The best thing about the Tennis Channel is hearing Martina Navratilova’s understated but totally forthright commentary about the game. It’s a very British approach to tennis analysis, where things are stated matter-of-factly and no one rushes to fill the dead air with blather about personal lives and random facts. (A cardinal rule for witnesses is never to start talking just because no one else is. I had to remind a deponent of that rule today, when she was filling dead air with every thought that filled her head. Silence, it’s golden.)
I also like the way Martina conveys information to the hardcore tennis viewers with an eyebrow or quick retort. Here’s an example. During Bill Macatee’s interview with Robin Soderling, Martina asked Robin if his expectations are different now because he made it to the French final. His answer was no… Her retort was, “they aren’t?” *raises eyebrow at camera*
That was a signal to all of us that he gave the WRONG answer. If you want to succeed in tennis, really succeed by staying in the top ten and contending for these tournaments, you have to push yourself. You have to want pressure. She later correctly observed that Andy Roddick had been working his tail off for a long time and that he wants it, he believes he should have those moments. That has always been my defense of Roddick. That’s why he’s been in the top ten for ten years.
Her follow up to Soderling was basically to tell him he should be in the top ten permanently, so he should hold himself to a higher standard. That’s the kind of interviewing I want. This is the Tennis Channel – it’s for hardcore fans, we have no need or interest in boring interviews where the players get clichéd questions like “how do you feel about a potential quarterfinal match-up with Roger Federer?”
Talentless Hack Still Has a Job
Contrast Martina with resident misogynist Justin Gimelstob, who makes me want to turn off the Tennis Channel in protest every time I see him. Martina had some choice words for Gimel-dick last year when he went on his hateful rant about physically attacking Kournikova. (I won’t repeat what he said but you can google it) Let’s just assume the network keeps him separated from several women players, including from Serena, who rushed to Anna’s defense.
Maybe I’d have kinder words for him if he said anything worth hearing (you’re right: no I wouldn’t)… but he’s the opposite of insightful. He does his best Bill Macatee bland imitation and then serves up clichés like the players all talking about Nadal withdrawing. Wow. And he gets paid to come up with “insider info” like that.
McEnroe and Robinson Need a Divorce
While we’re on the subject, I like John McEnroe as much as the next person, but hearing him and Ted Robinson reunited on the Tennis Channel fills me with dread. John can be the best commentator, but his partnership with Robinson is stale. Robinson recites the same personal anecdotes about the same players and then prompts McEnroe with one of two things: 1) a comparison to John’s era, which gives John the opportunity to crack on today’s game. 2) An observation about a player that is always true and has nothing to do with the match they are supposed to be analyzing. Like, “how important is Roddick’s serve, John?” Gee, way to waste a great tennis brain! Over the weekend my 10 year old cousin Dylan informed me that Roddick had the fastest serve in tennis and he even knew the mph, thanks to that Geico commercial. What we really need to know is that effective serving is not just about speed, it involves placement and spin, and the proper questions are whether Roddick is using it effectively against his opponent; if not, why not. And where should he serve it to maximize his game on grass. The reason the American sports media is so ignorant about tennis is because their info sources are too rudimentary. The Robinson approach is rather like asking John Madden, “hey, how important is it for Tom Brady to throw touchdowns in the sport of football?” We learn nothing from such a question.
Or to extend the analogy, it’s like asking Joh Madden, “say, when you were coaching John, the players were tough. They took steriods, drank the night before games and had no teeth, right? Isn’t Tom Brady boring in comparison?” The worst part of all this is that McEnroe actually doesn’t hate this era compared to his own. He thinks it’s in a lot of ways even better, but that ego… he wants you to want him, needs you to need him…
Anyway the remedy is of course to put three people in the booth (unless we get to fire Ted, which won’t happen). Mac doesn’t like the spotlight, but he’s better when he’s playing off Carillo or Jim Courier at CBS.
And please, please find a way to get him in the studio more often where he can share airtime with Martina. They’ve had random little issues with each other through the years, which unfortunately prevented the double-lefty doubles GOATS from playing mixed together. But their games were similar, both are not shy about their opinions and they’ve been compelling the few times we’ve seen them on air together. Let’s convene a roundtable discussion to talk about serve and volley tennis and its death and Wimbledon’s horrible decision to hasten it by slowing down the lawns…
Passing Shots 
po-david
June 23, 2009
misogynist……hehe