fans, as well as other friendly players like Isner, Dolgopolov, Almagro.

The media center workplace is well run. The staff helps you whenever you need it and they are very nice about it. I had trouble connecting to the internet my first day but they got it fixed in minutes. Any time you need an interview or something, the ATP, WTA and event staffs help you as best they can and are all delightfully nice about it. There are some super nice people in the media too who are fun to be around every day. Harvey Fialkov of the Sun Sentinel is a high energy character and will make you laugh at least once a day. Reporters come here from around the world – France, Japan, South America, Serbia, Germany. The media center is connected to a box area in the stadium, so you are always just a few steps away from seeing what is going on live in the court. The only example of even a remote controversy I heard all week relating to the media was a reporter claimed another reporter turned off his recorder while taping a player’s press conference. She denied the charge.

Bud Collins was not in attendance this year at the Sony Ericsson and we all hope his health is okay. Bud has not appeared at a tennis event since leaving the U.S. Open last year after a fall. Bud’s presence in row two of the media center was missed.

If I can make one minor suggestion to make the event just a tiny bit better, maybe it’s about The Daily, the four page draw sheet and schedule which is distributed free to fans each day. The Daily has a different player photo each day on the cover and all four draw sheets but I think a player Biofile would be an excellent addition and the fans would really enjoy it, while also making The Daily perhaps a collectible keepsake.

I really enjoyed the player interviews by the scoreboard in front of the stadium by the food court area. Many fans did too, Venus and Nick Bollettieri participated and Nick B even mentioned by Rios book and gave it a thumbs up too. I gave Nick a copy earlier in the day.

By the way, Steve, you win the Marcelo Rios book, I spotted 35 RF cap wearing fans on the trek from the media center inside the stadium, to the grandstand. Also, for those keeping score, on that walk I also counted three Rafa bull caps, and one each Yankee and Red Sox caps.

No tags

53 comments

<< Corrado Barazzutti Biofile

Radek Stepanek Biofile >>