“This completes a five-year process of reinventing the television and digital landscape for the sport of tennis in North America,” said Arlen Kantarian, CEO Pro Tennis, USTA. “Tennis will now be prominently featured for eight straight weeks on ESPN — the premiere destination in sports; Tennis Channel — our sport’s namesake network; and CBS — our longtime network partner. This new partnership will provide more tennis, to more people, in more ways than ever before.”

If the powers-that-be are trying to raise the popularity of tennis in the U.S., they’re not getting a lot of help from the ATP.

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 [...]

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 [...]

If you weren’t sleeping or TiVo-ing during the past two weeks, you might have noticed something extraordinary about the coverage of the 2006 U.S. Open. No, it wasn’t the little bald man who went buh-bye, nor that the venue was renamed into the acronym that everyone now loves: USTABJKNTC. What I’m referring to here is [...]

Why does ESPN hate tennis fans so much? They have now apparently hired Justin Gimelstob to do sideline reporting for the Rogers Cup in Montreal for the weekend.

Dear ESPN,

I’m writing to tell you that I think it’s time that we start seeing other people.

I can forgive alot. I can forgive the fact that you will feature darts on your homepage before tennis; unless it’s a Grand Slam, in which case you give me a little below-the-fold action. I can even forgive the fact that if I want to find tennis on your website that I need to look in the “more” menu. More is for bass fishing. More is for rodeo. I thought we were closer than more. I thought we really had something more than more.

At the 2004 Pacific Life Open, Justine Henin-Hardenne was given a warning by the chair umpire after her coach, Carlos Rodriguez, was heard shouting instructions from the side of the court late in the second set of the quarterfinal match. Henin-Hardenne didn’t deny it, and instead blatantly admitted that Rodriguez was helping her. “He told me be aggressive … go to the net,” she said, “You can tell it’s coaching. I know what I have to do, but sometimes it’s hard for me when I’m on court, in the match, to do what you know you have to do.”

At the time, Henin-Hardenne held the World No. 1 ranking.

U.S. tennis fans rejoice. Those of us without the Tennis Channel are now just one week away from live tennis coverage which begins on January 15 with the Australian Open. Thankfully, ESPN2 will televise LIVE from the start of the Australian Open at 7pm ET next Sunday with FIVE HOURS of what has to be [...]

With the televised MNF madness that is the New England Patriots and the Indy Colts no longer suspenseful, I thought i’d take a moment to reflect upon the state of tennis on TV in the U.S….Okay, done.

That was quick, as there isn’t much to reflect on as there hasn’t been a single ATP or WTA tennis match televised in the U.S. since the conclusion of Davis Cup in late September.