T...wo significant withdrawals from Berlin this week: Maria Sharapova and Daniela Hantuchova. Sharapova also withdrew from this event last year. E...xcellent start: Kimiko Date, a former world No. 4 who is making a comeback at age 37, reached the finals of the Gifu $50k event in Japan. She lost the final to Tamarine Tanasigarn, but didn't go home empty handed after winning the doubles. Her partner? Sixteen-year-old Kurumi Nara, 21 years her junior. N...early forgotten after being absent from the WTA Tour for over a year, Anastasia Myskina made the news this week - she gave birth to her first child. N...umerous tennis collectibles will be up for auction during this week's Italian Open to help support Tennis for Africa, a non-profit organization aimed at helping the most poverty-stricken areas of the continent. New items will be posted each day. I...nternet gambling at Roland Garros will continue, after three major betting companies won a ruling against the French Tennis Federation in Brussels. S...cheduling of her mandated promotional shoot right before the start of the Italian Open created a stir on Sharapova's website, after she blasted the WTA Tour for their policies. W...imbledon's middle Sunday will continue to remain a day of rest, announced the All England Club. After a rain-plagued tournament last year, there was some question as to whether this tradition would continue going forward. O...ne hundred three wins, one loss: That's Rafael Nadal's record in his last 104 matches on clay, after winning Barcelona for the fourth consecutive year this past week. R...einstated at the beginning of this year, Sesil Karatancheva, who was handed a two-year ban for a positive steroids test in 2005, won her first WTA match in 29 months at the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem. She defeated Elena Baltacha 7-5, 6-2 in the first round, before falling in three sets to top seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues in her next match. L...leyton Hewitt will not be playing in Rome this week, and is also unsure of his status for Roland Garros. D...espite Nadal's credentials on clay, and his dominant record against Roger Federer on the surface, the Swiss number one took something away from his most recent loss at Monte Carlo: "I reckon this defeat proves again that yes, I do have the game to beat him. I could have played six or seven sets if I had to and it is really a shame that the final is only a best-of-three."
McGrogan's Heroes
ATP - Younes El Aynaoui
With apologies to Rafael Nadal and Fernando Gonzalez, each a champion this week, there's a saying that says to respect your elders. Younes El Aynaoui definitely fits into that category. In tennis years, the 36-year-old Moroccan isn't just a veteran - he's ancient. But that fact made his run to the semifinals of the BMW Open all the more memorable.
El Aynaoui, probably best known for his marathon quarterfinal loss at the 2003 Australian Open to Andy Roddick (6-4, 6-7, 6-4, 4-6, 19-21), has had little to celebrate since then. Hampered by injuries for most of the past five years, El Aynaoui had a seemingly unfathomable twelve-match losing that encompassed the entire 2004 season, and part of 2005.
In 2007, El Aynaoui played thirteen tournaments, mostlly Challengers and the majority of these outings was successful. He had a "home court" win in Marrakech (Morocco), reached the final in Napoli (Italy), and closed 2007 with two semifinal appearances at Graz (Austria) and Como (Italy).
This year, El Aynaoui's building on that record. He's now a stellar 15-2 so far in 2008. That includes a win at a Futures tournament (I don't know how a 36-year-old can qualify for a Futures tournament either), and a Challenger in Chiasso (Switzerland). But the most impressive victories of the year came this week in Munich.
El Aynaoui got by Alexandre Sidorenko in the opening round, and then started to turn heads by upending Steve Darcis - a title holder this year - in round two. The Moroccan then added to the recent misery of Juan Martin del Potro, beating a player nearly half his age in straight sets. The dream ended in the semis against the eventual champion Gonzalez, but not after taking the opening set (6-3, 4-6, 3-6). Munich '08 wasn't as compelling as Melbourne '03, but it may have been even more surprising.
WTA - Vera Zvonareva
In the finals of the ECM Prague Open, something had to give. Top seed Vera Zvonareva had reached the finals of a tournament three times this season, but had come home empty-handed each time. Her opponent, third-seed Victoria Azarenka, had reached three finals in her young career, but also had been denied the winner's hardware on each occasion. In the end, it was the Zvonareva who wanted it more, winning 7-6, 6-2 over her younger adversary. (Victoria will have more chances to snap out of her drought though - she's just 18.)
Surprisingly, Zvonareva had gone nearly two years without winning a title. Her results have been strong; she's been the the year-end Top 25 two years in a row. But she hasn't been able to put the final nail in the runner-up coffin. She lost to Eleni Daniilidou in the finals of Hobart, and beaten in the championship match at Doha by Maria Sharapova. Then there was Serena Williams in Charleston. Tough opponents? Yes. But that probably was cold comfort for Zvonareva.
The Tier IV ECM Prague Open may have been just the medicine that Zvonareva needed. She breezed by her competition without losing a set. A walkover in the second round made her life easier, but she beat the No. 4 seed Katarina Srebotnik in straight sets in the semifinals (6-2, 6-4), and did the same to Azarenka one match later.
Zvonareva isn't competing in this week's German Open, but watch for her in Rome.
Tennis Theatre
With technological advances, I think it's only a matter of time before fans can upload the Roddick/El Aynaoui 2003 Australian Open match in its entirety. For now, here's a smidgen of the fifth seat (very early on, before it gets crazy):
The U.S. Open is my favorite tournament of the year, but in my opinion, it's going to lose a little bit of its luster after this year. According to reports, USA Network, which has broadcast the tournament since 1984, will not be renewing their coverage rights in 2009. ESPN will instead become the primary home of the season's final Grand Slam.
Since I can remember following tennis, I have always found the U.S. Open broadcasts on USA network to be the most enjoyable to watch. Once late August rolled around, the network practically renamed itself from "USA Network" to "U.S. Open Network." USA provided comprehensive coverage from day to night, and I always thought that the network and the tournament really worked well with each other. There was something unique about USA’s coverage of the U.S. Open, and I didn’t sense this in other tournaments on more expansive sports channels. The U.S. Open was the USA network's jewel (it's one of the few sports that it covered, period), and they polished that precious stone each year. It was done so well that whenever I annually tuned into USA for tennis, it was like seeing a good old friend for the first time in a great while.
I watch almost all sports on television, and I find that tennis usually has the best announcers. Why? Because they let the play to the talking. Now to some degree, this is inherent with the way the sport works - silence is mandated during play - but most hockey, football, and baseball commentators usually lay it on too thick for my taste. Tennis is different, and USA provided a forum for some of my favorite announcers to work their craft.
The tandem of Ted Robinson and John McEnroe is reviled by some, but don't count me in that lot. I find their analysis to be timely, insightful, and most importantly, appropriate. Sure, they share some stories from yesteryear during a match. But some matches last in upwards of 4-5 hours - so cut them some slack. I also found Jim Courier's recent work in the booth to be quite enjoyable.
As for ESPN - I have mixed feelings about this. In general, they do a good job producing a Grand Slam event. They seem to have shifted away from the tape-delay-a-thon that wrecked older Australian Open coverage years ago, although that had a lot to do broadcast hours and time zones. The greater concern for me is quantative: will they cover enough tennis? ESPN promotes itself as the "Grand Slam Network," but it also touts similar titles for many other sports, nearly all of which have a greater viewing audience then tennis and events that can fit into smaller broadcasting packages.
ESPN has other networks to which it can hand off coverage of the U.S. Open on line with multiple or lengthy story lines. Since I obviously can't evaluate them now, I'll just say this - I'll believe it when I see it. Tennis is way down on the totem pole in terms of ESPN's holdings. It was number one for USA Network. Yes, the Blake/Agassi '05 classic ran late - but we saw the end on CBS (at least where I was). And I've seen plenty of other great ones that ran into the night. Roddick/Sampras in 2002 was great. So was Martin/Ginepri in 2003. USA did these quality matches justice with a quality broadcast.
In an age where television coverage has shifted from a luxury to a demand, let's hope - if these reports are true - that ESPN keeps a great tradition going.
if...
you find streaming coverage of a tournament that is of poor quality (keeps buffering, is choppy), do you tough it out and stick with it?
I was thinking about doing a careful analysis of Federer's last loss to Nadal when it occurred to me I have no idea how to do it. I analyzed a pair of my matches and found out two things that were very helpful to me, but I'm sure there's some kind of routine set of questions to look at. At my current level of ignorance, there are just too many questions and none of them are prioritized in my head.
Is there some handful of questions I can ask myself of a match, or in watching any match, that will quickly point me at the key points of failure and success?
Thanks!
Posted by Ali C
05/05/2008 @ 11:04 AM
Depends on a) who's playing and b) if there's another stream available.
But if I can't get through an entire point w/o losing the feed, I'll usually give it up.
I paid for the atpmastersseries.tv bargain, and will keep it indefinitely. And if I only watch those events plus the slams, that's the way it will be. I love that atpmastersseries.tv lets me tune in to the direct court feds and ice out the commentators, too. They're not bad, but I love to hear the shoes, refs, and strings doing their thing.
Posted by Sher
05/05/2008 @ 11:12 AM
>you find streaming coverage of a tournament that is of poor quality (keeps buffering, is choppy), do you tough it out and stick with it?
Is there another choice? Yes, if I have nothing else, and it's an exciting match.
you find streaming coverage of a tournament that is of poor quality (keeps buffering, is choppy), do you tough it out and stick with it?*******
I do, because I always like to see some shots rather than the scoreboard, but I will open another window, looking for other streamings like crazy. That's why nothing beats ATP master TV! great quality, sit back and watch. Also Rotterdam was great to offer free streaming.
Barcelona was awful. no streaming and the players' interviews were just a joke. two sentences taken from the whole interview and there is no way you could find the original transcript.
Hi Ed - I, too, am worried about the fate of the US Open coverage. I hope that we are not left with 2-3 hours per day and maybe a 3 hour block of night matches, as opposed to the all day marathons from USA. I thought they generally did the US Open pretty well, at least with respect to offering a ton of live coverage and not just replaying the same matches on tape delay.
As for the streaming, I would stick with it if it was a player that I really cared about and that was the only possibility of watching the match. I find that with bad streaming the audio is usually still decent but the video can fail. I listen/watch matches while I am trying to do some other things at work sometimes.
Posted by wunderkind
05/05/2008 @ 11:32 AM
About the streaming coverage, I wouldn't stick with a lousy stream, but it's more for financial reasons. My ISP charges me if I exceed a certain monthly bandwidth limit, and a stream that's continually buffering is continually downloading large amounts of data, but not quickly enough for anything to actually be seen. By sticking with that, I fritter away precious bandwidth for nothing.
That said, my tolerance of stop-start streams varies considerably depending on who's playing and how the match is going.
Posted by TennisEsq
05/05/2008 @ 11:44 AM
I agree about US Open coverage on the USA Network. It certainly was comprehensive, but most of all reliable. Although many may disagree, I actually like Michael Barkan. In my eyes, the best part about the US Open's move to ESPN is that we get coverage of all 4 grand slams on one network. While a tennis nut like me will search hours and hours for tennis on television, a casual fan may not go to such lengths. Having it all in one place may increase viewership. I just hope we get to see all around coverage of matches, not just Shrieky and Roddick. Sad to see the US Open leave USA Network though.
Posted by TennisEsq
05/05/2008 @ 11:55 AM
My answer to If question . . . Hail to the No!
I take live scoring and matching calling by Master Ace and/or Whitney over poor quality streaming any day. Even if my fave Venus is playing.
Thanks Pete for this article about El Aynaoui, I think that when he's fit, he can beat probably beat anyone on one day, he has such a wonderful forehand, one of the best in the ATP tour.
Posted by Sherlock
05/05/2008 @ 12:37 PM
Great stuff, Ed.
I, too, am sad at the loss of USA coverage. As Ed said, it was a BIG DEAL to them, something that certainly doesn't always come across from ESPN. They treated our sport with great respect, and since it was such a priority event for their network, they would often stay with late matches no matter how long they went. Connors-Pmac, anyone?
I always loved the Robinson-JMac combo, with the wonderful Vitus thrown in when he was still with us. I was always kind of bummed when CBS would take over coverage on the weekends, since I felt that USA always did a much better job.
Ah, well. I guess all good things must come to an end. Pity.
Posted by Raj
05/05/2008 @ 12:41 PM
Ed, great post on the TV switch to ESPN. Quick question though, I don't remember the Sampras/Roddick in '02 as being a particularly great match, even if it ran late into the night.. Sampras smoked Roddick in 3 sets if I remember.
Posted by KP
05/05/2008 @ 12:49 PM
I'm not sure that USA chose not to renew, but that they were outbid by ESPN. ESPN has been talking about getting the USO for a number of years.
I read an article that espn makes more $$ than any other cable channel, if they want an event, they can probably get it.
Also, anyone else sorta turned off by the sports ticker that runs on the bottom of the screen during espn's broadcasts?
add that to the list of reasons USA was great as well, no ticker.
Plus last year(& the year before) USA started this deal with DirectTV where they show coverage of like 3 or 4 courts simultaneously. With espn, I'm not sure this deal will still be in effect. But espn did offer extra coverage of other courts at Wimbledon online.
I'm also thinking of the timing of the USO - it interferes with espn's baseball coverage. Now I know they have 2 channels, but I've noticed that they show a lot of baseball on both channles in late August/early September. Let's hope there's not a close pennant race next year.
Of all the slams, I thought USA's coverage was the best. This really saddens me that they won't be doing it anymore. As someone said upthread, USA stuck with matches that didn't fit into neat halfhour blocks, showed us so much variety in players and great matches, and the CBS weekend coverage didn't hold a candle to them. Too bad.
Posted by Sherlock
05/05/2008 @ 12:53 PM
KP, good point about ESPN and the baseball coverage. Not to mention the beginning of football season. The USO will be ESPN2, at best.
Posted by KP
05/05/2008 @ 12:53 PM
as far as USA's extended coverage, I remember them being on the air continuously from 11 am to after midnight on this day in '97. this was the schedule, lots of long matches:
Yes I will stick to a very poor livestream - I don't know why since it only frustrates me. I did watch a tiny orange square for a Fed match in Estoril - and I know I was not the only one. ;)
The US Open on USA is one of my first tennis memories - I will be sad when it moves to ESPN.
Ed: Agree with the many posts lauding USA Network’s coverage of the US Open – I like it the best out of all the Slams. In addition, the quality of their HD broadcast last year the best among all the Slams (CBS was very good as well. With the swtich to ESPN, I expect the video quality to be good, but think the overall coverage will suffer.
Speaking of video feeds, the Barcelona one was so much better than the Monte Carlo one (i.e., it was actually watchable).
Answer to the if question - No. It's not worth watching to me.
"I take live scoring and matching calling by Master Ace and/or Whitney over poor quality streaming any day. "
Same here. They do a great job with the match calling.
Posted by ad
05/05/2008 @ 2:00 PM
I will watch streams until I go blind. I will watch streams with commentary in Spanish, Hungarian, and Arabic. I will get out of bed to watch streams. I am obsessive according to my family.
I did stop watching once when the sound of the ball being struck and the picture were not in sync. That was just too weird.
As far as USA network - I certainly will miss their coverage because my favorite type of coverage is many hours (so I can go out and come back and it's still on) and includes players from countries other than the US. I'm only a homer for Davis Cup.
KP,
Think Tennis Channel will be able to provide some USO coverage with ESPN2 since they are a team in covering Grand Slams. Will be interesting to see if TC decides to do multiple court coverage for Roland Garros this year.
Ed...me too. I have the same feelings as you. I am a teacher, and the USA/USO combo always harkened the start of school. I would watch hours of the USA coverage. And I like Ted and John very much. And like someone else said, CBS w/ there constant promos and packages always seemed like an intrusion. Like an unwanted guest at a party.
I like ESPN's coverage of AO and Wimbeldon. Of course they are helped with time of day. I love waking up in the summer to watch the rain, and the tents, and Chris Fowler trying to get us excited to watch Serena's match one more time. No seriously, I really like their coverage. And I think their coverage of AO is great. The Hewitt/Baggy match was a clasic. Gotta love a punch drunk PMac with Darrin Cahill.
I will not miss Michael Barkin, the guy's an idiot.
My if answer...
Last summer I had live scoring on 1 screen, with a live stream that was choppy and 4 games behind, with German commentary...to follow Rafa in his Stuggart semi final.
So yes...
Posted by CL
05/05/2008 @ 2:28 PM
Barfcan and Poodle have fans?!! Say it ain't so. Okay...PART of what makes Barfcan so objectionable...but only part...is not his fault. Those AWFUL interviews that he has to do with the USA starlet/beefcake du jour. About 90% of the time the poor dolt in question has no knowledge of tennis and less interest - and barely any knowledge of why they ARE there. And it shows. Besides which, they often keep on droning on while there is actual TENNIS being played. Unforgivable.
Poodle is marginally better when he is NOT paired with JMac...but WITh JMac, well,the word 'lickspittle' comes to mind.
I will say that after years of bailing out during exciting matches that ran a little too late for their commercial comfort, USA has recently been rock solid when it comes to providing real wall to wall coverage. I mean other than their blinkered focus on all and any Americans that is.
As far about the US Open going to ESPN, NBC Universal is rumored to be "on sale" after the Olympics so USA Net would not have renewed their US Open coverage anyway.
I'll miss USA Network's coverage. With ESPN taking over the coverage next year, I'm sure that we'll have fewer hours of tennis due to the beginning of College football season, football, eating contests, baseball and everything else. ;)
As for the question....
I do watch terrible live streams, I hate watching scoreboards. :)
Posted by Syd
05/05/2008 @ 2:48 PM
For my money, J-Mac is a great commentator; knows when to shut-up during play, and there's no one I would rather listen to when it comes to tennis. Unfortunately Robinson is usually also in the booth with J-Mac, and he's unbearable.
So, J-Mac won the Australian Outback, and beat Pete along the way. Not bad. Johnny said something like it was good to win again after a 2-year drought; his fans are 75-year-old women.
Posted by b
05/05/2008 @ 2:57 PM
Ahhh J-Mac, the sexbomb!
Anyone up for Gimelstob as a commentator for the US Open? >=)
Posted by SueB
05/05/2008 @ 2:57 PM
The live feeds are my salvation--at least when I'm a tennis spectator. I'll stick with them. Am hoping there will be lots more to chose from. Coverage from justin.tv and and live stream from Sanish television made Barcelon a joy.
The lack of advertisements or minimal advertising on live streams makes them far preferable to US television. Last year's US Open coverage was almost unwatchable with John McEnroe's credit card commercial, Serena William's touting HP computers, and Sharapova shouting in my living room about something--cameras?
I didn't realize how intrusive the commercials on US broadcasts were until I had the pleasure of watching Dubai in March on Sky Sports in the UK. Sure there were commercials, but not that many and not shown at crucial times during a match. I'd love to be visiting my daughters for Wimbledon, but that will have to be in 2009 or later! No commercials at all!
I also preferred the quieter commentators on Sky Sports--they let the tennis do the talking. And they were not prejudiced. They actually talked about Andy Roddick's game and made me appreciate how good a player he can be.
Bring on more live streaming. The broadcasts by Fox Sports really put me off television tennis. ESPN isn't sports broadcasting, it's advertising with a bit of sport thrown in.
Posted by James
05/05/2008 @ 3:18 PM
I, too, love USA's coverage of the U.S. Open. It always seemed top drawer to me. That said, I think that ESPN does a good job on the majors it covers, and has really stepped it up in the last year. When you look at how much tennis they show at Roland Garros and Wimbeldon, I think it is safe to say the U.S Open will be covered just as comprehesively.
For me, however, the best coverage of any major was when Wimbledon was on HBO in the 80s and 90s. Yes, the fact that it was on a premium cable channel significantly limited viewership--not to mention one had to endure hours of Jim Lampley--but the fact there were no commercials and cross promotions seemed to fit perfectly with Wimbledon's vibe. I also have fond memories of being in high school, waking up (relatively) early to catch the beginning of the HBO broadcasts, and then promptly falling back asleep on the couch. Those were the years....
I guess my point is that I loved the HBO broadcasts even more than I now do USA's. And while I look back fondly on those days at times, in no way do I lament that Wimbledon is now on ESPN. In fact, I think they do the event justice and I know associate the tournament with them without a second thought. I bet I will feel the same with the U.S Open.
I remember fondly the HBO broadcasts of Wimbledon. The way tennis is these days, it may happen again.
Posted by
05/05/2008 @ 4:36 PM
During the awards ceremony, JMac signed autographs while the sponsors gave speeches and when the runner-up was speaking as well. It was quite rude. When he finally tore himself away, I have to admit, he gave a very humbling and grateful speech.
Posted by jungleboy
05/05/2008 @ 6:17 PM
Looking forward to todays/tomorrows matches. Some top seeds will be in action.
Vamos Roddick lol
Posted by jungleboy
05/05/2008 @ 6:19 PM
Looking forward to todays/tomorrows matches. Some top seeds will be in action.
Vamos Roddick lol
Posted by jungleboy
05/05/2008 @ 6:19 PM
Looking forward to todays/tomorrows matches. Some top seeds will be in action.
Vamos Roddick lol
Posted by jungleboy
05/05/2008 @ 6:20 PM
sorry don't know what happened there with the triple post. lol
Posted by ognost
05/05/2008 @ 7:10 PM
THIS IS SOOOOO GOOOOOOD! My best quote since January 2008.
“For my favorite fan base — 75-year-old women — this proves to you that you can still be young at an advanced age. I’ve been playing for a couple of years with frustration and wondering if I was ever going to win again.”
The 49-year-old John McEnroe, playing in his 13th career event on the 30-and-over tour, earned $54,000 with the victory over the 40-year-old Krickstein. McEnroe beat Jim Courier and Pete Sampras en route to the final.
Posted by
05/05/2008 @ 8:30 PM
For anyone who is interested in Berlin, ESPN 360 will be streaming it on Thursday and I think every day after that one at 6AM TW time.
Posted by Samantha Elin
05/05/2008 @ 8:54 PM
Juju is so cute when she says she's looking foward to being back on the clay. The faster courts haven't been kind, and she knows this is her chance to show everyone. I'm glad she will be facing Serena, the alleged #1 because she is going to prove who the true world's #1 is. No doubts, no fears, she's Queen of the clay. Go Justine, world's #1! BTW, is it just me or does Younes remind you a lot of Blake when he had the same kind of hair, a few years ago. A go to Hillary to, she's going to be the first woman president which I think is great and about time.
To no name poster at 8:30 PM,
Thanks for the info but my provider does not carry ESPN360.
Posted by nyc
05/05/2008 @ 9:48 PM
The thing is that the US Open didn't make money for USA. After the network was acquired when NBC merged with Universal the strategy changed. USA began airing original programming. That programming attracted more viewers than the US Open could.
It's sad, but true. The US Open was a losing strategy for NBC/USA in the end, especially since CBS had the broadcast rights to the final weekend.
Posted by Erin
05/05/2008 @ 10:37 PM
Posted by Samantha Elin 05/05/2008 @ 8:54 PM
Juju is so cute when she says she's looking foward to being back on the clay. The faster courts haven't been kind, and she knows this is her chance to show everyone. I'm glad she will be facing Serena, the alleged #1 because she is going to prove who the true world's #1 is. No doubts, no fears, she's Queen of the clay. Go Justine, world's #1! BTW, is it just me or does Younes remind you a lot of Blake when he had the same kind of hair, a few years ago. A go to Hillary to, she's going to be the first woman president which I think is great and about time."
Why did Tennis attribute the quote "I feel like Rafa on clay" in their headline to Justine, when the article quotes Serena as saying it???
As always Ed - nice post. My first stop on Monday am is always TW MNP... (I often beat you - loosah that I am!)
As for your question, I'll watch almost any stream.... hail, I watched the Monte Carlo mimes on tv - which proves I'll pretty much watch anything!
I too lament the loss of the US Open to ESPN. USA has always had the best coverage of any of the slams, imo. They always stay with the matches and never commit the cardinal sin of showing us interviews and taped drivel when live tennis is on. I also attribute my succumbing to tennis watching kad-ness to USA network - where I'd catch tennis late at nite and they kept on with the matches no matter the time. Despite myself, I was hooked. (Though I wouldn't confess it for years... lol!)
Sigh - despite ESPN's recent turning around of their stellar record for abysmal coverage; I still don't trust them not to put on bass fishing. or the first pregame preshow analysis of the new cheerleaders for the NFL... pfft. we'll see.
Do you by any chance know what happened to the CBS late night wrap up/highlights show they used to do for the USO? It suddenly vanished last year. A victim of budget cuts?
Posted by Ali C
05/06/2008 @ 2:45 AM
Amelie's out of Berlin with a muscle strain.
Bummer. This girl can't get healthy. I wonder if she's overtraining?
Posted by ncot
05/06/2008 @ 3:32 AM
somebody in one website suggested that if some people could capture on video ATP or WTA tennis tournaments on local broadcast and have it streamed live for everybody to see, then those in other countries with no coverage will be able to watch it too. there must be a way somehow to work around copyright issues. hehehe.
i just thought it liberating/empowering to the tennis fans all over the world if this could work.
Posted by Ali C
05/06/2008 @ 4:57 AM
ncot, this is what Slingbox does - captures TV feed and "slings" it to a computer for viewing. (see www.slingmedia.com, I think.)
However, I'm pretty sure that a slingbox can only send feed to one computer at a time at the moment. But the technology is certainly there to take a TV feed and send it to computers for viewing, so it's just a question of finding software that allows for multiple viewers to log on.
Somehow I'm guessing that such software won't be legal...
Posted by ognost
05/06/2008 @ 5:54 AM
FEDERER: "I reckon this defeat proves again that yes, I do have the game to beat him. I could have played six or seven sets if I had to and it is really a shame that the final is only a best-of-three."
Its a little annoying to see Henin face Serena at the quarterfinal stage so often. Those two should be contesting finals. If only Serena could get her ranking up.....
Posted by
05/06/2008 @ 6:07 AM
Arod Vs Fish should be very interesting! I would go with Arod in three sets.
Posted by afwu1216
05/06/2008 @ 6:26 AM
Berlin Now:
Bartoli up 5-0 on Safarova.
Later day matchups:
Serena-Schiavone
Vaidisova - Dulko
Predictions?
Posted by afwu1216
05/06/2008 @ 6:28 AM
Moderator:
When will the Italian Open Day 2 post be out?
Posted by
05/06/2008 @ 6:37 AM
I pick Serena and Dulko
Posted by Top 5 Murray!
05/06/2008 @ 6:39 AM
Is Steve Darcis an easy fry for Nole in R32?
Posted by Swiss Viking
05/06/2008 @ 6:39 AM
Serena and Dulko too, but I would love to see Francesca give Serena a good fight. She's so much fun to watch. And for those of use in Europe, we might actually catch it on Eurosport. It would be a treat.
Posted by afwu1216
05/06/2008 @ 6:40 AM
Top 5 Murray!
I definelty think Darcis can take a set of Djoko at the very least.
Posted by
05/06/2008 @ 6:53 AM
Swiss Viking: Think Seena would ahve her hands full against Francesca.
Afwu: Yeah, Darcis with a title this year plays solid. Especially, against an ailing Nole he can cause some damage.
Posted by Top 5 Murray!
05/06/2008 @ 6:59 AM
Go Andy Go!
Posted by harini
05/06/2008 @ 10:56 AM
really late, but i have to add that i like USA's coverage of the USO. i liked when TNT covered wimbledon and then ESPN took over and ruined it. not a fan of ted robinson but i love johnny mac. i'm sad that ESPN's taking over the US Open coverage. it should be interesting.
as for the "If" question...i have been toughing it out and it's nicer to at least see something rather than just stare at the scoreboard and wonder what's happening.
