There’s a method to the seeming madness in the WTA Tour announcing a second season-ending tournament to start in 2009 in Bali, Indonesia.

Tennis on TV — June 2007 Schedule
1 French Open, 5am-noon (live), 6:30-10pm (tape), TTC
1 French Open, 3-6:30pm (tape), ESPN2
2 French Open, 5am-noon (live), 6:30-10pm (tape), TTC
2 French Open, 1-4pm, NBC
ADHEREL
3 French Open, 5am-noon (live), 6:30-10pm (tape), TTC
3 French Open, 1-4pm, NBC
4 French Open, 6am-noon (live), 6:30-10pm (tape), TTC
4 French Open, 12-6:30pm (tape), ESPN2
5 French Open, [...]

Television drives professional sports, so you have to wonder, how high could tennis’ popularity rise if the powers that be could get tennis’ biggest events on TV? And we’re not talking about Wimbledon here.
This week Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal played an exhibition on a court that was half clay, half grass. Rafa won. Not [...]

Happy Moanday X-fans. Time to talk Federer’s defeat, TTC’s coverage, the team approach to tennis, Serena’s new reality adventure, and the USTA’s newest accessory item.
Federer’s Loss: With the combined trifecta ejection of Federer, plus Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt yesterday, the Men’s draw got a little bit less interesting for some, but a whole lot [...]

So I come back from vacation – even though it was to visit the in-laws, going from Michigan to Arizona this time of year is usually a good thing! - and what happens? Roger practices with Pete. Roger then loses his Indian Wells opener to Guillermo Canas. Coincidence? Hmm…

Open 13
Marseille, France
Finals:
Gilles Simon (FRA) d. (7) Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 6-4, 7-6(3)
(4)Clement/Llodra (FRA) d. (1) Knowles/Nestor (BAH/CAN) 7-5, 4-6, 10-8
A new French star was born Sunday as 22-year-old Gilles Simon topped Baghdatis for his first career title. Last year Simon reached the final at Valencia on clay, and is the first Frenchman to reach an [...]

The powers that be in tennis have a great track record of making the sport as hard to see as possible. In the U.S. the USTA sells the Davis Cup rights to the Versus network, who then shows it on tape. On Saturday night, with the blockbuster Andy Roddick vs. Andy Murray match at the [...]

Televised tennis has become a little bit more like a real match of tennis with today’s announcement that ESPN and The Tennis Channel (TTC) are joining forces for coverage of Roland Garros and the Australian Open.
If you’re fortunate enough to get TTC, there are some real gems to this deal. For one, you’ll be treated [...]

Last week, in its first deal with a major sports league, video-sharing website YouTube announced a strategic partnership with the National Hockey League (NHL) to post daily short-form video content for the 2006-2007 season.

I was out having a few cocktails with a tennis “industry type” the other night, and we were contemplating a potential nightmare that could possibly come true — and now has. What if world No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal met Saturday in the semifinals of the ATP’s biggest event — the [...]