Some of you may have gleaned that I am a tennis fan. Not in a super fanatical sort of way, but in a I like to watch it when it’s on, though admittedly it’s nice to nap to… I do get more caught up the more I watch but as I am typically without cable access, I don’t get to watch a lot (though with my busy tv schedule that’s maybe not the worst thing).
But as the tennis season starts with the Australian Open I almost missed it and was surprised to find that there is no network coverage. It was only being covered on ESPN2, not even ESPN mind you.
Now some series like Wimbledon and US Open get network coverage on the middle weekend, and Wimbledon has its own nightly highlights show, but I thought all of them showed the final. There are only four biggies: Australian, French, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Is that asking too much?
We even get network coverage of most of the finals in the entire hard court series leading up the US Open. Someone pointed out to me that it might be the time difference, which could be. Coverage at around 9pm/pst and midnight might not be the best to schedule, but we do have a writer’s strike going on, what else are they really showing?
So for those of you who might be interested, where do we stand right now? On the men’s side, even with Federer sick leading up to things he’s always the favorite, though I like that Djokovic kid. With Sharapova in excellent form taking out Henin (and the always wild card Williams sisters out) she has to be looking good, though I do like Ivanovic.
- Men’s First Semifinal – Nadal (2) vs. Tsonga (Thursday – was at 12:30am/pst but… I won’t tell you who won – replays at noon/pst)
- Men’s Second Semifinal – Federer (1) vs. Djokovic (3) (Friday 12:30am/pst replays at noon/pst)
- Women’s Final – Ivonovic (4) vs. Sharapova (5) (Friday at 6pm/pst)
- Men’s Final – TBD (Sun 12:30 am/pst)
ESPN2, Check your local listings.
