2010 Australian Open TV Schedule

After recent discussions on this board regarding the quality (or lack thereof) of tennis commentating, I think I will pay extra attention to the performance of the on-air talent. I often tune them out. But I think I’ll take a few notes this go rounds.

Would be interesting if a few others on here, including our trusty bloggers, could do the same.

January 11th, 2010 at 7:47 pm

Just had a quick look at the weather in Oz-land and the forecast seems to be reasonable for the upcoming week or so anyhow – with maximums around 25-29 degrees and potential showers. They’re just coming off some wickedly hot weather, though; it looks like the high today was 43 degrees!? Youch.

January 11th, 2010 at 9:28 pm

John McEnroe is more interesting to listen to than dry mouthed Patrick McEnroe. But, yet again it’s Patrick with his boring voice and mannerisms. Wish Agassi would do some commentating. His perspective would be better than vanilla white Patrick McEnroe.

January 12th, 2010 at 10:19 am

Thank God Johnnie Mac will not be part of the ESPN team for Oz 2010! The man behaved insufferably during the USO, treating the other commentators as if he is some anointed king of commentary. Good riddance. And I hope Dick Enberg can control his slobbering over the attractive WTA players – sheesh. Not sure who Chris McKendry is, will have to see.

January 12th, 2010 at 12:34 pm

ESPN forever. Waiting for AO 2010, whant to hear John Mc. commentary.

January 12th, 2010 at 3:45 pm

No big surprises with the commentators. I happen to enjoy the Patrick McEnroe/Chris Fowler combo — I think they keep it interesting with the tennis expert/sports buff balance. Not sure people have against PMac.

As for Tennis Channel, I’m definitely not a big fan of Justin Gimelstob — he’s actually just terrible. I guess I can’t have Robbie Koenig and Justin Goodall for every match I watch on that channel…

It’ll be interesting to see which quarter of the men’s draw Murray lands in since he’ll now have to go through two top 4 players if he wants to win this title (assuming the top seeds make it through the early stages).

January 12th, 2010 at 4:58 pm

Agassi would make a really interesting commentator. Jim Courier is an under appreciated commentator as well. I like Cliff Dysdale’s voice and delivery. Hate carillo, gimmelstob, and enberg. Gilbert is kind of a knucklehead too.

January 13th, 2010 at 3:18 pm

Sam Smith, female,is brilliant, was pro once, doesn’t gush, knows her stuff, has nice little anecdotes and knows when to shut up!

January 13th, 2010 at 4:54 pm

I know the players have been training hard. But do we have the endurance for this much TV?

–Andy

January 13th, 2010 at 5:56 pm

pam shriver got terrible criticism 4 her sportscasting. i like her. i think shes funny, shes blunt & she is my fvt one. also like martina navratalova on tennis channel. her analysis of matches is str8t 2 the point & right on as far as i’m concerned. justin gimmelstob is way 2 analytical. i also like darren cahill. brad gilbert i dont care 4@all. dick enberg seems out of it sometimes. i like mary carillo, althought she repeats herself w/players personal stories. i.e. justin henins mom dying of cancer when she was very young. she repeated this same story every one of henins matches. patrick mcenroe is kind of bland & john, depending on the day, whether relaxed or hyper. my fvt, as i said is navratalova. i love analysis of players and shriver is just plain funny. what gets me is if a player wins a tournament going into a major then they become the fvt and they’re the best player. last year murray won 2 tournaments b4 australian open & everyone predicted he would win ao. obviously he didnt. this year he lost @hopman cup. so now hes not fvt. ao is wide open to the possibility of djokovic, delpo, murray, nadal, and hopefully, 4 me federer can pull it out. i guess each tournament is unpredictable because on any given day someone can beat a top seed because maybe they wernt playing their best on that particular day. thats y nadal & federer have amazed me w/their consistency @ majors. im not saying that will continue, but i really want 2c these other guys reach 23 semi finals in a major the way federer has. how hard 2b that consistent in major events amazes me. actually top 5 seeds amaze me because of how consistent they must be in each and every tournament. hats off to all of them, but i still would be ecstatic if roger took home the trophy.

January 13th, 2010 at 6:07 pm

John McEnroe and Mary Carillo are my favorite commentators. I like Mary’s personal stories about the players,and John knows his tennis. He’s informative, knows when to keep quiet, and gives you a tennis lesson at the same time. Dick Enberg talks too much.

January 13th, 2010 at 7:59 pm

You can’t compare Carillo, who is well versed in tennis history as well as general knowledge, to Gimelstob, who is bad, bad, bad terrible though even he is a little better than he used to be. And some of us can stand as much tennis as they’ll give us.

January 14th, 2010 at 6:16 pm

Love John McEnroe’s commentary. Also like his brother Patrick. Pamela is good, too. Can’t stand Jim Courier – he is boring, supercillious and snooty. Prefer ESPN to THE TENNIS channel.

As for players, love Federer, Hewitt, Haas, Hope Federer winns the AO. Love Kim Clijsters, Dinara Safina. Can’t stand Serena Williams. Couldn’t believe she was allowed to play doubles after her disgusting behavious last year, She is an ugly player and there is nothing gracious about her.

I read Agassi’s book and was totally put off. Agassi came across as an obnoxious brat and wallowed in self pity. Why did he keep playing when he hated tennis so much? Tennis the sport of kings and gentlemen. Hated the way he talked about the sport which gave him millions of dollars. I always loved his wife, Steffi Graf – what does she see in him.

January 14th, 2010 at 6:40 pm

I don’t like Brad Gilbert at all. He’s very arrogant and always talks about the players as though he’s got the inside scoop. Always has to call them a nickname. Get him off.

January 16th, 2010 at 12:10 pm

has everyone forgotten serena’s unsportsman like behavior at USO. that kind of bullying and direct physical threating of the officials,especially on the court, would not be tolerated. besides. the effect of such behavior
lasts a long time, a subtle silent threatening
of all involved in a match with ms. williams.

i will watch maybe a few selected matches of my favorites but other than that i refuse to support a tournament that allows s williams, or anyone who behaves that way on the court.

johnny mac is a close example but, he was not as threatening, even then no matter what anyone says while he was playing he was a turn off and a buffoon. that he is now civil is a thrill because he’s a great commentator.

January 17th, 2010 at 8:44 am

Martina Navratilova is the best, of course very knowledgeable and very professional and assertive.I like Corina Moraiu, very professional and right on the money but I didn’t see her on the list.
I can’t stand Justin G., he is petulant, non objective and zero assertive.Don’t like M Carrillo.Mary J is OK and Davenport is improving.

January 17th, 2010 at 9:38 am

Patrick anonymous

Interesting that you hate S Williams but tolerates J McEnroe because he has turned civil. You also implied you will not watch certain players … who really cares whether you are watching or not. I don’t give a hoot whom or when you are watching. I care for a good entertaining match … whether S williams is playing or whether Ms. Manners is playing.

January 18th, 2010 at 2:45 pm

I found Sam Smith commentry during the Sharapova match very odd. She did nothing but bag the eventual winner all night. I haven’t heard her since!!!!

January 20th, 2010 at 4:38 am

I enjoy john’s (McEnroe) comments but I really can’t stand Mary Carillo. She needs to hear what she is talking.. giraffe leg players? New Yorkers against Federer? Complaining because player doesn’t know English?… ohh geeez… get a life lady!

January 22nd, 2010 at 8:46 am

Jim Courier is the worst interviewer ever! He was so
rude to Nadal, asking him on a live mike in a full auditorium why he was backing away from him! And his lame comment to Federer telling him that he was surprised that Fed’s father seemed like a nice guy (!). Courier is an embarassment to the Australian Open. Mats Wilander is heads and shoulders above him and manages not be rude in the process!

January 24th, 2010 at 7:42 pm

I gotta say even though Johnny Mac is a bit arrogant, he knows his stuff and knows when to shut up. can’t say the same for his dumb as a brick brother Patrick. He is the worst thing to happen to tennis commentating. Not only are his comments dull and uninteresting, they are also out of left field and completely off topic half the time. He talks during the serve and during points about things that don’t even pertain to what is going on, and is overall just bad at what he does. I find myself muting him more often than not, which also sucks because you don’t get the full experience with no sound. But I’ll take silence over listening to him any day.

January 25th, 2010 at 11:39 am

Pet peeves: Figuring out ESPN’s channel guide for LIVE Australian Open matches date and time. I’ve found the LIVE description is not always noted and have to check every channel to determine LIVE matches and reruns. Am I making this too difficult?

January 27th, 2010 at 5:18 pm

Pam – well I suppose it depends whether you have digital cable/satellite or not but basically, working with EST US, all matches beginning at 7pm EST onward are live (7pm corresponds to 11am aussie time), 9pmEST=1pm Aussie, 3:30amEST=7:30pm aussie. Anything ESPN (or Tennis channel) shows during the afternoon is taped. Hope this helps.

January 27th, 2010 at 5:59 pm

Dick Enberg talks too much? WTF? He is never the one doing all the talking, he responds to the other and makes an occasional comment. Mostly he sits there and smiles like a little mild-mannered old man. Meanwhile, Pam Shriver talks non-stop…often not even about the game that she’s commentating. She talks about training, or some past game or about some rule that bugs her or about some trends in tennis. Half the time she talks DURING the most important points, DURING the serves. OH and she never fails to mention “This is an important point, this is the moment…blah blah blah” Give it a rest, if we are watching, we know it is an important point…DUH She does make an OK court-side reporter though, mainly because they can cut off her microphone. Even then she tries to cut the other commentators off. Pam Shriver is the worst!!!

January 28th, 2010 at 1:10 am

WE SIGNED UP AND PAY XTRA FOR TENNIS CHANNEL, BUT AFTER THE LACK OF SHOWING DOUBLES MATCHES, WE PLAN TO CANCEL OUR SUBSCRIPTION NEXT MONTH.

ALL OF OUR FRIENDS FEEL THE SAME WAY. THESE PEOPLE JUST DON’T GET IT. PEOPLE THAT PLAY TENNIS WANT TO SEE DOUBLES, NOT THE SAME SINGLES MATCHES OVER AND OVER!!!!!

January 28th, 2010 at 8:54 am

I agree with O. Jones wHen are the networks going to realize that most people who watch are doubles players and want to watch doubles matches. There are no scheduled doubles matches and when anything is shown it is the match point. Who cares at that point?

January 28th, 2010 at 9:41 am

I enjoy listening to the commentators very much but there is one that just grates on my nerves and that one is Martina Navratilova.
She talks too fast and she talks too much especially when the game is going on. Her voice dominates the other commentators that are with her, usually two others. I turn the sound down so I can concentrate on the players game. I do not like the sound of her voice.

January 28th, 2010 at 10:05 am

Just a note re the intermittently good anouncer Johnny Mac. Last year at one of the majors, He was part of the team doing a semifinal match between Serena & Venus. It was a great match, and all he could talk about was how it was a pain that the mens match which followd would be too late- even during critcial points- so I give the J Mac a D minus there. For the men which is the only part of tennis he really cares about he is pretty good- just keep him away from the womens matches. He doesnt really respect womens tennis.

January 28th, 2010 at 12:18 pm

I agree 100% with O. Jones – why can’t we see doubles too – especially the finals on the regular cable channels, not everyone can pay extra for the tennis channel. ESPN did show the last couple of games of a match only if V and S Williams were playing. I saw the bryan brothers in an exhibition match in December and it was amazing! Sure would be great to watch some fast-paced double matches where the shots are really made. I have watched alot of ESPN of the open – my only comment about the commentators is how they bash whoever is loosing, but the minute the match turns it is what a great comeback and they just knew it was possible.

January 29th, 2010 at 12:01 am

Martina is the BEST as a player AND a commentator! John McEnroe keeps it light and is witty and gives us a really thoughtful inside perspective. Mary Carillo can get really high-horse-moral with us (what a drag), and Dick Enberg just doesn’t have it like he used to (sorry, Dick). Would love to see Andre and Steffi as commentators. TENNIS IS ABSOLUTELY THE BEST SPECTATOR SPORT OF THEM ALL!!!

January 29th, 2010 at 3:14 am

Dear Brad:

Today I was watching and listening to your comments concerning the women’s Australian Open Tennis Final. Once again I was horrified to see that you and the other broadcasters still have not learned to use the sense organ called hearing, by maligning Justine Henin’s reputation during the French Open Tennis semi-final, years ago, between Justine and Serena Williams.

Your statement was that Justine showed poor sportsmanship by denying that she raised her hand in an attempt to stop Serena’s service motion. You went on to say that someone must have been moving in the crowd to precipitate Justine’s raised hand. A question or two, is it poor sportsmanship to start a service motion while your opponent has their hand in the air; is it poor sportsmanship to start serving while the crowd is still screaming loudly, I heard it, no one in your crew seems to have heard the noise? The answer to both questions is yes…it is poor sportsmanship! Serena put Justine in the position of either being a patsy or a scapegoat and all of you have fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. Why did the umpire fall asleep on the job by not raising his hand to quieten the uproarious crowd? I guess he also went deaf.

Then after the match, came Serena’s no handshake with Justine and the ‘poor me’ crocodile tears performance in front of the media in Serena’s post match interview. Yet, it is Justine that continues to unnecessarily shoulder the responsibility for everyone’s actions. Thank you.

Kenneth Hill
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
regalregent@hotmail.com

January 29th, 2010 at 8:31 pm

Watching Chris McKendry is like watching those collections of outtakes on DVD’s. She makes the former players she solicits comments from (Cahill, McEnroe, Shriver, Gilbert, Fernandez) sound like Cicero.

January 30th, 2010 at 1:53 am

Is watching tennis all about the announcers? Jeeesh! Give the announcers something o do besides talk about injuries. How about paying more attention to bios/interviews/old school mini docs a la the Olympics about the players. Too costly you say? wake-up, it’s 2010. Have players provide their own stories abou themselves – demonstrate some creativity. For example – Get Federer’s wife to film him and interview him, or his coach or father. And even more important the new faces on the scene. … You might actually rebuild a fan base if we got a better sense of who these players are, how they live, train, love, etc. Human drama that sells tickets.

January 30th, 2010 at 11:41 am

All the commentators who have been on for years have gotten better. Don’t you old folks remember how Mary Carillo, John McEnroe and Cliff Drysdale used to chat from the moment they went on the air to the end, talking right through the matches as if their chatter was much more important than the match itself. One thing that currently bothers me: no commentator gives the score point by point, and if your eyesight is bad you can’t read the scores on the screen.

January 30th, 2010 at 3:44 pm

With an endless dribble of negative criticism, and with a negative whiney tone in their voices,
some of these “expert” commentators continue to make praiseworthy performances sound like efforts un-worthy of the great game of tennis.

With the only exception that I’ve seen in years being this Women’s Final (undoubtedly due to the great respect that they do – and should – hold for two great champions), all some commentators seem to be able to do is to pour on the negative criticism. They seem to think the more they pour it on, the smarter they make each other sound.

While I agree with previous authors that much of what they say is instructional, these days I’d rather enjoy the match without the negativity and appreciate each player’s ability and effort for what I can see it is…soooo much better than anything I could dream of becoming. Heaven knows, not many could take Roger to a tie breaker.

Andy, as well as the United Kingdom, deserves someone yelling, “Come on, you bums, shut up!”
A little respect, admiration, and appreciation, please! These players, whoever they are, don’t deserve your negetivity.

January 31st, 2010 at 6:40 pm

I seem to be in the minority concerning current tennis commentating. It would please me if ALL commentary were reduced at least 90%. I like to hear the sounds of the match.. the hitting, the spin, the crowd, even the sounds of the shoes on the surface on hard courts. This personality quirk of mine forces me to watch with the sound muted to avoid the Chinese-water-torture mind-numbing chatter…it is ceaseless. During a session of six hours or so there is not thirty minutes of anything of substance to say… so it becomes, of necessity, silly, redundant, partisan, artsy (Carrillo…. “a marvelous striking of the ball”) , etc. The rare pithy, interesting, insightful comment is lost in the static.

And fads sweep wildly through the occupation like some insidious virus. The latest that leaps to mind is the now almost universal affectation of placing the subject of a sentence ten or or so words after the verb, e.g., “a beautiful, flowing forehand drive, has Federer” or “rises early, eats a hearty breakfast, showers and shaves,then leaves for the practice court, Rafa”. It is rare to hear a conventionally structured sentence. Where did that come from? I suspect Mary C. with the initial infection. Are we seeking a Pulitzer prize for literature?

The TC is much more tolerable for me, not because of the quality of the commentating but that there is usually much less of it.

I would even trade listening to the commercials if I could see and hear the match and not be bombarded with things like, “ten points from the set”, over and over and over again.

Everyone should try watching and listening to an old match narrated by the likes of Tony Trabert, etc.

I repeat, I seem to be among a very small minority in these opinions and it is I who must adjust. In the meantime I will continue with the use of the mute and enjoy the modern, exceptional video coverage.

Am I completely alone in this?

January 31st, 2010 at 7:44 pm

This is so sad, race has everything to do with the way the sisters have been treated, which is very badly, even before Serena’s threatening outbrust,which she has apologized and paid a fine. I could not believe that Mary Carillo brought up the incident during one of Serena’s matches at the Australian Open by giving her opinions, if that was not bad enough Dick Enberg showed the clip from the incident. The commentators job is to call the plays during a match.

February 1st, 2010 at 12:49 pm