The Start of another Grand Slam Year on ESPN with 100+ Hours on ESPN2 HD, 600 on ESPN3, Coverage across Digital Platforms & Around the World

Tennis’ first Major of 2012 – the Australian Open presented by Franklin Templeton Investments, where the year’s storylines on both the men’s and women’s side will begin to unfold – gets underway down under when ESPN2 HD, ESPN3 and ESPN’s digital platforms present some of the longest scheduled live telecast windows of the year in sports, starting Sunday, Jan. 15.  Under the terms of a new 10-year agreement taking effect, ESPN2 again will televise more than 100 live hours, plus afternoon highlights and replays from overnight action.  The telecasts are also available through WatchESPN online at WatchESPN.com and on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app.  Expanded digital coverage includes 600 hours on ESPN3, all live, with users choosing between action on seven courts with all matches available on-demand after completion.

Play begins in Melbourne with a 12.5-hour telecast on ESPN2 and ESPN3 starting Sunday, Jan. 15, at 6:30 p.m. ET.  Late-night marathons will continue through the women’s and men’s finals live at 3 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28, and Sunday, Jan. 29, (very late on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively).  In addition, ESPN’s SportsCenter will provide live look-ins to the action during the 11 p.m. and late-night editions.

New Agreement Takes Effect

The 2012 Australian Open marks the beginning of a 10-year agreement between ESPN and Tennis Australia that extends ESPN’s multimedia through 2021 and international coverage through 2016.  Having televised the Australian Open – including the women’s and men’s semifinals and finals exclusively – since 1984, this is ESPN’s longest uninterrupted professional sports programming relationship.  The new agreement, announced in 2010, includes all ESPN platforms.  It continues the extensive ESPN2 schedule, Spanish-language U.S. rights and distribution in Latin America via ESPN International (2012-16).  It also includes expanded rights for ESPN3, iTV (interactive television), and highlights on ESPN.com and other emerging and digital media, including ESPN Mobile TV, solidifying ESPN’s position as the leader in live tennis coverage.

Intrigue in Both Draws

Two-time champion Novak Djokovic – coming off one of the finest seasons in tennis history – will defend the men’s title as the top seed against a stellar field topped by No. 2 seed and 2009 winner Rafael Nadal and No. 3 and three-time champion Roger Federer.  Andy Murray seeks his first major title at No. 4 as does David Ferrer at No. 5.

Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki leads the women’s field, and No. 2 seed Petra Kvitova will try to continue her 2011 success, winning Wimbledon and the WTA Tour Championship.  Victoria Azarenka is No. 3, the 2008 champion, Maria Sharapova, is No. 4, the 2011 French Open winner Li Na is No. 5, and local favorite Sam Stosur is No. 6, hoping to win her second straight major title, having taken the 2011 US Open.  Last year’s women’s champion, Kim Clijsters, is playing for the first time in more than six months and is seeded No. 12.  Right behind her at No. 13 is Serena Williams, a five-time Aussie winner, who is also returning to action after an extended injury layoff, having last competed in the US Open final.

 

TV:  IN THE U.S. AND AROUND THE WORLD

Cliff Drysdale – who has been with ESPN since its first tennis telecast in 1979 – leads the ESPN2 team.  Chris Evert, who joined ESPN last year for Wimbledon and the US Open, will make her Australian Open debut.  Darren Cahill, Mary Joe Fernandez, Brad Gilbert, Patrick McEnroe and Pam Shriver return as analysts.  Chris Fowler will again host and call select matches, with Chris McKendry also hosting.  Tom Rinaldi will contribute features, news and interviews during event coverage and on SportsCenter.

ESPN2’s Australian Open programming will generally consist of live action in the evening continuing uninterrupted for 10 or more hours until the next morning, plus at least three hours of same-day action the next weekday afternoon at 12 p.m.  The tournament is part of ESPN’s ongoing Grand Slam alliance with Tennis Channel, which offers audiences a near round-the-clock tournament experience at tennis’ major events.  ESPN is producing all Australian Open coverage for both networks, which will cross-promote each other with each channel utilizing its own commentators.

ESPN Interactive TV, seen on DIRECTV and ESPN3, will present the Australian Open with a six-screen “mix channel.”  For eight hours per night during the first eight days of the tournament, viewers will be able to watch the ESPN2 feed or one of five other courts, all with commentary and customized graphics.   Features include interactive data, the tournament draw, up-to-date scores, daily order of play, and social media interaction.  A studio host has been added 2012, SportsCenter anchor Steve Weissman will provide updates and news from around the tournament, across each of the five additional channels.

ESPN International will deliver to the pan-regional ESPN networks in Latin America (including the HD networks) over 100 hours of coverage, showcasing the biggest names in tennis and players of local relevance. ESPN+ will air over 30 hours of live complementary coverage in primetime throughout the early rounds, while ESPN Dos and ESPN Brazil will re-air some of the best matches of the day during the first week of action.

 

ESPN Classic is airing 57 hours of memorable Australian Open matches from the past as well as interview shows and other tennis programming this week.  Highlights include:

 

Wed, Jan 11

7 p.m. — 1992 Men’s Final: Jim Courier tops Stefan Edberg in four sets

11 p.m. — 1995 Men’s Final: Andre Agassi outlasts Pete Sampras

 

Thur, Jan 12

7:30 p.m. — Up Close Classics: Arthur Ashe

11 p.m. — 2003 Women’s Final: Serena Williams defeats sister Venus 7-6, 3-6, 6-4

 

Fri, Jan 13

7:30 a.m. — Schaap One on One: Martina Navratilova

1 p.m. — 2009 Men’s Final: Rafael Nadal wins a five-set marathon over Roger Federer

 

ESPN On Demand will offer a variety of programming before, during, and after the 2012 Australian Open. Highlights of past finals are available through January 31 (men’s from 1995, 2009, 2010, and 2011 and women’s from 2010 and 2011).  A recap of each of this year’s Women’s and Men’s Finals will also be offered through February 13.

 

DIGITAL MEDIA, AT HOME AND ABROAD

ESPN3 will again provide coverage of no fewer than eight live feeds (including a simulcast of ESPN2’s live coverage) from various courts – including the women’s and men’s semifinals and finals – nearly 600 hours.  For the first 11 days (Sun., Jan. 15 – Wed., Jan. 25), coverage will commence at 7 p.m. (11 a.m. in Melbourne, when play begins) and continue for at least seven hours.  The courts to be included are the “TV courts,” the ones most likely to have top matches:  Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena, Margaret Court Arena, plus Courts 2, 3, 6 and 8.  For the remainder of the tournament, ESPN3 will continue the ESPN2 simulcast, including the women’s (Jan. 28) and men’s (Jan. 29) finals, plus exclusive coverage of select men’s, women’s and mixed doubles play and the boys’ and girls’ finals.  For the first time, fans can access ESPN3 feeds from AustralianOpen.com.

Each window also will be available for on-demand replay following completion.  With ESPN3’s dynamic interface, fans will be able to fast-forward, rewind and pause action – during on-demand replay and live action.

ESPN3 is ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network, a 24/7 destination that delivers thousands of global sports events annually and accessible online via WatchESPN.com.  It is currently available to approximately 70 million homes at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider.  The network is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks.  It is also accessible through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members and on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app through an affiliated provider.  

ESPN.com will once again feature Courtcast, a cutting-edge application presented by IBM, featuring official IBM tournament and real-time statistics, Hawk-Eye technology, a rolling Twitter feed, Cover It Live analysis and interactive poll questions. Slam Central, an aggregation of all the day’s top news, analysis, blogs and video, as well as a daily Digital Serve and At This Minute video segments with commentators in Melbourne discussing the results, will be a daily staple.  News and analysis from contributors Ravi Ubha and Tennis.com writers will add to the depth of coverage.  During the second week of play, the staff will interact with fans via live blogging.

ESPNdeportes.com will have the following content:  A daily webisode called “ESPiaNdo el Australian Open”; an “applet” featuring real-time, point-by-point scoring of all matches; live scores, results and brackets; columns, chats and blogs by TV commentators and other writers; polls; the “Ask ESPN” feature, prompting users to send their comments/questions via the website; video clips with highlights of daily action and analysis; TV scheduling information, and photo galleries.

ESPN International’s ESPN Play (ESPN 360 in Brazil) broadband service in Latin America will provide wall-to-wall coverage of the year’s first Grand Slam, airing over 600 hours of live tennis from every available televised court, including the men’s & women’s quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, all live. This streaming action will be available in over two million homes in 11 countries throughout Latin America (Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Honduras, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Colombia and Panama).

ESPN Mobile TV, a 24/7 channel for wireless, will provide 113 hours of live and simulcast coverage with ESPN2′s programming schedule.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2012 on ESPN2 HD

(For these charts, all times are Eastern, and each day “begins” at 6 a.m. ET.

Therefore, the listing for Sun., Jan. 15 at 3 a.m. ET is very late on Sunday night.)

 

Date	Time (ET)	Event
Sun, Jan 15	6:30 p.m. – 3 a.m.	Early round play	LIVE
	3 – 7 a.m.	“	LIVE
Mon, Jan 16	9 p.m. – 3 a.m.	“	LIVE
	3 – 7 a.m.	“	LIVE
Tue, Jan 17	Noon – 3 p.m.	“	Same-day
	9 p.m. – 3 a.m.	“	LIVE
	3 – 7 a.m.	“	LIVE
Wed, Jan 18	Noon – 3 p.m.	“	Same-day
	11 p.m. – 3 a.m.	“	LIVE
	3 – 7 a.m.	“	LIVE
Thur, Jan 19	Noon – 3 p.m.	“	Same-day
	11 p.m. – 3 a.m.	“	LIVE
	3 – 7 a.m.	“	LIVE
Fri, Jan 20	Noon – 3 p.m.	“	Same-day
	9 p.m. – 3 a.m.	“	LIVE
	3 – 7 a.m.	“	LIVE
Sat, Jan 21	10 a.m. – 1 p.m.	“	Same-day
	9 p.m. – 2 a.m.	Round of 16	LIVE
	3 – 7 a.m.	“	LIVE
Sun, Jan 22	11 a.m.  – 3 p.m.	“	Same-day
	9 p.m. – 2 a.m.	“	LIVE
	3:30 – 6 a.m.	“	LIVE
Mon, Jan 23	Noon – 3 p.m.	“	Same-day
	9 p.m. – 2 a.m.	Quarterfinals	LIVE
	3:30 – 6 a.m.	“	LIVE
Tue, Jan 24	Noon – 3 p.m.	“	Same-day
	9 p.m. – 2 a.m.	“	LIVE
	3:30 – 6 a.m.	“	LIVE
Wed, Jan 25	Noon – 3 p.m.	“	Same-day
	9:30 p.m. – 2 a.m.	Women’s Semifinals	LIVE
	3:30 – 6 a.m.	Men’s Semifinal #1	LIVE
Thurs, Jan 26	Noon – 3 p.m.	Men’s Semifinal #1	reair
	3:30 – 6 a.m.	Men’s Semifinal #2	LIVE
Fri, Jan 27	Noon – 3 p.m.	Men’s Semifinal #2	reair
	3 – 5:30 a.m.	Women’s Final	LIVE
Sat, Jan. 28	9 – 11 a.m.	Women’s Final	reair
	10 p.m. – MID	Women’s Final	reair
	3 – 6:30 a.m.	Men’s Final	LIVE
Sun, Jan 29	9 a.m. – 1 p.m.	Men’s Final	reair
	9 p.m.–MID	Men’s Final	reair

 

 

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2012 on ESPN3

 

Date	Time (ET)	Event
Sun, Jan 15	6:30 p.m. – 3 a.m.	Early round play	LIVE
Mon, Jan 16- Mon, Jan 23	3 – 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. – 2 a.m.	Early round play	LIVE
Mon, Jan 23	9 p.m. – 2 a.m.	Quarterfinals	LIVE
Tue, Jan 24- Wed, Jan 25	3:30 – 6 a.m.	Quarterfinals	LIVE
	7 – 2 a.m.	Quarterfinals	LIVE
Wed, Jan 25	9:30 p.m. – 1:30 a.m.	Women’s Semifinals	LIVE
Thurs, Jan 26	11 p.m. – 3:30 a.m.	Mixed Doubles SF/Women’s Doubles Finals	LIVE
	3:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.	Men’s Semifinal #1	LIVE
Fri, Jan 27	3:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.	Men’s Semifinal #2	LIVE
	9 p.m. – 1 a.m.	Girls and Boys Singles Finals	LIVE
Sat, Jan. 28	5:30 – 7:30 a.m.	Men’s Doubles Final	LIVE
	3 – 5:30 a.m.	Women’s Final	LIVE
Sat, Jan. 29	12:30 – 2:30 a.m.	Mixed Doubles Final	LIVE
	3 – 6:30 a.m.	Men’s Final	LIVE

 

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Deal Through 2016 Completes ESPN3’s Tennis Programming Slate as the Premier Destination in the US for Every Major Global Tennis Event

ESPN Inc. has signed a six-year agreement with the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) to carry live coverage of its events across ESPN’s multiple platforms.  The deal solidifies ESPN3, ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network, as the premier destination for every major global tennis event on the men’s and women’s circuit in the US.

“This new agreement with the WTA says a lot about the power of ESPN’s multi-platform scale and its ability to serve passionate tennis fans,” said Jason Bernstein, senior director of programming and acquisitions, ESPN.  “We have a long history with professional tennis in our 32 years, and now we are slated to carry all the top-tier tennis events from around the world across our networks.”

“With simultaneous matches and global events held year round, ESPN3 is an ideal platform for tennis,” said Damon Phillips, vice president, ESPN3.  “Fans have come to know the network as a leading destination for live tennis, including outer court and exclusive coverage.  Now with the WTA through 2016, ESPN3 is the year-round destination for tennis fans in the US.”

”ESPN has long served tennis fans in the US, and we are pleased to continue to partner with them to deliver enhanced coverage of world class women’s tennis across ESPN’s multiple platforms,” said Stacey Allaster, CEO of the WTA.

The deal includes rights to season-long WTA matches as well as the following events:

• TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships: Championships singles final from Istanbul on ESPN2 and ESPN3, with round robin and semifinals coverage on ESPN3.
• WTA Premier Events: Live coverage of more than 70 matches from 11 events on ESPN3, including early round matches and select quarterfinals between January-October annually.

Coverage begins today with the TEB-BNP Paribas WTA Championships live from Istanbul.  ESPN3’s live coverage will feature select round robin matches, both semifinals and the final on Sunday, October 30, at 11 a.m. ET.  ESPN2 will provide television coverage of the final at 1 p.m.  Players featured in the Championship include top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka, Li Na, Vera Zvonareva, Samantha Stosur and Agnieszka Radwanska.

The WTA is the governing body of the global circuit of women’s professional tennis events (with the exception of the Grand Slams and Fed Cup) and features the top-ranked women’s players in the world.  This year marks the 41st edition of the Championships.  The Championships consists of the top eight singles players and top four doubles teams, competing for $5 million in prize money and the year-end No. 1 rankings.

With today’s deal, ESPN3 adds 150 live hours of women’s tennis each year to its programming slate.  The network now carries all four Grand Slam tournaments, all ATP World Tour 500 and ATP Masters 1000 events – including Indian Wells and Miami – the WTA Premier events, and the season-ending championships of both tours – the TEB-BNP Paribas WTA Championships and Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.  In 2011, tennis on ESPN3 accounted for over 2,750 live hours, including more than 2,200 exclusive hours.

ESPN’s 2011 tennis schedule of more than 585 televised hours is highlighted by all four Grand Slam events, something no other U.S. network has ever done.  One week after ESPN’s debut on September 7, 1979, ESPN carried its first tennis telecast with a Davis Cup tie, Argentina at US from Memphis with Cliff Drysdale on the call and John McEnroe playing.  ESPN has presented the Australian Open since 1984, the French Open since 2002 (plus 1986 – 1993), Wimbledon since 2003 and the US Open since 2009.

About ESPN3

ESPN3 is ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network, a 24/7 destination that delivers thousands of global sports events annually and accessible online via WatchESPN.com.  It is currently available to approximately 70 million homes at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider.  The network is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks.  It is also accessible through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members and on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app through an affiliated provider.

About WTA (Women’s Tennis Association)

The WTA is the global leader in women’s professional sport with more than 2,400 players representing 99 nations competing for more than $90 million in prize money at the WTA’s 53 events and four Grand Slams in 33 countries. More than 5 million people attended women’s tennis events in 2010 with tens of millions more watching on television and digital channels around the world. The WTA competitive season concludes with the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, from October 25-30, and the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, Indonesia, from November 3-6. Further information on the WTA can be found on www.wtatennis.com.

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Transcript of ESPN / US Open Conference Call with Chris Evert & Cliff Drysdale

Today, ESPN tennis analysts Chris Evert and Cliff Drysdale discussed the upcoming US Open on a media conference call.  ESPN2 will televise 100 hours from New York starting Monday, Aug. 29, with other coverage across a variety of ESPN platforms, including ESPN3.com.  Before the action, ESPN will televise the live announcement of the men’s and women’s draws during the noon ET SportsCenter on Thursday, Aug. 25.

Highlights from the call follow.

Q.         Chris or Cliff, do you have any theories about why, with the exception of the Wimbledon champ, we haven’t had really young women winning Grand Slam titles in quite a few years now.  It’s more older women.  I wonder what you think might be going on there or if it’s just pure happenstance. 

CHRIS EVERT:  No, I think it’s a more demanding sport now and I think you just have to have more going your way, such as the mental aspect of the game, which is experience, dealing with pressure.  Physically, I think that’s stepped up to a higher level with the fitness levels that the women seem to be in right now.  And there’s maturity.

I agree with you.  I think the days of the 15- and 16-year-olds winning Grand Slams, Tracy Austin, Martina Hingis, the days are over.  Now I think it’s more of a physical and mental sport.  You’re asked to be more of a well-rounded athlete in both the mental and physical aspects.  The higher level, it just gets to a higher level.

You kind of see that when you look at swimming and you see somebody like Dara Torres.

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  It’s interesting that the men are suffering.  I’m not sure if ‘suffering’ is the right word, or having the same issue as the women are.  The guys now seem to be much more mature winning the slams.  You go back to Pete Sampras was 19 when he won his first US Open.  Chang, 17.  Wilander, 17.  Those days I think for the men are over for the foreseeable future also.

Q.         Do you have a theory as to why that might be?  Is it a lot of the stuff that Chris said, that it’s more demanding, you actually have to know what you’re doing before you can handle something like this? 

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  I think that’s part of it.  The mechanics and the technique in the game have changed so much at the moment.  I think she’s right on the money in saying that I think everybody’s a lot fitter than they used to be.  There’s so much more emphasis put on the ability to play five sets and play seven matches in two weeks, like they have to do now at the majors.  You know, I’ve asked myself that question a lot, too.  I’ve asked my colleagues that question a lot.  And I’ve never had a real satisfactory answer.  It may be a temporary thing.

When I look at the young players, Ryan Harrison, he’s 18 years old, that’s fine, I understand that, he’s got a long way to go still.  But what happened to the day when 17-year-olds were winning majors?  That’s an interesting question.  I’m not sure that we’ve answered it adequately.  I’m not sure I have a proper answer for it, honestly.

Q.         Cliff, I wanted to ask sort of a general question looking ahead to this Open, with the form of guys like Nadal and Federer of late, Djokovic’s shoulder, Clijsters pulling out.  It seems maybe like this might be sort of an uncertain and wide-open Grand Slam tournament as we’ve had in a while on both sides. 

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  I would not call it wide open on the men’s side, no.  I think Djokovic, notwithstanding his shoulder issues, I think he’s going to be ready from everything that I’ve been told, and I think he’s going to be a clear favorite.

Just as an aside.  An interesting thing for me that I’ve been saying all along since Nadal made his move, you know, two or three years ago and dominated the scene, that it was going to be a flat ball hitter, somebody who could hit the ball flat consistently.  And we haven’t found that person until Novak Djokovic, because he’s a flat ball hitter.  He keeps it wide and he can do it consistently now like nobody else has done really that I can identify in history.

As for it being wide open in the women’s field, if you take Serena out of the mix, it is totally wide open, as it has been all year.  We’re in for a huge surprise for a winner, in my view.  If you put her in the mix, I take Serena versus the field, and I say that’s a 50/50 call, Serena versus the entire rest of the field is a 50/50 call.  If you take her out of the mix, then it’s wide open.

Q.         Chris, your take on Serena and whether you see her as a pretty clear-cut favorite?  Are you surprised or impressed at all with the way she’s been playing after as long away as she was from the tour? 

CHRIS EVERT:  Very, very impressed.  We saw her at Wimbledon, and I think even though she lost a close match to Bartoli, Bartoli played out of her head.  I think that exceeded, you know, people’s expectations, that Serena would do that well at Wimbledon after being out for a year and all her health issues.  She committed herself.  She practiced.  She’s won two tournaments.  That’s unbelievable.  It’s incredible.  Not to undermine the rest of the field, but it just shows that she’s head and shoulders above anybody else, again, when she’s healthy.

I kind of caught the last part of Cliff.  I agree.  I would take a healthy Serena as a heavy favorite in this year’s US Open.

Q.         More on Serena.  I cannot get enough.  In particular, given all that you said, that Cliff echoed, as well, do you have any regret or lament or feeling about her being seeded 28th?  If so, how is the average sportsfans who tunes in supposed to make sense of that? 

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  I have a real problem with it.  I was thinking about it this morning.  I think it’s ridiculous.  I think that the majors years ago, they allowed themselves the opportunity to reseed or not to go with the seedings according to the tour’s ranking system.  I think this is a perfect example of what they should not do, which is go with the rankings.  I think they should have seeded her a lot, lot higher.  I feel very strongly about that.

CHRIS EVERT:  I mean, they definitely went by the seedings, went by the rules.  If she hadn’t won the two warmup tournaments, I would say, You know what, that’s fine, because they made a good judgment call.  But you kind of wonder.  I mean, it hurts the field is what it does.  It really doesn’t hurt Serena as much as it hurts the other players.  One of the top seeds will get her in the third round.

Yeah, I think they could have made a much better judgment call just on the fact that she won both warmup tournaments.  I mean that’s shouting loud and clear, I’m back, I’m beating the field, I’ll still the best player in the world when I’m healthy.

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  I would have seeded her No. 8.

CHRIS EVERT:  You have to protect her and the other players.  It’s not only about Serena, it’s about protecting the other players, as well.

Q.         I want to keep on the Serena theme.  I can’t get enough Serena.  I wanted to ask both of you, we talk about obviously how surprising it is, but really truly if you could expound a little bit about how surprised are you that she has been able to come back this way this summer?  What were you expecting?  The other part of the question is, do you think it’s more of a statement of what an amazing athlete she is or how much of it is also that nobody else in the women’s game is really stepping up at this point? 

CHRIS EVERT:  Well, I think both.  I think not to cop out on an answer, but I think Serena’s incredible.  Cliff and I were just talking about that.  He asked me where would I put Serena as far as the greatest of all time.  I said, You know what, I’d put her right up there with Martina and Steffi.  She’s the best comeback player we’ve ever seen.  If you look at the last 10 years, you know, she’s been out, she comes back.  Even when she hasn’t been in shape, she can still win a Grand Slam.  We’ve seen her win the Australian Open when she was, you know, 20 pounds overweight.

To me, she is an incredible athlete.  She’s got the power.  She’s got the speed.  She’s got the mental toughness.  There isn’t a chink in the armor there at all.  Her health is her own worst enemy.  Her health is her rival or competitor.  Yes, it has impressed me.  We should applaud her and really be amazed at the wonderful athlete and the wonderful gifts and talents that she has.

On the other hand, it’s disappointed me that nobody’s emerged this year because there’s been a pool of talent within eight or ten players that could have emerged.  Caroline Wozniacki emerged as the No. 1 player, but she did it because she played a lot of tournaments and she was consistent and still didn’t rise to the occasion of being, you know, the real meaning of a champion:  winning under pressure, winning a Grand Slam.  So it has disappointed me.  I see a lot of talent, but I don’t see anybody who really took advantage of it.

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  I’m glad that Chris talked about the conversation we had before the conference call.  There’s nobody in history that I could put against her and say she would win.  In other words, I’m calling her the greatest of all time because she has no weakness, not only no weakness, but she has so many strengths.  She can come back, you know, like Kim Clijsters did, wins the US Open after a break.  She has done it before.  If you remember Miami those years ago after she had her knee surgery, that didn’t stop her from playing well down there.

I just think there’s no question that she’s the class of the field.  There’s mechanical and technical reasons for it.  They’re there for everyone to see.

CHRIS EVERT:  And I have to say this.  You know, my second choice would be Maria Sharapova.  I sort of thought, Gosh, she was going to win Wimbledon.  Really, everything was pointing to that victory.  And she actually did not play well in winning the last tournament, but she won it anyway in the finals.  It was because of sheer, you know, perseverance and gutsiness.  I have to say she is the only other player that I see that really has the big weapons.  If it’s a healthy Serena, again, Serena’s going to win.  But Maria, if anything happens to Serena as far as a loss, an upset, something happens to her injury-wise, you know, I’d have to give the thumbs up to Sharapova because I think she’s mentally the toughest one out there.

Q.         Chris, did you ever count her out at any point?  Were there times in the last five years, let’s say?

CHRIS EVERT:  Never, never, never.  You know, as a matter of fact, I think that I was the one that sort of wrote that open letter to her.  When was it?  Five, six, seven years ago.  It’s like, Serena, you could be the greatest of all time.  At 30 years old you don’t want to look back and see you won five Grand Slams when you could have won 15.  I thought that maybe she was being distracted and doing other things.  But, no.  Because she’s had so many breaks and so many rests, listen, she’s probably fresher than anybody else right now.  She’s probably playing like a 25-year-old who’s played seven years on the tour.  So she could even keep going.  You know, it’s too bad for the women’s circuit that she has to pull out a lot.  But, you know, it’s good for her longevity.

Q.         How do you both look at what’s going on with Nadal this year?  Had such a dominant year last year.  Djokovic’s rise has done something to his psyche.  How do you feel about how he’s handling it and how he looks at 25? 

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  You know, the game for me, it’s changed for both Federer and Nadal with Djokovic.  You know, clichés and stuff.  But unbelievable to me how Djokovic has changed the mix of the whole field because you take away — when somebody makes the kind of move that he’s made, it has an effect in the locker room because the rest of the field now takes a look at Federer and Nadal – your question is about Nadal – but they see those two in a different light, and they see they’re beatable by a guy like Djokovic who makes a move that he made.  So I think that’s one of the issues.  The other issues we’re not sure about.  He’s just come out with this book that sort of identifies some of the issues he’s had in the past.  But psychological maybe and physical also.  Potential that this foot issue he talked about in the book is a problem for him.  Outside of that, to explain his problems, I think it can be summed up in one word, and that is the man from Serbia.

Q.         It’s very interesting to watch how he’s handling or not handling Djokovic compared to Federer.  He solved Federer.  He clearly has not solved Djokovic.  Is it simply he’s butted his head against a guy he just can’t figure out? 

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  Again, I’m going to repeat myself.  But to me it’s really an important point.  I’m interested in the mechanics of this game and the strategy of it.  I felt all along that a player who can hit the ball flat and hard, and do it consistently, that’s not an easy assignment, that’s not something that’s easy to do, that would cause him problems because he has so much spin.

Nadal has over the years adapted his game to his competition, there’s no question about that.  But, you know, Federer doesn’t have the flat ball hit particularly off the backhand side, so that was a vulnerable side for him, and that’s how Nadal was able to get the better of him.  But he cannot do that against Djokovic.  He wants to.  He wants to figure him out.  But it’s going to be very difficult for him to do that, in my opinion, as long as Djokovic stays healthy because this kid has got the flat ball.

CHRIS EVERT:  And I also see in Nadal’s improvement, he flattened out his shots.  You know, that spin, the ball he hit was so heavy with so much spin, and that bothered so many people, and that’s what made him so great and so tough to beat.  And it doesn’t bother Djokovic at all.  It doesn’t bother him because he’s taller and, you know, he doesn’t mind those high shots.  He has a good answer to that.  But now they’ve become lower and they’re more in his power zone, so he’s returning the flatter ball that Nadal gives him.  It doesn’t hurt him at all.

I think Djokovic has really nothing to be threatened by Nadal’s game right now.  But I also think Nadal, there’s like a seven-year itch in tennis, where, you know, Nadal played seven solid years without many injuries and very physical.  He played such physical tennis.  He makes the game look really hard the way he works.  I think it’s taken a toll on him, his body, mentally, maybe a little bit of tiredness there.

But I think he’ll work it out.  I mean, he’s a champion.  He worked out Federer.  He’ll work this out.  But it’s okay.  You just got to have the little dips, kind of peaks and valleys, and you can’t always be on top of your game every single year.

Q.         Cliff, I believe that you were saying all summer that you really would like to see Federer add a two-handed backhand.  Am I wrong about that? 

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  I said it once.  Look, I think if you could go back in history, look at all the players, the competition he has now, I don’t want to overstate this case because on the face of it it sounds ridiculous because he’s done what he’s done.  He’s definitely up there with the greatest of all time comments.  I don’t want to sound like an idiot.  But when you consider the opposition now and what they all do, I was sort of speculating once, asking my compadres, do you think sometimes he has sleepless nights over the fact that they have two-handed backhands that cause him trouble, he has this one-handed backhand that if he can get it high enough, it’s an issue for him.  I did say that.  I’ll get into a long answer to the question.  At a certain time, until Chris, there was Jimmy Connors, and he at a certain time were the only two in the top 50 that played with two hands.  Now it’s 90% of the players playing with two hands.

Q.         I thought it was really intriguing, but has there ever been a player of his stature that you can remember who has added something so radical so late in a career? 

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  Let me try to answer that in a roundabout way.  The reason that Djokovic is such a great player now, he added two things in the last 18 months.  To me, it’s extraordinary.  He added the serve.  I’m not going to go into the details of it, but he changed his serve motion behind his head.  He comes with a closed racquet facing to the ball.  He definitely did more the palms down, racquet face down, on the forehand side as well.  Those two things have made his serve if not better than anyone’s at least equal to the best in the business.  And his forehand is now unmissable, which didn’t used to be the case.  I’m not suggesting or speculating about Roger Federer ever even thinking about going to a two-hander.  I was just sort — my mind was wandering.  I was saying, Gee, I wonder if he ever wishes that he had a two-handed backhand.

Q.         Chris, could you maybe assess the games of Andrea Petkovic and Kvitova.  And, Cliff, I wanted to ask you about Andy Murray, his maturation process. 

CHRIS EVERT:  Well, Kvitova, I was stunned that she won Wimbledon.  If you were to ask me the first week of Wimbledon, Could Kvitova win Wimbledon, I would have looked at you with crossed eyes.  I was stunned.  Especially the way she played in the finals against Sharapova, wow.  I mean, moving is really not her strength, it’s her weakness, but she covered the court beautifully and hit winners on top of that.  She really impressed me.

Somebody who has come out of nowhere that young to win two Grand Slams back to back, you know, I don’t think she’s going to win the US Open for that reason.  But very impressive.  She’s got a big serve and a big forehand.  Of course, you know how I feel about those lefties, they’re always dangerous.

And then Petkovic, you know, I was impressed with her in the spring when I watched her on clay.  Then she kind of fell out a little bit.  When I watched her, yes, she was injured, but as much as I love that she’s feisty out there, she hits a big forehand, she’s got great groundies, but you got to have a better serve I think to really challenge the top.  Listen, I’m one to speak.  I didn’t have a great serve, but you didn’t need one in my day.  I think for her, in this day and age, you need a bigger serve.  So until she gets a bigger serve, I wouldn’t, you know, put my money on her as far as winning a major.

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  Andy Murray, his story to me, look, he’s in the top four, but he’s number four out of four.  If the other three guys are playing at the level they have been playing, then he’s going to stay at number four.

That said, in the tournament with a 128 field, there are always going to be upsets along the way.  So if you give him a look, if one of those top three suffers a hiccup of some kind, then Andy Murray, the maturing process for him could be completed and he could win a slam.

I was very disappointed with him in the semifinal of Wimbledon because he looked, relatively speaking, like a second class player.  When we were watching that match, I said, It’s going to be a while.  In his game, there are some mechanical things that need addressing.  The top four or five players have got a game that is as solid as a rock.  In my opinion, his forehand side is a very big weakness.  Until he corrects that, just from a mechanical standpoint, I don’t think he’s going to be able to make a move unless he gets some luck with the draw.  That’s my feeling about Andy at this point.

Q.         Chris, I was out at your academy yesterday and I want to talk about the future of American tennis as far as the girls.  Lauren Davis and Madison Keys.  Can you assess their potential.  They’re both in the US Open, they got wild cards, and they earned it.  Can you set their potential and talk about the experience of playing in the US Open for kids like that. 

CHRIS EVERT:  The thing hurting Lauren is her height.  She’s 5’2″, but she makes up for a lot of that territory by being an incredible athlete, very much like Kim Clijsters.  The way she moves, she’s a great little competitor.  Again, she got into the Australian.  I mean, I hope she does great.  She’s got a wonderful outlook and temperament for the game.

Madison actually is working now with the USTA, but she was with us for six years before this year.  She’s got a lot of power.  I think when I look at her, I think she’s only 16 years old, I think she is the future of American tennis.  I would put her against anybody as far as she’s got the power, she’s got the reach, she’s got the tenacity.  Now it’s just a matter of getting her to become a little more consistent.  But, you know, I’m very proud of both of them.

Q.         Talk about your first time at the US Open, what it meant to you, what it can mean to these kids, win or lose. 

CHRIS EVERT:  It’s always great because it’s your country, it’s your country’s championship.  It’s not like when you’re in Europe, you’re at the French Open or Wimbledon.  I mean, you feel like really close to the crowds.  You feel a lot of support.  The crowds at the US Open are so supportive of American players, as well as every player, but a little bit more so with the American players.  They’re going to have a lot of fans out there.  They should just enjoy every moment and just remember why they’re there.  They’re not there to take in everything.  They’re there to get on the court and focus on what their job is, and that is to play and to try to win.

Q.         Chris, I wanted to follow up on the open letter to Serena that you mentioned before.  Back when you wrote that, I think it was 2006, she had seven slams, I think the general feeling among many in tennis was, Hey, you know, if you applied yourself more in tennis and really buckled down, didn’t have so many outside interests, you could put up Steffi-like numbers.  Now she’s got 13.  Do you think in a way she’s almost had the last laugh; that she’s been able to dip in and out of the schedule?  You mentioned before it prolongs your career in a way. 

CHRIS EVERT:  Yeah, yeah.  And I’ve often thought that.  I go, Whoa.  Yeah, she’s had the last laugh.  Plus she’s been able to do all her business ventures, make a lot of money, supposedly gone to school, online classes, and then had fun in the process.  She lives in L.A.  She has her Hollywood friends.  I mean, this is a woman who is living a full life, who is very multi-dimensional.  So she’s dipped in and out, like you said, of the game.  Still, when she’s been in the game, committed herself and been No. 1 and still won the tournament.  But if I may say, it wasn’t because of the letter.  But I think she did buckle down after that period because I think things were starting to get a little bit out of her control.  I mean, that was a period where she was getting injured, then she was doing business deals.  She was losing in the first and second rounds of tournaments.  That should never happen to somebody like Serena Williams.  She should have had more pride in that, her performances, and she’s a better player than that.  But I think she did buckle down and she had a couple, three solid years after that.  I honestly did think it put, with everything saying the same thing, I think it did put a seed in her mind and she committed herself a little bit more after that.

Q.         Do you think when all is said and done that her numbers will be where they should be or will you stand back and say, She could have won more? 

CHRIS EVERT:  You know what, have no idea, because the big question is:  How long is she going to play?  If she plays a solid five more years, healthy and commits herself, she deserves those numbers.  But if she would retire right now at 13, I would say she deserved to have won more.

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  I completely agree with that.  Two quick thoughts.  Remember, she started late.  She never played any tournaments as a teenager or as a kid rather.  She didn’t play any juniors, remember how controversial that was because her dad kept her out of that.  Two, she’s in really good shape now.  She looked good in the last two tournaments that she played and played so well at that I’ve seen in a long time.  And she’s working hard.  Even when she was injured in Miami this year, she came out to our club at Key Biscayne, and I was surprised and pleased at the fact that she physically, regardless of all the other things she’s doing, which you identified, she’s working hard physically, and I think she’s in really good shape.  You’ve got to give her credit for that.

Q.         Chris and Cliff, we’ve seen some impressing things from the young American women.  Sloane Stephens made it to the quarters, and McHale beat Wozniacki the other day.  Is there something bubbling up there?  Also, I wanted to ask you on the women’s side your dark horse? 

CHRIS EVERT:  I think there are a lot of names in American tennis that in a few years, I mean, these players that you mentioned, Sloane Stephens, I love her game.  I’m very impressed with her.  Christina McHale has done wonderful.  She had a good Wimbledon.  She has done well by beating Wozniacki.  She’s gaining confidence.  CoCo Vandeweghe, she’s got a lot of potential, a lot of power.  Then there’s Lauren Davis, the top junior players.

But, you know, everybody wants to know who the next champion is.  I’m always caught off guard because it’s like, Okay, this is a journey.  These kids are 17, 18, 19 years old, and they’re ranked like 100, maybe one of them is 50, 60, 70, 80.  It’s still a long road to becoming the top 10 in the world.  And I think it can happen in the next, you know, three years.  But right now at this point I don’t see anything happening like this year.  But I think there’s some really exciting and good, solid tennis players out there in the American field.

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  If you want my pick for surprises, Sam Stosur for this tournament.  She started to play well out in California.  I’m not sure why she hasn’t done well on a hard court, but she may learn.  She may learn here in the next couple of weeks.  If there’s going to be a surprise, that would be the one I’d pick out.

CHRIS EVERT:  You know what, Cliff, you’re so right about her.  I never could understand why that clay court game couldn’t translate to a hard court ’cause it doesn’t look like she’d be a clay court player.

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  I can’t figure it out either.

CHRIS EVERT:  I can’t figure it out.  I guess, I don’t know, maybe it’s the spins.  I don’t know, maybe the spins are different.  But, you know, I don’t really have a dark horse.  But she’s about as good as any pick, and I think you did a good job there.

Q.         Could each of you compare Djokovic’s season so far with the all-time great seasons through history. 

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  Yeah, I feel very strongly that this is an historic year.  I guess that’s minimalizing it.  But I’ve got to make this point about what he has done so far.  You win five of these 1000 tournaments that he has, five in a row, and you’ve got two Grand Slams under your belt, and it’s really important in my view to put in perspective the fact that he has had to play against the top players in the world week in and week out.  He’s played eight tournaments, five 1000s, then he played three Grand Slam tournaments.  He has still only lost two matches.  That to me is the most significant thing when you compare the year that he’s had with, for example, McEnroe’s year when he lost only three.  In those years, every year prior to the start of the Super 9, those years, which wasn’t that long ago, the players could and did duck each other, so you’d have Connors in one tournament, McEnroe in another, Lendl in another, and they’d get together in the slams.

The only point that I’m going to make is what makes it so much more unbelievable is the fact that in this modern game, you cannot duck the best players.  And he has had to beat Nadal I guess five times and he’s had to beat Federer four times.  Put in perspective, I think it makes the achievement even more remarkable.

CHRIS EVERT:  Especially with such great champions as Nadal and Federer in this era, like you said, to be playing those players week in and week out.  It is incredible, that consistency and that hunger and that eagerness that he seems to have had for every single match.  I think it’s a testament to the mental part even more so than the physical part.  You know, I actually think he lost before Wimbledon at the French, it helped him at Wimbledon.  If he’s not injured, if it was just a little bit of a pull or whatever, his shoulder, you know, it’s probably going to help him for the US Open, too.  He’s got to mentally rest, you know, because he’s winning so much.

Q.         I would like to ask a question to Cliff.  I’m interested in Andy Murray.  You talked about the mechanical problem.  Do you see that as something that can be resolved and something that has an association with Darren Cahill, Cliff’s friend, could resolve?  Do you think Andy is progressing under Darren? 

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  First of all, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the question would come from Andy Murray with the accent (laughter).  Look, I think he’s got a great serve.  I think he’s got a great backhand.  I think he moves as well and maybe better than anyone else of his competitors, very close to.  My only serious issue, and you saw it at Wimbledon with his forehand side.  He hits a forehand a little bit like Stefan Edberg used to.  It’s a little late.  He does not drop the racquet head just before he makes contact, like all — I’m putting sort of Del Potro in that mix, as well.  They’re able to get into the ball with a loose-wristed forehand at the last minute.  They hit it with a western grip.  He is more sort of like an eastern grip.  He’s a little tight.  I don’t want to get too technical.  Could you change it?  Yes.  It would take some work, though.  I do think that he could change it.

As for Darren Cahill doing it, I know he’s worked with him somewhat, but I can’t answer that.  That would be between Darren and himself.  I have strong feelings, as I already shared with you, if he makes that adjustment, he’s going to win at least some slams, in my opinion.  Even if he doesn’t, he’s still going to win a couple of slams before he retires.

Q.         Who do you think he matches up with?  Rafa has a problem with Novak’s game being flatter.  Andy has done well against Novak.  He won against a depleted Novak at the weekend.  How do you think he matches up with him? 

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  I think he matches up well with Novak.  It just depends on the day obviously.

Novak, in the big matches, in my opinion, in best-of-five, because of this technical hitch that I think he has anyway, is going to take him out.  And I think that’s true of Federer and I think it’s true of Rafa, as well.  That’s his problem.  That said, if the draw opens up for him, I’m not answering your question, you were asking me specifically about Novak, they played a lot together, they know each other’s games very well, who was going to make the move against Nadal and Federer, and it turned out to be Novak.  Andy is not far behind.  For your sake, I hope he finds that forehand one day.

CHRIS EVERT:  You know, he’s too good a player not to win a Grand Slam.  It’s just unfortunate he’s in an era with, you know, the three greatest players.  It will hopefully just make him more determined and become a better player than he would have ever become if those players hadn’t been in his era.  I think everyone would love to see him win a Grand Slam.

Q.         Chris, it seems like there are no more big rivalries like there used to be in women’s tennis.  Do you think the women’s game is missing those great battles between two great players that generates more interest? 

CHRIS EVERT:  Well, I personally think rivalries do enhance the game and do bring more fans out to watch, especially people that maybe aren’t tennis purists.  I think it does add a lot of excitement.  You’re right.  I mean, the men have it.  Whoever plays, if Federer plays Djokovic or if Federer plays Nadal or Nadal plays Djokovic, you always feel like there’s a semblance of a rivalry or one starting or whatever.

But, you know, the last one was the Williams sisters.  Even when they played, everybody felt uncomfortable.  I felt uncomfortable anyway.  I think everybody did.  They didn’t know who to root for.  They felt the emotion and sort of the tenseness between the sisters.

But in answer to your question, yeah, as open of a field as it is now, there’s wonderful talent and a lot more depth and players from all over the world, yeah, I think when you had that Monica/Steffi, or Chris/Martina, I think that still made it more interesting, yeah.

Q.         Can you talk about why the flat hitters is more important and does this mean that Djokovic will creep up in the standings towards the greats? 

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  Does that mean he will, yes, there’s no question about that.  Obviously, if he keeps playing the way he’s been playing, that would be the most redundant thing I’ve said.  If he keeps playing like this, there’s no reason why he couldn’t continue to win maybe not at the same pace as he is, because nobody is going to be able to do that.

But, look, there’s so much spin in the game today.  Look, I’m not trying to say that Djokovic has got all flat and no spin, because he’s got a huge amount of spin, particularly off the forehand side.  Rafael Nadal, as much spin as he has, we all talk about how with all the spin he has he’s able to get the ball up to everybody else’s shoulders, and that makes it really difficult for his opponents, which is true.  That certainly has been an issue with Roger Federer over the years on his backhand side.

But there’s a downside to it.  For him to be able to use that much spin and get that ball so high, he is eventually sooner or later, and usually sooner rather than later, going to get a short ball on the other side.  When you get a short ball against a guy who plays like Djokovic and who can meet that short ball and play aggressively from there, which is exactly what Djokovic does.  He can go down either wing and he can get the ball flat and wide away from Nadal.

Q.         Is Kevin Anderson a flat ball player? 

CLIFF DRYSDALE:  Kevin Anderson is a big server.  He’s a flat ball player, but he’s a Karlovic or an Isner.  You know, that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms in just how far those guys can go in the modern game.  Because it’s now not just about the serve anymore, it’s about how you back up the serve.

I love his game.  I figured you would ask about him.  I think if I’m the field and if I’m the top four players that we’re talking about in the world, the guys that I would worry about if I were them would be a Karlovic or an Isner or joined now by Kevin Anderson.  I’m paying him a real compliment because I think Isner and Karlovic, both those guys, are really dangerous.

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Brackets Announced on ESPN August 25; Chris Evert Makes ESPN US Open Debut

ESPN’s multi-platform and worldwide coverage of tennis’ final Grand Slam event of the year, the US Open from New York August 29 – September 11 will include 100 hours in high definition on ESPN2 HD, 420 hours on ESPN3.com’s multi-court offering plus coverage across ESPN’s platforms in the U.S. and around the world.  The tournament will mark the ESPN US Open debut for Chris Evert, who joined ESPN this summer at Wimbledon.  With a record six US Open titles among her 18 major singles championships, she will serve as both a studio and match analyst.  For a taste of ESPN’s coverage, here is a promo spot: http://bit.ly/ESPNUSOad .

Before play begins, ESPN will be home of the exclusive announcement of the men’s and women’s draw during SportsCenter on Thursday, Aug. 25, at noon.  Patrick McEnroe and Mary Joe Fernandez will discuss the pairings live from the National Tennis Center in New York with player interviews including defending champion Rafael Nadal.

During the first week of the tournament, ESPN2’s coverage will start at 1 p.m. each weekday and will continue nonstop for at least 10 hours through both the day and evening sessions.  The latter, Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM, will begin at 7 p.m. and continue until 11 p.m. or when play is concluded, whichever is later. The second week, ESPN2 will have Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM at 7 p.m. on Labor Day Monday, Sept. 5, followed by day-long windows Tuesday – Thursday starting at 11 a.m. On Thursday, Sept. 8, the evening telecast will include a special doubles exhibition with actors Will Ferrell and Matthew Perry and Tennis Hall of Famers John McEnroe and Jim Courier.

All of ESPN2’s telecasts are also available online through ESPNnetworks.com, and on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app.  Both are accessible to fans who receive their video service from an affiliated

provider.

While ESPN2 is on the air, SportsCenter will have the right to cut-in live for updates and key moments.  SportsCenter’s daytime edition is on ESPN until 3 p.m. with later editions from 6-7 p.m. and 11 p.m.-midnight.  On ESPNEWS, SportsCenter airs from 3-6 p.m. and 7-11 p.m.

On the final day of the tournament, Sunday, Sept. 11, ESPN2 will televise live the women’s doubles championship at 1 p.m., and will review all the action at 10 p.m. with a special two-hour edition of SportsCenter at the US Open.

 

ESPN2’s Commentator Lineup

The addition at Wimbledon of Evert bolstered television’s best tennis team, led by Cliff Drysdale, a former US Open finalist.  Cliff has been with ESPN since its first tennis telecast September 14, 1979, exactly one week after the network launched, making him second in ESPN tenure among commentators behind only Bob Ley. Chris Fowler, ESPN’s lead studio anchor for Grand Slam tennis since 2003, will serve as a host and call matches. Mike Tirico of Monday Night Football, Hannah Storm and Chris McKendry will also serve as hosts.  John and Patrick McEnroe will again often be paired in the booth, and the rest of the ESPN tennis team returns:  Darren Cahill, Mary Joe Fernandez, Brad Gilbert and Pam Shriver.  In addition, Tom Rinaldi will contribute features and essays.

More US Open from ESPN, Inc.

ESPN3.com, the company’s live multi-screen sports network, will cover the action from six courts (up from five) beginning at 1 p.m. the first five days. ESPN3.com will also simulcast ESPN2 for the full tournament, select additional court coverage and a simulcast of the Women’s Doubles final for a total of approximately 420 hours of US Open tennis on the web.

ESPN3.com gives fans a 24/7 destination that delivers thousands of live, global sports events annually.  It is available in nearly 70 million homes at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider.  It is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks.  The network is also accessible on the go via the WatchESPN app and on ESPN on Xbox LIVE through an affiliated provider.

 

ESPN.com

• Courtcast: A multi-tool application with all-court scoring, match stats, Cover It Live conversations, poll questions, rolling Twitter feeds and scrolling bottom line.
• Center Court: A daily video review of the day’s best highlights and most notable results.
• Digital Serve: Exclusive daily dotcom video segment previewing the next day’s action.
• Slam Central: Home of all the best US Open content, including columns by Greg Garber, highlights and the latest results.
• Open Notebook: An aggregation of what the latest happenings are on the grounds of Flushing Meadows. From interviews, latest results, and even vetting the food, fans will get a taste of everything.

 

ESPN Interactive TV will be presented on DIRECTV. During the ESPN2 telecast windows for the first five days, a six-screen mosaic will include the ESPN2 program, along with matches with commentary from five other courts. In total, viewers will have access to more than 435 hours of live tennis action and 140 extra matches.  Production will be enhanced with press conferences, interviews and features that will be added during court changeovers and between matches.  All six screens can be expanded to full screen or picture-in-picture at the touch of the remote button.  In addition, DIRECTV will offer “Matches On Now,” a graphic across the bottom with scores from each of the matches currently on the court channels, with the ability to tune directly to the match, and “Results,” an instant look at real-time scores and schedule info for matches ahead – all without leaving the match the viewer is watching.

ESPN Deportes, the multi-media Spanish-language U.S. initiative, will present live action during the first week of the US Open through its radio and online platforms.  ESPNdeportes.com will serve U.S. Hispanic fans featuring daily webisodes of “ESPiaNdo” with the latest news and information. In addition, the site will offer special daily reports, highlights from New York and updates on Twitter by Varela, Cortina, and Alvarez.  ESPN Deportes Radio will feature daily segments during the morning drive show Al Despertar.

ESPN International will offer over 170 hours of live coverage throughout Latin America, the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa. In Latin America, coverage will be available in high definition. Coverage to Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America will be anchored by Luis Alvarez and Eduardo Varela with analysts Javier Frana and Jose Luis Clerc and reporters Nicolas Pereira, Carolina Guillen and Pablo Ferreira. Sam Gore and Mark Brown will handle English play-by-play with analysts Kathy Rinaldi and Jimmy Arias. Latin America’s ESPN Play will feature over 500 hours of live streaming coverage which will include up to six tennis courts in separate windows early on in the tournament. Additional Spanish content will be available on ESPN360.com, ESPNdeportes.com and ESPN Mobile, featuring daily webisodes of “ESPiaNdo” hosted by Varela, access to reports from New York and daily highlights

The WatchESPN app, for fans with Apple or Android devices and who receive ESPN’s linear networks as part of their video subscription via Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks or Verizon FiOS TV, will present ESPN2’s live coverage, in addition to ESPN3.com’s multi-screen offering.  Also, ESPN Mobile TV will carry 65 hours of live coverage.

ESPN Classic:  Great US Open Matches from the Past

Leading up to this year’s action, ESPN Classic will present great US Open matches from the past, highlighted by a 21-hour marathon starting late Thursday, Aug. 25 at midnight.  In addition, the morning the tournament starts Monday, Aug. 29, at 7 a.m. and leading directly into ESPN2’s live coverage at 1 p.m., ESPN Classic will air the most recent two men’s finals – Juan Martin Del Potro defeating Roger Federer in a dramatic five-setter in 2009 and Rafael Nadal beating Novak Djokovic for a career Grand Slam last year.

Of special note are showings of three noteworthy matches upon significant anniversaries:

• the 1981 Men’s Final – 30 years ago – when John McEnroe defeated Bjorn Borg 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 for his third of four US Open titles Thurs., Aug. 25, at 1 a.m. (Wed., Aug. 24, at 10 p.m. PT).  Borg quickly left the court and played very few matches ever again, and never in a major.  The match will also be aired on Tuesday, Sept. 13, the exact 30^th anniversary date, at 8 p.m.
• also on its 30^th anniversary, the 1981 Women’s Final will be presented Monday, Sept. 12, at 8 p.m.  In a memorable match, Tracy Austin came from way back to defeat Martina Navratilova 1-6, 7-6, 7-6 for her second and last major championship before back injuries shortened her career.
• A 10^th anniversary look back at the 2001 Men’s Quarterfinal, in which no. 10 seed Pete Sampras edged no. 2 Andre Agassi in four sets, all of which went to a tiebreaker:  Fri., Aug. 26, at 1 p.m. (Thurs., Aug. 25 at 10 p.m. PT).

The ESPN Classic schedule:

 

Date	Time (ET)	Match
Thur, Aug 25	1-3 a.m.	1981 Men’s Final: John McEnroe vs. Bjorn Borg
	7-9 p.m.	1995 Men’s Final: Pete Sampras vs. Andre Agassi
	MID-1 a.m.	1979 Women’s Final: Tracy Austin vs. Chris Evert Lloyd
Fri, Aug 26	1-3:30 a.m.	2001 Men’s Quarterfinal: Pete Sampras vs. Andre Agassi
	3:30-5:30 a.m.	1989 Men’s Quarterfinal: Jimmy Connors vs. Andre Agassi
	5:30-8 a.m.	1982 Men’s Final:  Jimmy Connors vs. Ivan Lendl
	8-11 a.m.	1992 Men’s Semifinal: Stefan Edberg vs. Michael Chang
	11 a.m.-1 p.m.	1994 Men’s Final: Andre Agassi vs. Michael Stich
	1-3 p.m.	1995 Women’s Final: Steffi Graf vs. Monica Seles
	3-5 p.m.	2004 Women’s Quarterfinal: Serena Williams vs. Jennifer Capriati
	5-7 p.m.	1990 Men’s Final: Pete Sampras vs. Andre Agassi
	7-9 p.m.	1995 Men’s Final: Pete Sampras vs. Andre Agassi
Mon, Aug 29	7-10 a.m.	2009 Men’s Final: Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Roger Federer
	10 a.m.-1 p.m.	2010 Men’s Final: Rafael Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic
Mon, Sept 12	8-10 p.m.	1981 Women’s Final: Tracy Austin vs. Martina Navratilova
Tue, Sept 13	8-10 p.m.	1981 Men’s Final: John McEnroe vs. Bjorn Borg

 

ESPN2 HD & the 2011 US Open

Date	Time (ET)	Event
Mon, Aug 29	1-7 p.m. 7-11 p.m.	First Round Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM: First Round
Tues, Aug 30	1-7 p.m. 7-11 p.m.	First Round Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM: First Round
Wed, Aug 31	1-7 p.m.	Men’s First Round/Women’s Second Round
Thur, Sept 1	7-11 p.m. 1-7 p.m. 7-11 p.m.	Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM: First & Second Rounds Second Round Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM: Second Round
Fri, Sept 2	1-7 p.m. 7-11 p.m.	Men’s Second Round/Women’s Third Round Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM: Second & Third Rounds
Mon, Sept 5	7-11 p.m.	Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM: Round of 16
Tues, Sept 6	11 a.m.-7 p.m. 7-11 p.m.	Men’s Round of 16, Women’s Quarterfinals Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM: Women’s Quarterfinals
Wed, Sept 7	11 a.m.-7 p.m. 7-11 p.m.	Quarterfinals Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM: Quarterfinals
Thur, Sept 8	11 a.m.-7 p.m.	Men’s Quarterfinals
	7-11 p.m.	Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM: Men’s Quarterfinals
Sun, Sept 11	1-3 p.m.	Women’s Doubles Final
	10-MID p.m.	SportsCenter at the US Open

 

-30-

Today, ESPN tennis analysts John and Patrick McEnroe discussed the upcoming US Open on a media conference call.  ESPN2 will televise 100 hours from New York starting Monday, Aug. 29, with other coverage across a variety of ESPN platforms, including ESPN3.com.  Highlights from the call follow.

Q. I wanted to ask you about Venus Williams, because I’m covering the women’s portion for ESPNW.  We’ve seen Serena step forward and reassert herself, but we haven’t seen that of Venus.  I guess I’m wondering if we’re seeing the twilight here of her career? 

PATRICK McENROE:  I think we’re definitely seeing the twilight.  That doesn’t mean that she can’t have a lot more success.  But obviously, the biggest factor is her health.  She hasn’t been able to get 100% healthy.  Serena has obviously been able to get herself in great shape and spend a lot of time working out, and you can see that that’s paying off.  For Venus, it’s probably been pretty tricky for her to do that in the last year and a half.  But clearly, if she can, she can still be a factor.  But at the moment, that’s a huge if.

JOHN McENROE:  I’ll just add real quick I saw her in January.  We played an event together in Hong Kong and even then she was sort of claiming to be saving it for Australia, not really going real hard, serving hard in the mixed doubles.  I think she ended up pulling out in Australia and not playing at all at Wimbledon.  The way it’s going, you can’t just at this stage this late be able to just step in and be able to do that.  Not only is it difficult just from lack of match play but just to remain healthy for a whole event.  She’s got to get out there more consistently, I think, at this point if she really wants to do something big or even have a chance of that.

Q. Could you both just run down sort of the obvious topic we always talk about is American men?  I’m not so much talking about whether they can’t win or anything, but just give me your feelings on the top guys, how they’re doing and where they are? 

JOHN McENROE:  Well, Mardy’s obviously playing the best tennis of his life.  He’s won of the top six, seven players in the world.  The tough part for anyone that’s not at that elite level, there have to be two or three other guys if they’re actually going to win a major.  To be able to do that is unbelievably difficult.  To beat one of them is hard enough.  To beat three of them potentially in a row would be mighty, mighty difficult.  I think if Mardy can make a run, I mean, he seems to be in this great head space and obviously fitness‑wise.  He’s in as good a position as he could possibly be in.  He’s maxing out at least which is good to see.  He’s fulfilling all the potential that people talked about.

The other guys are much more unknowns.  I mean, Ryan Harrison to me has always been a guy that you know he’s going to be a Top 10, top 15 player, but can he get to that top elite game?  That remains to be seen for me.  But I like him for what he’s bringing to the table now, and he loves to be out there competing and he’s learning.

He’s going to get up there.  It’s just how much is he going to develop his own sort of personality and game would be my question.

I’m not even sure if Sam’s playing, and Andy looks like he hasn’t played much matches.  Isner’s the guy to me, I wish with the way he plays, I think that he’s not as dangerous as he could be because he’s chosen to play a style typical more or less of most of the other players.  I think me, personally, I’d like to see him take more chances and be less, allow guys to get in a rhythm and even more of a headache to play against him than it already is.  To me he gets stuck into too many rallies and that’s making it difficult for him now that he’s sort of taken a step back from when he was his high of 18 or 19, I think it was.

PATRICK McENROE:  Obviously, I think Mardy’s put himself in a position where you can talk about him as a guy that could make a huge run in a major.  As John said it’s obviously another level, but I think he’s at least in that conversation now as a guy if he gets a couple of breaks, he’s prepared to take advantage of an opportunity.

Roddick is a big question right now with his lack of match play.  For me he’s still playing a little bit too defensively.  I’d like to see him try to step in and cut the court off a little bit more and come forward a little bit more.  But he’s pretty stubborn which is part of the reason he’s had a lot of success, but I think it could be getting in his way a little bit now.

I agree with John on both Harrison and Isner.  I mean, I think Harrison got a lot of upside, he’s got a lot of swagger.  He still can improve a lot in his game, and that’s a good thing because he’s winning matches pretty consistently now.  The other question is how much will his game develop in the next year and a half, two years.

As far as Isner is concerned, I think he has made a few improvements.  I’ve seen him play quite a few matches this summer, and I think he is looking to be at least more aggressive on the return.  But I certainly concur with John that he’s got to play more big‑man tennis to really beat ‑‑ he’s not going to beat guys from outgrinding them from the back of the court.  Hopefully we’ll see Querrey back.  He’s supposed to play next week in North Carolina.  He’s made a pretty good recovery from his surgery, so it would be nice to see him back out there.

Q. Patrick, I’m wondering what you see in Novak’s return of serve right now that makes him statistically speaking the best returner of serves in the men’s game? 

PATRICK McENROE:  Well, he’s got incredible flexibility, number one.  I think that is probably the key.  He’s very long, and he’s very limber.  Even with two hands he’s able to full stretch and get something off the return on a big serve.  Basically anything you serve at him or close to him, he doesn’t miss.  He’s not quite as punishing as say Andre Agassi was on the return.  But he’s a little more like Lleyton Hewitt was when Hewitt was in his prime.  He gets his racquet on everything.  He probably even does a little more damage than Hewitt does on second serves and balls that he can attack.

Q. Pat and John, do you buy into this situation that Americans are not watching tennis simply because there aren’t any American men out there?  I mean the quality of play is phenomenal.  I can’t really see that’s a valid reason. 

JOHN McENROE:  Well, I think there is some truth to that.  We’ve been pretty successful over the years, so subsequently I’m sure a lot of our fans have gotten spoiled and are wondering why we’re not succeeding as much.  I think it’s only natural.  That’s why people have a rooting interests in teams.  Would they watch the Cincinnati Bengals play the Seattle Seahawks if they’re in New York in the playoffs?  A good portion of people would watch if they felt like these teams were good or the playoff teams or even the Patriots versus the Colts.  But they would certainly prefer in the New York area if the Jets or the Giants were playing.  I think it’s only natural in a worldwide game where there are things such as Davis Cup and the Olympics that people would want to feel and share in a tiny way the success of someone from America, and that just adds a little juice to it.

So to me the Major League Baseball and NBA have done a good job where a lot of the players are no longer Americans, and they still market the game better than we have, I believe, in terms of getting the fans to know the players better.  But ultimately, I still think these fans in those sports still want to see Americans as well.

If it was all foreigners or all the top players, it would be more difficult.  So this is why it’s people like both Patrick and myself, among others, that are trying to get something happening here in the States again and the buzz back to our sport and to get some champions again.  I think it’s important for the game as well.  America’s a huge market.

PATRICK McENROE:  I would just add to that I think there are two different ways to look at it.  Number one is you look at the attendance of the US Open, and it will just keep going up.  It’s bigger and better every year, essentially.  Where it does hurt is when the Americans aren’t playing in the final weekend or the final four or five days of the event.  So I think obviously a Federer‑Nadal match is going to maybe spark the interest of sort of a casual fan.  But if Serena Williams were playing, particularly when we had Agassi and Sampras, those are two Americans.  When you have John and Jimmy, also two Americans, you know, Chrissy Evert and Martina.  Martina became an American.  We were pretty spoiled.

I think that obviously overall television numbers are down for every sport except the NFL.  But there is no doubt that having the Americans in the final weekend of majors raises the ratings for television coverage.

 

Moderator:  I would add that, yes, of course fans will grasp on to American stars more quickly.  If there was an American Federer, who knows how that would rate.  But we do quite well with the stars we have because the fans want to see greatness.  They like charisma.  They like flair and rivalries.  So ratings do rise for certain matchups and players regardless of their nationality.  It’s just a matter of the folks getting to know them, and that’s part of what we do at ESPN with profiles and so forth and trying to personalize the players.

Q. John and Patrick, I enjoyed the piece that was on last night with HBO’s Real Sports.  I’m not sure it really resolved anything to explain why Americans have had their biggest drought.  I know you have philosophies about how to bring Americans back.  But it seems to be a Catch-22 aspect that it will be popular when an American wins, but we can’t get an American to win until it gets popular in the U.S.  I wondered if you came away from that piece feeling like it was even more up in the air?  I know John you mentioned it wasn’t sexy enough for kids.  Is it hard to get kids involved in it when you show them there is all this hard work to do? 

JOHN McENROE:  I don’t think there’s any sport that I’m aware of where you don’t need a lot of hard work.  But when you’re out there by yourself as often as you are and the amount of work it takes and the basics that have to be drilled into you not only from the physical part the stroke production, but the mental part of it, but you need to sort of give them things that would make them want to keep doing it.

I didn’t see the piece.  But I don’t think Patrick and I are as far off as people make it out to be.  I simply believe there should be different options provided for people.  I’m going to provide that option here in New York.  Patrick’s got a plan and the USTA and they’ve started to spread themselves out anyway.  That was always the plan that was talked about to have some different centers where they could train, whether it’s California, Florida.  Those are obvious.  The less obvious would be New York or Chicago.  But I think those options should be out there.  I think that the fact that we’re all realizing maybe a little later than we’d like to, that we really need to be much more pro active in going after athletic kids as well as doing things to sort of make them as, and I meant, the sexy part, wanting to be out playing tennis more than some of the other sports is a big key for our success moving forward.  But I think we can and I think we will be successful.

PATRICK McENROE:  I agree.  I did see the piece.  I actually saw it this morning because I didn’t see it last night.  But I felt that it was their message, and I forget your name, I’m sorry, who asked the question.  But I thought that it was their message not ours that’s going it to take a superstar to create the buzz.  Then how do you get the superstar without the buzz?  I certainly don’t believe that.  I don’t believe that John believes that.

I think we have plenty of kids that if we train them the right way and if they have the motivation and the cajones as John talks about, that we can get players to the top.  At the same time, there is no doubt we need to do a better job across the board of what we’re doing.  There is also no doubt to John’s point and what John’s focusing on a lot as well, is getting kids that traditionally don’t have the opportunity to play tennis, to play tennis.  I think the whole 10 and under initiative that’s coming from the USTA, part of that is to try to get more kids that didn’t normally get the chance to play tennis.  Get them interested in tennis and hopefully keep them in the game.

Q. I want to ask you about two young American players, Donald Young and Mitchell Frank.  It looks like the USTA is about to give young a wildcard into open despite that Twitter outburst he had a few months ago.  This is a guy who was a world junior number one, and he had a good showing here in Washington at the Legg Mason, but he hasn’t totally filled expectations to this point.  He’s just turned 22.  So I’m wondering what does he need to do to make it to the next level on the tour?  Regarding Mitchell Frank, here’s a guy that’s going to be fighting for entry into the US Open in a tournament this weekend.  Just wondering if he’s one of the guys we should keep our eyes on and one of the promising young Americans? 

PATRICK McENROE:  I’ll start with that.  I think I started before and I’ll say it again.  I think that Donald Young has a lot of potential.  I think if he works even harder than he’s been working, which I think he’s done a better job of that, as we saw having a good tournament in Washington is a positive sign.  He beat some quality players there.  Even at 22 there is still time for him to take it to the next level physically.  I think if he does that, I think he’s got a chance to be significantly higher.

Mitchell Frank is a great competitor.  He’s going to go to college next year so I think that’s a good decision for him.  But he’s had some success in the summer in the futures.  Also got to the finals in Kalamazoo where he lost to Jack Sock.  So he’s going to be one of the guys that’s pulling for a wildcard in the USTA playoff this week, and he’s a great kid, and he has a tremendous work ethic.

JOHN McENROE:  Yeah, I go way back (with Donald Young) because my agent represented him for a while and told me I’ve got to play it with this guy because this guy’s going to be number one at ten years old.  So I sort of saw this thing from afar and I watched him every year or so.  And suddenly he’s 15 or so, and he’s number one junior in the world.  I think that him and his family just expected it was going to happen, and I think it’s been a rude awakening.  I think they made a lot of choices, I would think, that they wish they hadn’t, starting way back.  Even when they were young they were worried about whether or not I was going to step in and step on their toes.  I think from that point on I could see that they, A, didn’t get what they should be doing, or B, I feel like they just misjudged and had it wrong.  I was only trying to be helpful because of what the relationship was with my agent and his and how I had just seen a young kid.  It’s too bad.  Obviously when you see someone like that there is no question even in the last three to five years the game has become much more physical.  You’ve got to get yourself in tip‑top shape, which I haven’t seen him do.

But the good news, if there is good news, if you look at a guy like Mardy, for example, and some of the veteran players are doing better than ever.  So if he’s able to somehow overcome some of the scar tissue that’s built up over the difficulties of the last five or six years, there is still a chance he could have an excellent pro career.

Q. John, as you and all of us know, emotion is really a key part of this great game we saw it at Wimbledon when Djokovic was really struggling, and then in the third round Baghdatis slammed his racquet a few times.  You could argue that really helped him turn around the match.  And Harrison is an exciting player, and he really slams his racquet a lot on court.  Then the other night in Cinci we saw Andy get frustrated and hit a ball in the stands. 

JOHN McENROE:  God bless America.  It still happens.  It’s good to see.

 

Q. Anyway, my question is Yannick said the code of conduct is the worst thing that happened to to the game.  People should be allowed to holler and throw racquets.  But Becker said way too many rules, too politically correct.  We should show emotion.  Your thoughts on that?  Should the code of conduct be loosened or should it be tossed out?  What’s wrong with showing emotion? 

JOHN McENROE:  You’re not asking me that seriously, right?

 

Q. Johnny, we need it.  You’re the man. 

JOHN McENROE:  That’s like you’re just feeding me to the blood in the water for sharks.  You know the answer to that before you even asked.

 

Q. Hey, America is looking to you, John.  We need to hear the truth.  Preach. 

JOHN McENROE:  Well, I think that you’ve put it out there and you’ve mentioned some people that were emotional players.  I think there is no question in our sport in a one‑on‑one game that people gravitate to players they can relate to on some level emotionally.  That’s why I think the game is in an upswing, the men’s game in particular.  You’re seeing guys show their personality, and the quality is improving and the athleticism.  But as importantly is that you’re starting to see more emotion from a guy like Djokovic sort of back to the way he was.  That’s becoming successful.

That was a dicey call.  I felt that was a tight call when Andy got that one‑point penalty to lose his serve in the third.  That’s where you wish that the guy would be.  Because that’s sort of he was sort of melting down, but he sort of contributed to the meltdown and maybe that didn’t need to happen.  I felt like that’s a tough one there.

But in general there is no doubt that ‑‑ I think they realized long ago when they tightened the rules for me and Connors, mainly, and a few other guys, that over the course of time they’ve squeezed it too much.  I think they are trying to loosen things up.  I think that is definitely something that they need to do.  I noticed, for example, I’m trying to remember the match, but it was yesterday where one of the players ‑‑ it wasn’t a code of conduct thing.  It’s when Djokovic, a ball fell out of his pocket during a point or a piece of tape.  The guy said listen next time you’re going to get a point penalty, so he told him.  If Djokovic had a little stuff hanging, he could double check that and not feel like he wasn’t told.  So those are the type of things.  Talking to the person and knowing the guy’s name and talking in that way, that would be quite helpful.

 

Q. But you think it’s really key to the game?  I mean, that’s what makes tennis appealing is the feelings, the emotions. 

JOHN McENROE:  Yeah, I do, Of course.  Is the Pope Catholic?

Q. How big of a favorite is Novak Djokovic in this tournament?  Is he the overwhelming favorite in your eyes?  And can you talk about the possibility of Rafa‑Federer semi which we haven’t seen here before?  How much does that potentially hurt them and help Novak? 

JOHN McENROE:  I’ll say quickly, overwhelming? I wouldn’t necessarily say overwhelming.  Obvious, yeah, no doubt about it.  The guy’s playing amazing.  He’s unbelievable.  So there is no question about it that he’s a big favorite.  When you have guys like Nadal defending the championship and Federer and Murray who I assume should be hungrier than ever and more desperate than ever the way things have been going, I can’t say overwhelming, especially with the pressure that he’ll be feeling, but certainly a big favorite.

I just want to see Nadal play Federer at the Open.  So in a way, if it’s the semis, I’m good with that.  That would mean whoever won that would be playing with a lot more confidence when and if they had to play Djokovic.  But that’s always a dicey situation when you have to play two days in a row to see how that pans out who has a tougher semi.

PATRICK McENROE:  I agree.  I don’t think he’s an overwhelming favorite of all.  You have two of the greatest players of all time who will be extremely motivated.  For Federer it’s been a pretty disappointing year by his standards, so you know he’ll be motivated.  And John’s point is most relevant to him as far as the semis or the finals.  If he’s got to play Rafa and potentially Novak back‑to‑back at 30, that’s going to be really tough for him.

But Nadal will be extremely motivated, so he’s going to want to show that he can get back to number one.  And if he wins the Open, he’s certainly got a case, depending on how the rest of the year goes to finish number one or at least be in the conversation.  But what Djokovic has done this year has just been off the charts.  To do what he’s done and win two majors, five straight masters events with Federer and Nadal right there, it’s pretty remarkable.  Even saying that, he’s the favorite, but it’s definitely not overwhelming.

Q. Everybody talks about the state of American tennis and it’s usually in a negative way.  Can you talk about encouraging signs that you see right now that things are headed in the right direction?  And specifically can you talk about some young American women who are on the rise? 

JOHN McENROE:  I think that the fact that we’re starting to be much more pro active is a good sign.  I think that people will inspire other people.  The veterans will be inspired by Mardy.  Ryan’s starting to get a little mojo.  We’re starting to certainly like this ten and under thing, even though it sounds like it’s nothing, I think that’s going to be a big thing when little kids get to play on these smaller courts.  I think it’s going to make the game much more accessible for kids to want to do it.  So I think down the road we’ll get back on a roll, I just don’t know exactly when.  I don’t see necessarily where we can put our hand on one guy right now or girl.  Serena’s going to add some oomph because she seems to be getting back and making it in some majors.  So we need to take advantage of this time and throw everything at what we’re trying to do which is get Americans to win majors again.

PATRICK McENROE:  Yeah, I think we just saw a really good sign 20 minutes ago when Christina McHale beat Wozniacki.  So step by step, and to the questioner’s point, we have some very good girls coming up.  Do we have any lockdown guaranteed girls right now that you can say are going to win majors?  I wouldn’t go there yet.  But I think we’ll have a lot of young girls in the Top 100 pretty soon.  I think we’ve got a lot of strength coming with the girls just behind them.

Then obviously you point to Ryan Harrison.  He’s got potential.  Jack Sock who won back‑to‑back Kalamazoos, and some other kids coming in after him.  So I think there are signs.  We’re seeing signs in what we’re doing with our program that slowly but surely we’re making some inroads and changing the culture of our kids and what it takes to become a professional.

Q. I have it on good authority from one of my colleagues that once upon a time you said 2011 US Open was possibly going to be Andy Murray’s best chance of a first slam.  Do you still think that’s the case? 

JOHN McENROE:  Well, he’s pretty promising, but he hasn’t shown me at the moment.  His best results have been in the majors.  That’s the good news because that’s where fitness comes into play more.  But he certainly doesn’t look right now like he’s ready to do it, but then again that may take some of the pressure off. Certainly the pressure is the greatest at Wimbledon for him.  He made a surprisingly good run at the French.  He hung in there.  He laid an egg in Montreal.  I don’t know what happened there.  He didn’t show up, and we’ll see what happens here.  But I think all the work he’s put in should pay off fitness‑wise, and some of it comes down to luck and draws. I would hope that he’d be hungrier and more desperate than ever to do it.

PATRICK McENROE:  Yeah, clearly he’s not coming in with any of the same momentum as far as people talking about him winning it as he has in the last couple of years.  I think John’s right, that may help him.  He’s struggled in the big matches.  To me he’s just basically frozen.  He freezes up at the big moments.  He’s played great players. It’s not even to me so much that he lost in the Aussie Open final or the US Open final, it’s the way he’s lost.  He’s just basically given up in some of those matches.  So you would hope that if he gets in that position again, he gives it everything he’s got.

 

Q. He seems to have done quite well at turning it on just at the majors this year, but can he keep doing that time after time? 

JOHN McENROE:  Well, that’s where the fitness pays off.  It’s tougher to beat better guys in longer matches.  Certainly at this stage he could use a little bit of confidence.  There are still a couple of weeks.  There is still this event.  This is his best surface.  I don’t know what’s going on.  He was not there in Montreal.  He’s had some majors that he’s been consistent.  So I would hardly say what he’s done was ‑‑ the body language at Wimbledon was upsetting, because it seems to be almost like he wasn’t going to play, and then he kept playing.  So his mind got in the way of things there. I don’t know how badly he was hurt.  So I don’t know what the issue was.  Certainly at the moment he needs to shake that off.  It’s the same old story.  He gets more negative than the other top guys out there and that’s costing him in some big situations.

Q. If you look back at this year, how do you think it would affect a player that he has to rule out himself for the fourth major this year, and how will this affect his play?  And what do you think about the Hawkeye system? 

JOHN McENROE:  Well, the Hawkeye, that’s a question I’m asked a lot because obviously I’ve had had some issues with umpires.  Would it have hurt me or help me is the unanswerable question.  But it seems to be a hit with the fans and certainly allowed players to strategize and save energy at times ultimately you’d like to see a match decided by the players.  So from that standpoint it’s good.

Q. How do you think it will affect the players that they have to rule out themselves for a fourth major this year? 

JOHN McENROE:  Well, they have to do that every year.  So I it seems like it’s pretty much well decided barring an absolute meltdown by Djokovic, which no one sees happening, that he’s going to be the number one player.  But I suppose if Nadal won this, he’d have two each.  And if he had a horrible end of the year, and ‑‑ Djokovic that is ‑‑ and Nadal won the Masters, it’s still possible.  There is still some meaning at least in Nadal that he can pull a rabbit out of the hat here.  So that’s what make this is more interesting.  Then obviously it’s historic to see if Novak can keep this up.  Certainly people like the previously caller want to know if Murray’s going to finally get off and win a major.  And people ask me every day, is Roger going to win another major?  So there is interest out there.  I think the men’s game is in good shape.

Q. Coming from Denmark, it will be no surprise to you that I’m going to ask you about Caroline Wozniacki.  As your colleague mentioned before, she just lost to Christine McHale.  Last week a match too.  She used to be very consistent in below ranked players.  She’s also been disappointing since Wimbledon and Paris.  What do you think is happening to her right now and what do you think she needs to stable in order to win? 

PATRICK McENROE:  I think the worst thing that ever happened to her was getting to number one without winning a major.  I think it just caught up to her, all the questions.  Initially she tried to handle it and just sort of brush it off.  It’s not her fault she got to number one it’s the system’s fault.  So she won a lot of matches.  She was very consistent.  But the bottom line is that Serena is injured, Clistjers played here and there.  So to me she was never the best player.  But that doesn’t take anything away from the fact that she won a lot of matches and got to number one.  But I think now it’s getting to her.  She’ll probably be a lot more comfortable when she falls to five or six in the rankings.  She’ll probably start winning more matches again.

JOHN McENROE:  I just watched her play.  I’m totally baffled as to what is going on.  She looks like she has absolutely no confidence right now.  Some of it obviously Patrick’s dead on about what he said about it put too much pressure on her being number one.  And that clearly Clistjers had won some majors, just because she hadn’t played enough, she wasn’t ranked higher and Serena was hurt.  So this put this unfortunate and undue pressure on her.  Having said that, she’s playing so poorly and so tentatively that something’s going on that I’m not aware of that is causing her that she doesn’t seem to be focused in on what she’s doing right now.

Q. John, Patrick and Dave, the men’s finals are going to be on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and there is also going to be a full slate of NFL and MLB games, and the US Open is going to honor the memory.  Is it better to do what they’re doing honoring the memory and playing the game or should there be a day of no games? 

JOHN McENROE:  Well, that to me is I think one of the things that brought people together is when people started getting back on the field.  Like the baseball game at Shea Stadium and the subsequent World Series and the Yankees and the effect that that had on bringing people together.  The willingness of people to go out and be in a stadium again and show the people that we’re going to keep doing the things that we love to do.  So for me, personally, just my opinion, certainly this was a monumental, catastrophic event.  I was here that day, and no one’s ever going to forget it anywhere in the world.  But I think that people are doing the right things to pay their respects, but they need to play the schedule the way it was meant to be played.  That’s just my personal opinion.

PATRICK McENROE:  I couldn’t agree more.  I think that would be sending the wrong message if we didn’t do that.  I think at the US Open they’re going to paint the 9/11 on the court, so it will be there for the final weekend.  And I think everyone around the country, MLB or NFL, will do similar things.  I think that will honor the memories of the people that lost their lives that day, more than not doing it.

Q. You want to chime in on this, Dave, for ESPN?

DAVE NAGLE:  In terms of playing or not, I agree with both John and Patrick.  We’ll have coverage of how sports treats the day on our various shows.  Including we have a SportsCenter from the US Open that night at 10 p.m.  But John was right that getting back to normal was part of the healing process and keeping what happened in mind is appropriate, but also moving forward with our lives, I would think.

Q.  Maybe just a quick question about parents in tennis.  Are they still a huge, bothersome thing in America and all over the world? 

JOHN McENROE:  Well, that’s obviously a major issue, even more so in the women’s game because a lot of it seems that a fair amount of the players, Wozniacki is an example of one, where the father’s coaching her.  So one of the things that I see just starting ‑‑ I’ve just started my own academy a year ago and you see these parents that are way too involved.  To me they’d be much better off in general if they were just their parents.  Then they get involved in not only as their parents, they’re coaching, they’re part of the management team.  It’s crazy.  So I think this is an issue that certainly is ongoing, and it is problematic in a lot of cases.  You can pick many, many cases where that’s become a problem.  So hopefully parents will see that I think they’d be best off stepping away.  Ironically, when everyone was like Richard Williams is crazy and he’s always out for himself, he did step back in a way.  And I respect him for moving, to some extent, out of the spotlight.

PATRICK McENROE:  How much time do we have?  Because, you know fortunately or unfortunately, it’s not going to change based on my experience.  But I agree with John.  I think as Nick Bollettieri once told me you’ve got to deal with the parents.  I think it’s happening everywhere, not just in tennis, but in a lot of sports.  But clearly the list is too long that I could go down of parents that are too involved, not in their kid’s lives, but in their tennis.  How this coach will work with them, and what are they doing to their forehand, specific stuff about tennis.  Unfortunately, and as John just said on the women’s side, there are plenty of examples where these young ladies have actually done well.  Whether it’s Bartoli, whether it’s Wozniacki, or Sharapova’s dad who was involved for a long time, but isn’t now so I think a lot of people see that and believe they can do it too.

-30-

Twelve-Year Agreement Starting in 2012

ESPN has acquired the exclusive U.S. television rights to live action from The Championships, Wimbledon, including both the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Singles Finals, in a 12-year agreement with the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club beginning in 2012.  Comprehensive coverage from start to finish across a variety of platforms will result in more tennis for fans and all of it live.

ESPN will present Wimbledon on its multimedia array of platforms, including both ESPN and ESPN2 simultaneously the second Monday-Wednesday.  This will allow for expanded coverage of the Round of 16 and live telecasts of all quarterfinals.  ESPN will televise the semifinals and finals.  ESPN on ABC will broadcast a three-hour highlights show on the “middle Sunday” of the tournament, and will reair the finals on a same-day basis at 3 p.m. ET.

In addition to the newly acquired rights, all of ESPN’s existing coverage will continue — television, broadband, mobile, and other rights in the U.S., Latin America and Canada (through 2021).  Since 2003, ESPN networks have aired approximately 100 hours annually – with another 650 on ESPN3.com, primarily on weekdays and capped by one Ladies’ and one Gentlemen’s semifinal.  Through 2023, the television schedule will increase to more than 140 hours, including full live national coverage of the semifinals and finals.  ESPN3.com’s schedule will expand to 750 hours, also with the semifinals and finals presented live.

Ian Ritchie, Chief Executive of The All England Lawn Tennis Club, said:  “We are delighted to be extending our partnership with ESPN, in a move which will consolidate our U.S. media rights under the auspices of a single partner.  This new agreement will bring increased live coverage of The Championships and ensure that the huge international audience for Wimbledon can now enjoy all the drama and colour of the Fortnight through a sustained narrative delivered with clarity, continuity and consistency across a wide range of platforms.”

George Bodenheimer, president, ESPN and ABC Sports, said, “We are proud to have been a partner of The All England Club the past nine years and are thrilled to be given continuing responsibility for honoring Wimbledon’s rich tradition. Over the next 12 years, we’ll work closely together to move coverage of this great event forward with live coverage on television and using all the latest technologies and screens.”

ESPN and Wimbledon

Currently, in addition to an already extensive TV schedule, ESPN’s Wimbledon rights include live matches on ESPN3.com (with the semifinals and finals available on delay), ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN Interactive TV, the WatchESPNApp, ESPNNetworks.com and Spanish-language ESPN Deportes, as well as distribution to 30 million homes in Latin America via ESPN International and in Canada via TSN.  In addition, ESPN.com has extensive reporting with news, analysis and video from Wimbledon, ESPN The Magazine previews the competition while ESPN Classic shows great matches from the past and ESPN 3D aired its first tennis at this year’s Championships.

ESPN and Championship Tennis

Since 2009, ESPN has aired all four Grand Slam events, something no other U.S. network has ever done. ESPN has presented the Australian Open since 1984, the French Open since 2002 (plus 1986 – 1993), Wimbledon since 2003 and the US Open since 2009.

ESPN debuted September 7, 1979, and the first tennis telecast was exactly one week later, September 14, a Davis Cup tie, Argentina at U.S. from Memphis with Cliff Drysdale on the call and John McEnroe playing.

###

Today, ESPN tennis analysts Brad Gilbert and Chris Evert – who will make her ESPN debut at Wimbledon – were joined by Jed Drake, ESPN senior vice president & executive producer; Jamie Reynolds, vice president, remote production; and Jason Bernstein, senior director, programming & acquisitions, in a media conference call to discuss ESPN’s multiplatform coverage of The Championships, Wimbledon 2011.  The tournament begins on Monday, June 20, with 100 hours of high definition telecasts planned for ESPN2, nearly 650 on ESPN3.com and coverage across ESPN platforms, including the first tennis on ESPN 3D.  This press release has all the details.

 

A transcript of the conference call follows:

 

JED DRAKE:  First of all, I’d note for everybody that when we look at our wide array of great events, it’s always heartening, I think, to everybody on this project to say the Championships of Wimbledon has a very special place for all of us.  It’s something that we treat with great care and pride in terms of our coverage.

 

This year, as Dave mentioned, at the tail end of the fortnight, we are now going to take this event and utilize 3D technology and pleased to bring that to our fans.  We also are thrilled to have Chris Evert joining us on our announce team for this great event.

 

Also on the calendar, it’s an interesting time for us because as we always do, we have Wimbledon at this time of the year and then shortly thereafter, of course, we have the British Open with all four rounds on ESPN.  Bridging those two events this year will be also another major event in Europe for us, and coming off our success of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, we’ll also have the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany. So the middle Sunday is the opener of that event in Berlin, and the last day of the Women’s World Cup coincides with the final round of the British Open.  So needless to say, three major events all working together, and that will be a benefit to all of us.

 

But back to Wimbledon where we are already on the ground working very, very aggressively to make sure we are in place, and for more on our specific plans, I’d like to ask Jamie to make some comments if he would.

 

JAMIE REYNOLDS:  As you know we are doing over 100 hours of programming beginning on Monday.  Through the first week we’ll have 10 hours of coverage each day and taper down as the second week of the tournament progresses.  With the addition of Chrissy to our team, this is a terrific add to our talent roster.  For many of you, as you know, carrying that volume of programming that we run with we’ve got a deep and diverse roster of talent that includes Chris Fowler and Hannah Storm in the hosting roles.  Chris Fowler will also carry play‑by‑play duties.

 

We’re happy to have Dick Enberg come back with us in that play‑by‑play role again this year for the 125th Championship.  We also have Cliff Drysdale that many of you know.  On the analyst front we’ve got Patrick McEnroe, Darren Cahill, and Brad Gilbert, also on this call, and joining Chris will be Pam Shriver and Mary Joe Fernandez.  So when you look at the depth, the experience and the chemistry of that roster, we look forward to this third major on our calendar this year.

 

As Jed alluded, we do carry final weekend in 3D, so that will be an exciting new foray for us into that production distribution.  And finally on the story line and player front, I don’t know that we could ask for a better convergence right now of stories coming out, particularly out of the French with Li Na and Serena’s return, Kim Clistjers, Wozniacki, it’s a terrific run on the ladies side.  On the men’s side when you look at Rafa and Federer and Novak and Andy Murray, then the story of the American men, we’ve got some terrific, terrific opportunities to begin on Monday.

 

Q. Who do you think is favorite to win in the men’s at Wimbledon this year and why?

BRAD GILBERT:  That’s the first segment of the show.  I mean, you’ve got to start with the top four.  They kind of separated themselves especially the way ‑‑ I mean, Rafa’s played tremendous, Fed’s got a track record, Djokovic has been on fire this year, and Murray just won Queens.  So I think one of those four.  I would be very surprised if it was anything further than that.  I mean, some guys could make some runs, but winning this tournament will be one of those four guys for sure.

CHRIS EVERT:  I really think it’s interesting because I don’t think ever before we’ve had four guys in contention.  It’s always been two.  And I agree with Brad.  I cannot even give anybody the edge.  I think it’s a total toss‑up between the four of them. Andy Murray being the fourth because he’s going to have that extra motivation playing at Wimbledon and because he seems to be the sharpest current player on the grass right now.  It’s tremendous the way that any one of those four could win it.

 

Q. What is your take on the Williams sisters?  They’ve just come back, they’ve just posted pretty decent wins and obviously everybody’s going to be focusing in on them at Wimbledon.  For Brad, what is your take on Djokovic on grass?  Obviously it’s his least successful major.  He’s been a semifinalist, but I want your thoughts on the prospects on grass, and if you feel like the French Open loss might have derailed him at all?

CHRIS EVERT:  I’ll go with Serena and Venus.  Whenever they enter a grand slam tournament it’s double the excitement and double the intrigue, I think, that they bring to the sport.  They just bring a different level of tennis also, as far as the power and the emotional content.

 

It would be monumental in my mind if Serena pulled off a win.  You can never, ever count her out.  But I personally don’t ‑‑ I don’t know how it’s humanly possible for someone to take a year off like that and have gone through what she’s been through physically with her ailments and really hasn’t had a tremendous amount of practice, really a one‑tournament warm‑up.  It would just ‑‑ it would almost shock me if she did, but knowing Serena and the way she’s come back before, you can never count her out.

 

Venus is sort of a dark horse because really she kind of ‑‑ Serena gets all the press.  But Venus will sort of come into the tournament, I think, very quietly.  She does the job and she still has the best ‑‑ I think of the two, she has the better Wimbledon record.  And she loves grass and she plays great on it.  Yeah, she’s definitely in contention also.  I think that all eyes will be on the big story which is more Serena than anybody.  I think hoping that she health‑wise and physically‑wise can hold up under the stress of the tournament.  It will be interesting to see how she plays.

 

Q. Could you put a percentage on either one of them?

BRAD GILBERT:  I think that the $64,000 question is what is the club going to do?  Venus is ranked 33; Serena is, I believe, ranked 25.  The men have a formula on the seedings.  The women don’t have a seedings formula.       So they potentially, if everybody in the top 32 played, then maybe Venus would be unseeded and Serena would be seeded 25 if they don’t change it.  So obviously that could dramatically change the draw.  I’d like to see them at least put them both in the Top 15, maybe even Top 10, so that will be the big question on the draw what will the committee do.

 

On Djokovic, last year when Novak wasn’t nearly the player that he is today, he was struggling with his serve and still had a lot of situations with his game that he doesn’t have now, he got to the semifinals and lost a match you probably thought he might win in the semifinals.  I think at 24 years old he’s become a total, complete player.  I think that was a little bit of a ‑‑ like every once in a while in a football game or basketball game you have a trap game.  That was just a trap game that he lost to Fed.  He hadn’t played a match in four and a half days.  They were a little unlucky with Fognini pulling out.  And he still almost turned that thing around, served for the fourth and lost in the dark.  I expect that he’ll be looking like he’s been all year.  The guy is playing tremendous tennis.  He’s earned the right to be one of the guys to beat for this tournament.  There is no doubt.

 

Q. On the seedings, Wimbledon has a formula for the men, but they still have discretion to move the women around if they want to.

BRAD GILBERT:  Yeah, they have discretion to.  One thing, the men don’t have any discretion to move somebody out of the seedings into the seedings.  That was one of the things in it.  So I believe a couple years ago Sharapova was ranked something like close to 50, and they moved her into the seedings.  So they do have that discretion that they can move ‑‑ I guess in theory they could move Serena from 25 to 3 or 4 based on their discretion.  In the men’s, with their formula, you can’t go from like 25 to 4.  You couldn’t go from 5 to 15.  There are always formulas.  So that is the wildcard on what they will do.  I would think that it would be great at least If they bumped them up significantly, or they’re not in the same third round or something like that.  Because they always seem to play ten times better when they’re in different sections anyways.

CHRIS EVERT:  I think it’s got to be a given that they’re both seeded the top 16.  Venus has the best record of anybody if in the whole draw as far as winning Wimbledon.  I don’t foresee them seeding her ‑‑ I would even say the Top 10.  They really have to, wouldn’t you think?

BRAD GILBERT:  I would think you could put them at like 7 and 8 or 6 and 7.  I guess it would be historical for the club to do it, but it adds intrigue.  One lady that hasn’t played in five months and one that hasn’t played in 11 and a half.  I guess some of the other ladies would be pretty bummed that they were being passed over.  But last I checked they’ve won 9 of the last 11 Wimbledons.

CHRIS EVERT:  Yeah, exactly.  And these other women have done nothing at Wimbledon, really, except for Sharapova.  So I would think ‑‑ you’d hope they understand.  My heavens, these two women have dominated Wimbledon the last ten years.  So it would be the right thing to do for the All England Club to do that.

Q. Chris, my question is about Serena who I am just so intrigued by at this moment in her career.  I’m wondering, could you remind us the longest layoff you had during your career, presumably related to injury?  And explain the value of consistent match play and when you’re lacking that, how do you compensate for it?  When you look specifically at Serena, how is it that she has more than once had a long time away and either played her way into form or found this unbelievable form seemingly out of the gate?

CHRIS EVERT:  My longest layover was four months in my whole career, and that was right at, I think I was 24 years old.  I had been playing a solid seven years on the Tour and I was not a happy camper when I was going out on the court.  I had just gotten married and I was like can I just take a break?  That was looked upon like sort of a self‑imposed break, like looked upon with the eyebrows were up.  Nobody really had done that before.  It was always imposed by injuries and stuff.  But I had never been injured. I think when I came back I lost the first tournament of the semis to Evonne Goolagong.  I don’t think I won a tournament ‑‑ it took me like three tournaments to get back.  But four months is a lot different than a year.  And a year with the medical problems that Serena had, I mean, that’s got to be a little bit praying on her mind too.

 

Serena, she powers through it.  When I think of Serena, I think of power.  She’s a level above.  She and Venus, really, when it comes to power.  She always has been the best come‑from‑behind player that we’ve seen.  She can be down match point in the second set, win that set and win the third 6‑Love.  I mean, we’ve seen the comeback so many times in matches.

 

That is the big question mark in my mind though.  Rusty, she’s got to be rusty.  And mentally, I don’t know how she could be in every point without player her way into ‑‑ she’ll basically have two weeks. She’s playing Eastbourne, and hopefully if she gets through the first week of Wimbledon, she’ll have that two weeks behind her.  But is that enough?  I don’t think it is.  I really don’t think it is.

 

Q. This is a question about John Isner.  Last time we saw him at Wimbledon it was nothing like anything we’d ever seen, 70‑68 in the fifth set.  Your impressions of that match and how crazy it was.  And what does John have to do to become a consistent factor for American tennis in these grand slam tournaments?

BRAD GILBERT:  Amazingly I saw every point of that match.  I don’t even know how it’s possible.  But I saw the first four sets up on the roof and the entire fifth.  That match was epic to say the least.  You saw some of the closest match you’ll ever see and a lot of serving.  And John is, frankly, since then he’s kind of struggled.  He hasn’t ‑‑ I’m not going to say that match took an amazing amount out of him.  But he’s certainly struggled quite a bit this year.  He played a great match against Rafael Nadal in the first round and extended him to five sets.  But for John, the big thing is his return.  6’9″, 255 pounds, he’s got a monster serve.  He just doesn’t return well enough yet.  If he can add that or improve that part of his game, I mean, there is no reason why he should be ranked 50 in the world.  I mean his serve is outrageous.  To me he should be a Top 20 player.  But if you look at his stats, sometimes stats don’t lie.  And he’s really struggled with the return game.

CHRIS EVERT:  I still think about that match and I can’t believe it happened.  The two most unbelievable things would be that match and if Serena won Wimbledon.  It’s like how is that humanly possible to hold serve for that long for that many games and somebody not break down or choke or whatever.  It’s an historical match that I don’t think that streak will ever be broken.  I think John, I don’t know, his game seems to be pretty suited to the grass.  He’s had his letdown after that match, like months after.  You know, maybe he will get recharged.  Maybe the memories of that match last year will give him a little more zest in his game and his attitude. He certainly has a big enough serve if he holds serve to beat almost anyone out there.

BRAD GILBERT:  I think when he comes back this year, he’ll be a real fan favorite.  I think lost in that match, amazingly, when I was watching that entire match is how spry Mahut was.  He was diving around, and he still has spiked gel in his hair.  I couldn’t believe how fresh he was after that entire match.  You just got the feeling you were sitting there off like a high dive the entire match.  It was like, oh, my God.  But I couldn’t believe it was going on after 30, 40, 50, 60 points.  It was comical.  0

CHRIS EVERT:  It was; it was unbelievable.

BRAD GILBERT:  I think the thing that I’ll take from it most was actually the spirit from the crowd and the two guys.  The spirit of fair play in that match was off the charts.

CHRIS EVERT:  Can you imagine if that was on center court?

BRAD GILBERT:  The committee might have said maybe it’s time to move this somewhere else.

CHRIS EVERT:  Wow, that would have been ‑‑ that would have been totally televised on center court would have been ‑‑ that’s history right there.  You don’t see that every year.  You don’t see it once every ten years.  It just happens so infrequently, and I think that left an indelible mark on everyone’s mind.

 

Q. Chris, could you compare what it would be for Serena to win this with what it was when Clistjers came back after having a baby and her long layoff winning the US Open?  And for Brad, Andy Roddick has had a lot of good Wimbledons, but you didn’t mention him as a guy that’s definitely among the winners.  Do you think his window for winning majors is closed?

CHRIS EVERT:  Okay, Serena versus Kim.  To me it would be a bigger deal if Serena won.  I mean, Kim had a baby and, correct me if I’m wrong, that first US Open she won didn’t seem to have ‑‑ I mean, the second one was unbelievable because she beat Serena and Venus, correct?

Q. I’m talking about the one right after ‑‑

CHRIS EVERT:  Right, but I’m kind of thinking about the players that she beat.  I don’t think that she ‑‑ with what Serena’s gone through ‑‑ again, I keep going back to the physical. It’s one thing to have knee surgery, but it’s another thing to have a really serious physical medical condition with just the emotional ups and downs that she’s gone through this year.  She talked about depression.  She talked about she didn’t know if she could take what was going through with her body and her mind and her spirit.  With everything that she’s gone through and out for a year, I think it would be more monumental if she pulled it out. Kim, if you remember, I think Kim had a few warm‑up tournaments.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think she had two or three warm‑up tournaments.

BRAD GILBERT:  She didn’t win one, but she had a few matches.  I think she played three tournaments before that and she won.

CHRIS EVERT:  So those two or three tournaments plus the first week of the US Open, so she might have had four weeks going into it.  But Serena’s definitely not had that preparation.

BRAD GILBERT:  You want to know about Andy Roddick.  He’s 28, almost 29.  I’m not going to say his window’s closed, but it’s just becoming so much more difficult when you’re outside the Top 4.  Look at Monfils in the quarters.  Monfils potentially to win the tournament, he’s ranked 8th in the world, at the French, he would have had to beat Federer in the quarters, Djokovic in the semis, Nadal in the final.  That’s sometimes what somebody’s looking at at running the table and winning one of these is potentially beating three of those four guys in three consecutive matches.  The prospects of those are not easy at the moment. Obviously, Andy has played great at Wimbledon.  He’s probably got a much better chance of doing it there than maybe anywhere else.  But as long as the top guys are winning, I just think it’s that much more difficult for anybody outside of them at the moment to run the table. I mean, guys have had good runs, but to see anybody beat three of those guys in three consecutive matches is a rough ask at the moment.

CHRIS EVERT:  That goes the same for Serena.  If you put Serena and pit her against let’s say Azarenka for one match right now on grass, she might be able to win it.  But you pit her against two weeks and seven matches of good, solid players, and that’s where the rustiness comes in.  You’re not going to be 100% all seven matches.  If she has one off day with being rusty, that will be the end.

 

Q. I’m curious for your thoughts on the lack of a compelling rivalry on the women’s side and how you think that impacts the sport in general and how it’s perceived?

CHRIS EVERT:  Well, let’s put it this way:  Besides Serena and Venus who are in and out of the game consistently, after them there are no Americans at the top, and there won’t be for a couple of years.  You have Bethanie Mattek‑Sands and you have Christina McHale are the next two, and then you have Melanie and so forth.  But there is a lot of depth.  Nobody’s dominating.  There are no rivalries.  There are a lot of young, exciting players.  I kind of get a little impatient with this bashing American tennis, because let’s just realize that there are no other Americans at the top right now and it will take a couple of years. But we’ve embraced Roger Federer, Nadal, we’ve embraced all these other non‑American players and non‑American rivalries.  So let’s give these women a chance.  Let’s give the Wozniacki’s, the Clistjers, Azarenka, Petrovic, Sharapova, Schiavone, there is a lot of depth there. It will be interesting to see from that crop who steps up to the plate and takes advantage of the state of women’s tennis and emerges from this crop.  But, again, in women’s tennis, the only rivalry would be Serena and Venus, quite frankly.

BRAD GILBERT:  I think since I’ve been a young kid, kind of what we’re seeing in the men’s is what we’ve always seen in the women’s.  For the last few years this has probably been the most open that women’s tennis has ever been. We’re so used to seeing a couple women dominate for long periods of time.  At least from a fan standpoint or the fun factor, you have 15, 20 women that can win majors.  And it’s so hard to prognosticate on who is going to win. I tell you, I thought 15, 20 women could win the French, and I didn’t even have Li Na as one of them because her track record was never any good on clay.  So I think for the next couple of years ‑‑ at some point, I’m sure someone’s going to dominate.  It might not be now, but in the next two to four years, I would not be surprised if we get somebody like a Nadal or Federer.  Somebody that on the women’s side that’s going to be winning 10 of the next 20 majors.  But right now to me there is nobody that is that person. I think between 1 and 15 in the women’s, they’ve never been closer in their play.  I mean there is not a massive difference between 1 and 15.  There is a lot of depth in the men’s, but there is a lot bigger gap between 15 and 1 than there is right now between the women’s to men’s.

CHRIS EVERT:  I also think again instead of bashing the Americans or American tennis, I know because my academy’s down with the USTA, it’s not their fault.  They’re doing the best job they can. But why don’t we look at Li Na and what she’s done for China, and Petkovic has come up and is an exciting player to watch.  Maria Sharapova, I think has one of the most consistent years of her career, and she is one of my top three picks also for winning Wimbledon.  Azarenka, Clistjers, there are just so many that have their own story, but they just don’t happen to be American, but we can still embrace that. It’s exciting for tennis.  It’s not only about American tennis.  Tennis is worldwide now.  I don’t know, it’s just a bigger sport now, so it’s not always going to be dominated by Americans.

 

Q. The French Open had livelier balls and it really seemed to bother some people earlier in the tournament.  I’ve heard Wimbledon’s going to heavier balls likely trying to slow things down.  They’ve been trying to slow Wimbledon down a little bit for quite a while.  Can you tell me what you’ve heard about what’s going to be going on this year and how it’s changed since you guys played some?

CHRIS EVERT:  I have to say one thing.  I wish it was slower.  Maybe I could have had more success against Martina in this day.  Because in our day ‑‑ and I’m older than you, Brad, by the way ‑‑ in this day it seems like more of a hard court, and it has slowed down.  Like the men, in my era, almost all the men were serving and volleying.  It was the thing to do.  The first serve, you serve and volley.  Nowadays, even Federer doesn’t serve and volley, you know?  So I think it’s ‑‑ they’re just making it more, I think equal for everybody. Just like the French, it was always a big complaint that the clay was so slow.  So it’s giving the more aggressive players more of an opportunity, and I think it gives maybe the baseliners, Wimbledon, by being a harder court and the balls being heavier gives the baseliners a little more of an equal sort of thing.  I think it’s great.  What do you think, Brad?

BRAD GILBERT:  One thing’s for sure, grass tennis 20 years ago was boring.  It was like three shots and fans were on their feet.  But the grass is about the same now like the last half a dozen years.  It’s been playing slower and the balls have been heavier.  So they didn’t change anything the last few years.  I really think that’s a good thing because it’s given a lot of players a lot of confidence that they can play their game.

 

The big thing too at Wimbledon is the weather.  If you get cold and damp, the courts even play slower.  If it is warmer, you get some heat, the courts can play a little quicker. The only thing still that’s difficult even when the court is slower, guys can still serve into the court on the grass, so returns can be a little bit of a problem if it bounces high. And I think the clay has been the greatest improvement in my lifetime.  Chris was talking about how the courts were slow, long rallies.  If you were watching this year, you’re seeing people play through the court like it’s a quick hard court.  I think both surfaces have made dramatic improvements for the fans for watching better tennis.

CHRIS EVERT:  Right.  It’s more interesting on the women’s side now because like you said, it’s a faster game on the clay.  At Wimbledon it’s more interesting on the men’s side, because women still had rallies in our day, but the men, like you said, it was serve, volley when Pete Sampras was playing. Actually, talking about serve and volley, Federer ‑‑ it makes me think about the French and Federer.  That final match he surprised a lot of people in the way that he, on clay, came very close to winning the French Open.  I think he’s got one more in him. Brad, correct me if I’m wrong, but his serve, especially in the first set if he serves as great as he did and he keeps hitting that forehand the way he did, he still has the best ‑‑

BRAD GILBERT:  He makes that drop shot at 2‑5, the match is different.  He played great.  He played great.

CHRIS EVERT:  You’re right.  You’re right.  And he’s the only true volleyer of the four guys.  Plus he’s got that ‑‑ yes, he can play from the back court, but he can also slide a slice in there, come in and hit the volley better than the other ones.

BRAD GILBERT:  His game is playing from the baseline.  I think a lot of people want him to be more of a forward court player and play up at the net.  But he really is ‑‑ I mean, playing on on clay, he is a baseliner that can move forward.  All four of them are baseliners.  He’s just the most all arounder.  But he’s not comfortable serve and volleying like traditional style.  That’s not his style.

 

Q. You’ve been on the sidelines a little while from broadcasting and as you come back in, I’m interested in finding out if there are certain analysts that you like when you’re watching a match that you say is a good analyst, certain types of analysis that might not match your style?

CHRIS EVERT:  You’re going to get me in trouble here.  Gosh, that’s a tough question.  I mean, there is not anybody that I don’t think is good.  I think everybody does a great job. I think John is good.  I think McEnroe’s good because he seems to have, again, he’s been a champion.  He knows what’s going on in the court.  What are the big points, what are the pressure points and he sort of has a great history of the game.  He also has little tidbits about the players.  I think he’s a good all around analyst. I think everybody.  I think everybody’s good.  I think Brad, you know, when that book that you read is phenomenal.  I think that you really watch a match, and I think where you’re really good at is analyzing what’s going on the court at that moment.

 

I think the thing that annoys me, and I said this to another reporter, is when I’m watching TV and someone’s going on and on about this person at 8 years old was doing this and the father was this.  Then all of a sudden it’s 3‑1, deuce and a big point slides by that we all know as champions or players that that was a huge point.  I’m just more interested in what’s going on in the match rather than if somebody’s father was a soccer champion.  I think that the players like that we’re in the heat of battle like Brad and like myself and like John McEnroe and Mary Joe, I think that’s what we pick up maybe a little bit better than analysts or commentators that really didn’t feel that intense pressure.

 

Q. Where are you as far as being critical?  Can you be critical of players if it warrants it?

CHRIS EVERT:  Well, I hope so.  I think I’m a little different person than I was ten years ago.  After I retired from tennis I went the next year to NBC, and basically that was the thing to do after you retired.  Now I’m going back because I want to.  I want to. I have my own tennis academy.  I’ve been involved in coaching now.  I have a different perspective of the game.  I have a player perspective but I also see what the training is, the current training, how intense, how committed players have to be.  I think I will be critical when it’s due to be critical, yes.

 

Q. You were the oldest player to win the French when you were about 31 and a half years old.  Now Serena is 29, Venus is about to turn 31.  I’d like to get both of your opinions on how much you think each of the Williams sisters might have left in the tank?

CHRIS EVERT:  I think that I sort of ‑‑ well, because Serena and Venus, again, yeah, 29, but she’s just had a year off.  I mean, they’ve had so much time off.  So much time off.  In the course of their 15‑year career, they’ve taken a lot of time off. I think they get away from the game, and then when they come back in the game after a long layoff, I think they’re really excited and rejuvenated and refreshed.  That’s why I think they’ve had so much success. If they had played without injuries and they had played a full commitment of whatever, 21 tournaments a year, like everybody else is playing and supported the Tour that way for 15 years, I think they’d be out of the game by now.  Because there’s so much competition and it’s a lot more intense than my day. I think the only thing helping them by playing at an older age is the fact that they’ve had so many breaks.

BRAD GILBERT:  I think we appreciate what they’ve done as opposed to what they haven’t done.  It’s pretty remarkable still at almost 30 and 31 that they’re still so relevant.  On this surface, especially, the way that Serena’s come back, I think if it was any other surface you’d be thinking she needs a little more time ‑‑ actually both of them. But on this surface too they have the rare ability to be able to hold serve and dominate their serve.  The last few years if you look at their stats heading towards the end of the tournament, almost like a guys, where Serena had been broken a couple times during the tournament. So I think they’ve picked their tournament for their comeback sensational.  They’ve done a remarkable job of navigating their career through some downtime and doing other things.  They’ve been a little more well‑rounded than some of the other players doing some of the things they’ve done, and they’re still playing.  I think Venus turned pro when she was 14, so she’s been around for 17 years.  That’s pretty incredible.

 

Q. Do you think that the physical nature of their game will perhaps prolong their career even further?

CHRIS EVERT:  Well, I think it shortens the rallies for them.  Let’s put it that way.  If they were baseliners, like Brad said, coming back at Wimbledon where the grass is soft and they don’t have to hit that many shots and they can win a point right away from their serve, it’s going to be less taxing on their bodies, certainly, than any other grand slam.  No way Serena would have come back at the French as her first major tournament.  It’s pretty smart.  They’re coming back at Wimbledon.  It’s easier on their body.  They’re just going to play their power game.  Then they’ll have three or four tournaments before the US Open, and maybe they’ll be thinking in the back of their minds they might want to peak for the US Open. But, yeah, I think their games because they’re so powerful, they don’t have to have long rallies, and I think that helps them as far as their longevity.

 

Q. Wanted to ask you about Serena again and what specifically you’ll be looking for this week and next week when she gets going at Wimbledon as far as signs that she’s playing well and she’s able to come back and possibly win this?  What kind of things in her game will you be looking for to say she’s back and capable of winning seven matches?

CHRIS EVERT:  I’ll be looking for her mobility around the court and her court coverage.  It’s a given she’s going to hit some big first serves.  But I think mobility and also the mental side.  How intense she is at putting and concentrating points together instead of just being in and out of the match because that is going to be the toughest for her is being in and out of the match.  That’s what match play does.  It really gets you mentally tough.  So you can stream together points and concentrate.  So the mental side and the court coverage are the two things I’m going to be looking for.

BRAD GILBERT:  I think it’s going to be huge for both Serena and Venus how much matches they get in this week.  And then it will be for me how she’s going to get through that first week.  If she gets through that first week, then all of a sudden her third week of play and once they kind of get a little confidence in their game, they become completely different players.  I think they really like to prove everybody wrong like, wow, how could they do this?  Well, every time people think they can’t do something is when they step up.  The first big thing will be the draw, where they’re seeded, where they land in the draw.  It’s just basically getting through that first week.  I think she could be more vulnerable in the first week than the second week because of match play or confidence.  You just never know.  But if they do get through that first week, watch out.

CHRIS EVERT:  Also, Brad, if they get through the first week, they may be facing Wozniacki, or Azarenka or Li Na or Petkovic, and these are players that that they’ve owned and players that will be intimidated by them.  So I think you’re right.

 

Q. I’m wondering are there any story lines out there that you think haven’t been covered as you sort of step back into the television and see overall on a broad scope?  And also maybe for both of you, as we’ve talked about for a while now, American tennis has struggled especially on the women’s side.  But how can the American public be more familiarized with this international game that tennis seems to be growing to?

CHRIS EVERT:  As far as story lines, everything is just going to get pushed in the background, I think with Serena and the Venus.  The big story line leading up to the French was Wozniacki.  She’s been ranked No. 1 in the world without a grand slam.  I was very disappointed at the French.  I really thought she would take that opportunity and win the French and silence her critics because she certainly has the game to win on clay.  But she played too many tournaments leading up to it.  Actually, she’s played too many tournaments all year. I think piling up those tournaments and being ranked No. 1 is good to a certain point, but then you’ve got to pace yourself if you want to win the Grand Slams.  And she was absolutely flat out there at the French when she lost her match. So I think the story that will be in the background will be when is she going to win her first grand slam title?  I don’t think it’s going to be Wimbledon.  I just don’t think ‑‑ you need a little power in your game at Wimbledon, and I think that’s what’s been lacking in her.  So that could be one story.  Li Na, the continuation of her emergence and winning the grand slam, being runner‑up in the Australian, the excitement in China, just the impact she’s had on the Chinese and on tennis in China will be another one. Sharapova has been lacking a grand slam in a long time.  She’s gone through a lot of injuries and a lot of problems with her serve.  Can she get it together?  Can she get that serve together?  She could have won the French.  She was so close.  Then it got windy, and her serve got thrown off completely.  But she could come back and win Wimbledon also.  But I think that’s going to be another story.

BRAD GILBERT:  Talking about American tennis, we’ve had great times.  I’m hopeful at some point we will again.  But the biggest thing is the game is so global.  It’s not our birth right as American that we are going to have great players. In some of these other countries, a lot of the European countries, tennis is the second and third most popular sport.  They’re getting some phenomenal athletes.  That’s not to say we don’t have phenomenal athletes, but it’s just I think a lot of times things are reciprocal.  Who knows, maybe China will have a run now.  They don’t have any men yet, but who knows.  When I turned pro in like ’81, there were like 42 Americans in the Top 100, so the game has dramatically changed.  And players are coming from everywhere. Spain maybe has the most guts, France has a lot of players.  But right now on the men’s side Europe has completely dominated the game.  Hat’s off to them at the moment.  Hopefully that will change. I believe one thing about the American audience, we love stars.  We love people that we know that we can count on to be there.  You’re seeing that consistently with Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray, fans count on a lot of these players and they deliver. The great thing about tennis is Federer and Nadal have galvanized American fans.  They don’t have to be American.  People route for them because of their greatness.  That is the sheer greatness of tennis is that you can have players like that go beyond being where they’re from because you like watching them play.

CHRIS EVERT. Hopefully there will be a rivalry in the future that we can embrace like we have embraced Federer and Nadal.  And I agree with Brad.  I think that the world has caught up.  When I started on the Tour, it was America and Australia.  Why was that?  Maybe the weather.  In Florida or California you could play every day.  There weren’t indoor courts. Now in Europe, they have all of these great national tennis centers and organizations and academies.  Like Brad said, our best athletes maybe aren’t going to tennis.  Tennis isn’t the number one or number two or number three sport in America. So I think a lot of the national training centers, and I think it started like Sweden had them, and Croatia, Serbia, Croatia, China.  There were never women players from those countries when I was playing.  So it is worldwide, and let’s get used to it.

BRAD GILBERT:  On the women’s side, tennis is the biggest female sport in the world.  You’re getting so many players from ‑‑ I mean, look at a country like Russia or China.  They want to be the next from their country.  They’ve had good success that leads to more success. I just think that tennis is a now thing.  When a country gets hot, it tends to move forward.  Look at a little country like Serbia producing players.  It’s just phenomenal.  It’s their athleticism in some of their players. The Russians had a quick unbelievable run in the 2000s till now.  Who knows, maybe there will be another half a dozen Chinese coming in.  I think it will change in time.  There is no question for me.

CHRIS EVERT:  And these countries, the incentive is to leave their country and to travel the world and to come to America.  It’s an interesting note that we give China a lot of credit.  But Li Na and the top Chinese women have had success but they all left their national team.  They were free to select their own coach and travel the world.  And previously the government was getting 65% of their prize money.  Now they’re getting 8 to 12% of their prize money.  So, again, the real success came after they left their national team.  But at least they were playing well enough to make the national team.

 

Q. We’ve been talking an awful lot about women’s tennis, and I think that’s great.  We’ve talked about Venus and Serena extensively.  But if you could pick out a couple of the other players who you think have a real shot at winning Wimbledon, and maybe tell us what you think they need to do to get over that final hurdle?

CHRIS EVERT:  Well, on the women’s side, I brought up Sharapova, and I did talk a little bit about her.  She’s done really well this year, and she’s been consistently a semifinalist or finalist.  I think if she can get her serve together, she’s won Wimbledon before.  She’s mentally really a tough player.  I think she can do some damage and maybe even win Wimbledon.  And you’ve got to look at ‑‑ you can’t count out Li Na.  You can’t count her out.  And Kim Clistjers, again, she surprised us a few times.  She’s got a nice, powerful, solid game, an all‑court game.  She’s tough.  She can volley well.  If she’s healthy, she’s a contender. I would put those Clistjers, Sharapova and Li Na, I would put them as the next three.

BRAD GILBERT:  For me, if the Williams sisters weren’t in it, because that was the big mystery, I was going to say this tournament just like the French Open, man, I could see 15, 20 different women winning.  But obviously now with the Williams sisters that changes the equation.  We obviously need to see the draw. One gal that I think has a nice game moving forward in the next few years with the grass, she had her breakout last year, I don’t know how she’ll perform this year with the semifinals coming off.  But Petra Kvitova, the 6‑foot lefty has a nice game.  She could be somebody that is a dark horse because her game seemingly would be suited for the grass.  A big power hitter, one of the best on the Women’s Tour, so she would definitely be a dark horse for me.

CHRIS EVERT:  The other thing is one of the reporters brought up Serena and Venus might be thinking well, we’ll prove them wrong because no one’s picking us.  But I think the reaction to them coming back, I think they’re going to get so much support and I think that people want to see success, and people want to Serena and Venus do well. i kind of think they might have felt that way in the past.  When they played, they were so dominant that maybe the crowds didn’t favor them because they were so strong.  But I think now the public will really embrace them and really support them in coming back.  Again, I think that’s going to be a different attitude that the crowd has towards them.

 

Q. is there any technical reason why Djokovic shouldn’t be considered right up there as a favorite on grass despite how he is on some of the other slower surfaces in theory?

BRAD GILBERT:  Absolutely not.  Last year at this time, when he got to the semis, he wasn’t nearly the player that he is now.  He was really struggling with his serve and his forehand wasn’t as dominant.  The guy moves outrageous, like a gazelle.  He’s serving so much better this year.  It’s incredible.  I mean, his stats, if you look at his serving stats in 2011 compared to 2010, it’s incredible the difference.  His return is off the charts. His game, like I said, last year I was surprised that he didn’t beat Berdych in the semis last year.  And he wasn’t playing, like I said, anywhere near the way he is now.  I would think that getting to the is semifinals last year will give him the confidence that I can win this event. Yeah, he’s definitely one of the four favorites to win it.  There’s no question.

CHRIS EVERT:  Probably by losing the French, that is going to give him more incentive.  I always remember whenever I lost a match going into a major, I mean, I was pissed.  It made me so much more determined than having that monkey on my back.  Having all that pressure of being undefeated for the whole year and is he going to continue it at Wimbledon?  Now the pressure’s off.  I think that will be a positive for him.

 

Q. I wonder if I could ask you about Andy Murray.  When you look at the five biggest matches of Murray’s life, three grand slam finals, two Wimbledon semifinals.  He lost all of them.  I think he’s won one set along the way.  I wonder if you feel is there any one missing ingredient that is there?  What do you think he’s got to do to clear that final hurdle?

BRAD GILBERT:  Well, the key is if you’re in his camp, (you emphasize) short‑term memory loss.  You don’t bring up those or worry about those.  You’ve got to get back in the same situation and come good. I think that at 24 years old, he’s much more mature now.  He, to me, if you keep giving yourself a look, he’s going to come through.  It’s just a matter of time. One thing good about Andy from my short time with him ‑‑ I didn’t coach him while he played in the grass season because in 2007 he was injured ‑‑ I think he embraces the entire month.  I don’t think that he is afraid of it.  In some of those five matches you talked about, he lost to some pretty darn good players.  Lost to Fed a few times, lost to Nadal, lost to Djokovic.  The one match he definitely wishes he had back, he was in with the chance where he lost that tiebreaker in the fourth to Roddick and had a good look to go up 2 sets to 1.  And you’ve just got to forget about that.  He comes in having his best clay court season ever.  Made three semifinals with the semifinal at the French, just won Queens.  So his preparation is outstanding.  Now it’s a matter of he’s got to run the table.  He’s not coming there hoping to make a quarters or semis, he’s coming there to win it.  He’s going to have to beat some of his main co‑stars to do it. But he’s come in with great preparation, and he can’t ask for any better, and now it’s just a matter of getting it done.

CHRIS EVERT:  Also, if I can add something, this is where that term you learn from your losses comes in.  You don’t want to repeat.  He’s been close so many times in major tournaments, so he’s got to figure out what went wrong in those major tournaments.  Did he get too passive on the big points?  Did he overhit?  This is when a player has to think in their mind what happened.  They need to go back and reflect on what happened on the big points, why did I lose that match, and maybe make some changes.

BRAD GILBERT:  That’s a great point.  We all love to win, but learn from losing in some of these matches and then try to figure out what I can implement if the same situation comes up again.

CHRIS EVERT:  And that’s where a player, Brad and I, that’s what we can bring because I know in personal experience with my big matches with Martina, I’d be 4‑All in the third, and I stayed the same level or got a little bit passive, and that was my nature.  But when I started beating her, I took my chances. You’ve got to think about these losses and what went wrong.  You change your losing game, and you stick with your winning game.

 

Q. A follow‑up on Andy Murray.  Do you see Darren Cahill, is he having a big role from what we’re seeing maybe Andy’s matured himself, but do you see something specific that Cahill is bringing to the table?

BRAD GILBERT:  I think Darren is working with him part‑time during the tournament.  I think during the tournament he’ll be working with Tim (Indiscernible).  Because once the tournament starts, Darren switches over and works with us. Andy’s got a very good supporting cast.  He’s got his buddy, Dani Vallverdu, his hitting partner.  I believe his mom helps out a little bit.  He’ll use the adidas team, he uses Darren a little bit.  So he’s getting a lot of input.  He’s not hurting for any input. Like I said, I think he comes into this tournament with everything the way he could ask for it.  Now it’s a matter of making that final hurdle.  But once the tournament starts, it’s with his team he’s got already.  He’s got a nice team.  I’m sure he’s the kind of guy that’s taken a little bit of information from everybody.

CHRIS EVERT:  Yeah, but you know what the interesting thing is that’s really a great situation to be in to have a good positive, informative team around you.  But nobody can help you out there on the big points. When you look at Serena or Roger Federer or Nadal, you know, they figure it out themselves.  He’s got to figure it out.  He’s got to feel it instinctively, and he’s got to think about it too.

 

Q. In the beginning of the conversation you talked about the big 4, and as a Swede I’m obviously interested in what you see in Robin Soderling, and what is missing right now to make that group of five players instead of four?

BRAD GILBERT:  That’s a good question.  Clearly over the last two years he’s been the fifth best player in the world.  He got off to an amazing start this year after switching coaches and he played well.  I think he won 18 of the first 19 matches.  Then he struggled a little bit. I think he made a nice change right before he switched coaches again, going back to Swedish coach Fredrik Rosengren, I think will be a good move for him.  I mean, I would say kind like I said about Monfils, you know, when he was in the quarters.  If you’re in the quarters now ‑‑ let’s say he’s seeded fifth, you know, where he lies in the draw.  And can he beat three guys to potentially win a major?  I think that some of the lower guys between five and 10 dramatically helps their chances of winning a tournament if one or two of those guys happen to lose.  But it’s still just, for me, that is the only thing that I bring up is it’s really tough for somebody potentially to beat three of those top four guys in consecutive matches.  Soderling has the most fire power of anybody outside of the top four.  There is absolutely no question about it.  He has a monster game.  He’s never made a deep run at Wimbledon.  But with his serve and how big he hits the ball, I mean, he’s definitely somebody that ‑‑ from outside the top four it’s not like, wow, he’s 20 in the world.  He’s 5 in the world.  But he’s a dangerous player, lot of fire power, and I like the coaching change he made a couple weeks ago.

 

Q. If you had to pick one, Murray or Robin to win a grand slam, both of them have never won a grand slam, who is your pick?

BRAD GILBERT:  If I had to pick one between them, Murray’s a little bit younger.  The movement factor is a big thing on his side.  I would think that Murray ‑‑ I put Murray’s chances better.  Soderling, you know, has definitely done well, but he’s a couple years older. But he’s clearly the fifth best player in the world.  I’m just going to say right now, this is the stingiest time of men’s tennis I’ve ever seen.  It’s not like a lot of different guys are able to grab major titles in the last seven years. Fed and Nadal have been incredibly stingy, now Djokovic, so it’s not like ‑‑ we had a time, I believe, in 2002, 2003, we had eight majors and eight different winners.  That is clearly not the case at the moment.

CHRIS EVERT:  Also, I think like you’re talking about somebody like Soderling, he’s got to plow two or three huge wins of his life to win Wimbledon.  I remember one year I beat Martina in the semifinals and she’s seeded 1.  So much mental energy I used up.  I was so excited afterwards and went out to dinner, and I was still thinking about her match because the next day I had to play Evonne Goolagong who I hadn’t lost to in like three years.  And the next day I lost to Evonne Goolagong because I didn’t take it seriously.  I didn’t have as much mental energy.  I think when you look at the top four players, it’s going to come down to the mental energy.  It’s going to come down to the mental more than the physical.  I think they’re all in great shape.  I think they’re all going to be in great shape by the time they get to even the quarterfinals.  But it’s going to be the one who mentally is the sharpest and who wants it the most.

BRAD GILBERT:  I just think if there’s any chance of somebody, an outsider like what’s happening in the women’s, I think that they need some help.  Like somehow Fed almost lost last year or something crazy happens where one or two of them happen to lose in the first week, then you could see some possibilities.  But as long as one of those guys doesn’t lose before the quarterfinals, those guys are so out there at the moment.  Somebody’s got to play the tournament of their life and then some to run the table to have me believe that somebody from outside is going to beat three of those guys.

CHRIS EVERT:  They all have real incentive.  They’re all going to have a record of their own if they win, so that’s incentive for all of them.  When have we had that where four players have had sort of one person can break a record.  Murray could be his first grand slam.  Federer, with his grand slams.  You know, Nadal could be considered the greatest player ever.  Djokovic, you know, again, everybody has a reason and an incentive to win which will make it even more competitive.

BRAD GILBERT:  Djokovic has to make the final again to be No. 1 again.  He’s right there.  I mean all of these guys have so much to play for.  Big story line on ESPN.  We’ll be all over it.

 

Q. I had a question regarding Daniela Hantuchova.  She’s had good results lately especially making the final at Birmingham.  I was curious what your thoughts are if she has the potential to become the latest player to blossom towards the end of her career?

CHRIS EVERT:  Oh, my gosh.  How old is she now?

Q. I think she’s about 29.

CHRIS EVERT:  She’s been around a long time and she still looks like a little girl out there.  I’m happy to see her doing well.  I always thought she had a lot of potential.  She’s always had that coolness out there and handled pressure and points very, very well. I just don’t think ‑‑ I just think that she doesn’t have that ‑‑ doesn’t have that richness of the experience of being in a big match situation as much as these other players that I mentioned.  I don’t know her personally.  But as nice a game as she has, she just doesn’t have that one, I think, punch shot.  You have to have one thing.  Whether it is mentally or physically, you’ve got to have that one punch thing, and I don’t see her having it.

BRAD GILBERT:  I’ll just add one thing, at 28 years old, I think she’s close to 29, if you’re on her coaching team look to somebody like Schiavone and say, man, she had never had one deep run ever in a major and she makes a run and Li Na. So some of these women are peaking later, so that’s the one thing that you could say, okay, it’s not an improbability or impossibility that it could happen to me. But you’re right, she doesn’t have that one killer shot.  No massive serve, no huge forehand, no huge backhand.  She’s very solid on all of her shots.

CHRIS EVERT:  Very.  And I don’t think Wimbledon is the showcase.  I don’t think that’s going to happen at Wimbledon.  I would think it would have happened more at the US Open or the French where she’s on solid ground.  Because I don’t think her mobility ‑‑ you have to move beautifully on the grass.  You’ve got to know how to move on grass, and that’s what’s inhibiting a lot of these players from doing as well as they can because the foot something difficult.

 

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Storylines Abound for More Hours on ESPN3.com, ESPN Mobile & ESPN Interactive

Hall of Famer Evert Makes ESPN Debut, ESPN 3D’s First Tennis, First Wimbledon for WatchESPN App

With the Rafael Nadal/Novak Djokovic/Roger Federer “trivalry” in full force, and a wide-open women’s field that likely will include the long-anticipated return from injury of the Williams Sisters, ESPN will deliver even more coverage and in more ways than ever of The Championships, Wimbledon across its expanding lineup of media platforms.  These include added hours to its broadband, mobile and interactive TV offerings, the first tennis ever on ESPN 3D and the Wimbledon debut of the WatchESPN App.  Fans will enjoy 100 hours in high definition on ESPN2 HD, and nearly 650 on broadband ESPN3.com beginning Monday, June 20, with daylong weekday coverage throughout the fortnight from the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club.

Hall of Famer Chris Evert will make her ESPN debut at Wimbledon, joining returnees Cliff Drysdale and Dick Enberg, and analysts Darren Cahill, Mary Joe Fernandez, Brad Gilbert, Patrick McEnroe and Pam Shriver.  Chris Fowler will call matches and serve as studio host, sharing that role with Hannah Storm. Tom Rinaldi will provide essays and features.

ESPN networks present all four Grand Slam events and have televised Wimbledon since 2003.  ESPN3.com delivers unmatched broadband coverage of the sport’s four majors and all ATP 1000 and 500 tournaments.

Live Matches on ESPN2, ESPN3.com, ESPN Mobile & ESPN Interactive; ESPN 3D’s First Tennis

Fans will be able to follow the action live on a variety of ESPN platforms, depending on which screen best suits their needs – ESPN2, ESPN3.com, ESPN Mobile, the WatchESPN App and ESPN Interactive TV:

ESPN2 HD will begin daylong live weekday programming in high definition when the first ball goes into the air Monday, June 20, continuing daily through Friday, July 1.  The schedule is again highlighted by one Ladies’ and one Gentlemen’s Semifinal, Thursday, June 30, and Friday, July 1, respectively.  In addition, ESPN2 will air a one-hour SportsCenter at Wimbledon following NBC’s coverage of the Ladies Championship on Sat., July 2, at 2 p.m. ET and following the Gentlemen’s Championship on Sun., July 3 at 3 p.m.

Notes:

• On Monday, June 27 – Wednesday, June 29, ESPN2 will provide SportsCenter as alternate programming in the Pacific Time Zone from 1 – 4 p.m. ET (10 a.m. – 1 p.m. PT).

• All the action on ESPN2 is also available online through ESPNnetworks.com, which is accessible to fans who receive their video service from an affiliated provider.

ESPN3.com will provide a multi-court offering with live play, including a simulcast of ESPN2’s coverage, from all nine TV courts plus press conferences totaling nearly 650 hours.  In addition, the broadband service – which reaches nearly 70 million U.S. homes – will offer replays on demand of all four semifinals and both finals.  The semifinals will be available at 8 p.m. the day they are contested (or shown live if live on ESPN2); the finals will both be available beginning late Sunday, July 3, at midnight (9 p.m. PT).

ESPN3.com is ESPN’s live sports broadband network, a 24/7 online destination that delivers thousands of live, global sports events annually. It is currently available at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or cable TV video subscription from an affiliated service provider.  It is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks.

ESPN 3D, launched in 2010, will present its first tennis action with the Gentlemen’s Semifinals and both the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Finals.  The two semifinals will be presented on a same-day basis, Friday, July 1, at 8 p.m. and later that night at 1 a.m. (10 p.m. PT).  The Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Finals will be aired Monday, July 4, at 7 and 9 a.m., and repeated at 6 and 8 p.m.

The WatchESPN App, for fans with Apple or Android devices and who receive ESPN’s linear networks as part of their video subscription via Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks or Verizon FiOS TV, will present ESPN2’s live coverage, in addition to ESPN3.com’s multi-screen offering.  Also, ESPN Mobile TV will carry over 77 hours of live coverage including the Men’s and Women’s Semifinal rounds, more than double 2010’s offering.

ESPN Interactive TV will be enjoyed exclusively on DIRECTV and extended this year by a day to include the first seven days of competition, culminating on the second Monday.  The day, commonly referred to as “the best day in tennis” is when all singles participants — men and women – are in action in the round of 16.  A six-screen mosaic will include the ESPN2 match and feeds from five individual courts. Production will be enhanced with press conferences, interviews and features elements that will be added during court changeovers and between matches.  All six screens can be expanded to full screen mode or picture-in-picture at the touch of the remote button.  In addition, DIRECTV will offer “Matches On Now,” a graphic across the bottom of the screen with scores from each of the matches currently on the court channels, with the ability to tune directly to the match, and “Results,” an instant look at real-time scores and schedule info for matches ahead – all without leaving the match the viewer is watching. In total, ESPN will provide more than 350 hours of coverage that is exclusive to interactive TV.

More Wimbledon from ESPN, Inc.

ESPN.com will have previews, reviews, the latest news and videos and more:

• Courtcast: A multi-tool application with all-court scoring, match stats, Cover It Live conversations, poll questions, rolling Twitter feeds and scrolling bottom line;
• Slam Central: A daily destination for all Wimbledon fixtures;
• Grass Stains: A daily notebook wrapping up the best and worst of the day;
• Digital Serve: Daily original videos previewing the next day;
• Skype Hype: Instant video analysis of notable matches with Greg Garber;
• Star Watch: Daily blog focusing on one of the game’s elite.

ESPN Classic is presenting great Wimbledon matches and other tennis programming today, Monday, June 13,  through Friday, June 17, highlighted by:

• Numerous championship matches, including Arthur Ashe defeating Jimmy Connors in 1975, Martina Navratilova beating Chris Evert in 1978 for the first of her nine titles, Bjorn Borg’s classic victory over John McEnroe in 1980, and two of the greatest matches in tennis history – Nadal over Federer with a 9-7 fifth set in 2008 and Federer defeating Andy Roddick 16-14 in the fifth set in 2009.
• On Thursday, June 16, fans can relive the longest tennis match in history, John Isner outlasting Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the fifth set in last year’s first round.  The 11:05 match which stretched across three days is condensed to nine hours, starting at 9 p.m.
• Two airings of Unmatched, the documentary about the Evert-Navratilova rivalry and friendship, produced by ESPN’s Hannah Storm and part of the award-winning 30 for 30 series (late on Tuesday, June 14 at midnight and Friday, June 17 at 9 p.m.).
• Tennis-related studio and interview programs such as Homecoming with Rick Reilly, Schaap One on One, SportsCentury, Up Close, Who’s #1? and Top Five Reasons.

In addition, on Monday, July 4, the 30^th anniversary of the match, at 8 p.m. ESPN Classic will show the 1981 Gentlemen’s Final where John McEnroe ended Bjorn Borg’s historic streak of five consecutive championships.  The full schedule of 70 hours.

ESPN Mobile will provide point-by-point coverage of every Wimbledon match with live scores on the ESPN mobile Web and ScoreCenter app.  Additionally, the Wimbledon “Hot Corner” will bring fans closer to the action, supplying the latest news and analysis while giving fans the chance to interact with ESPN tennis experts  through live chats from the two-week event via mobile devices.  ESPN Alerts will notify fans across carriers of match results, in-progress upsets and Wimbledon news via opt-in tennis text alerts.

ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language network in the U.S. will televise live one men’s and one women’s semifinal on Thursday, June 30, and Friday, July 1, respectively, at 8 a.m. each day.  Commentary for ESPN Deportes, as well as ESPN International, will be handled by Luis Alfredo Alvarez and Eduardo Varela alongside former tennis players Javier Frana and Jose Luis Clerc as analysts.  Tennis reporter Gustavo Sgallo will report from Wimbledon for ESPN Deportes and ESPN International’s SportsCenter editions around the world.

ESPN International will reach 30 million viewers outside the U.S with 70+ live hours pan-regionally in Latin America on ESPN Latin America and on ESPN Caribbean, in addition to daily primetime highlight programs.  ESPN+ in the Southern Cone and ESPN Dos in the Northern Cone will supplement the coverage on ESPN Latin America with an additional 50+ live hours.  In addition, ESPN’s broadband service, ESPN Play, will offer over 600 hours of live coverage in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, Paraguay, El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras and Venezuela.

ESPN & WIMBLEDON 2011

Date	Time (ET)	Telecast		Network
Mon, June 20 – Fri., June 24	7 a.m. – 5 p.m.	Early Rounds Day 1-5	Live	ESPN2 & ESPN3.com
Sat, June 25	7 a.m. – 1 p.m.	Early Rounds Day 6	Live	ESPN2
	7 a.m. – 4 p.m.		Live	ESPN3.com
Sun, June 26	5 – 8 p.m.	Week One Highlights	Taped	ESPN2
Mon, June 27	7 – 10 a.m.	Round of 16	Live	ESPN2
	1 – 6 p.m. – * 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.		Live Live	ESPN2 ESPN3.com
Tues, June 28	7 – 10 a.m.	Ladies’ Quarterfinals	Live	ESPN2
	1 – 5 p.m. – * 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.		Live Live	ESPN2 ESPN3.com
Wed, June 29	7 – 10 a.m.	Gentlemen’s Quarterfinals	Live	ESPN2 & ESPN3.com
	1 – 5 p.m. – *		Live	ESPN2 & ESPN3.com
Thur, June 30	7 a.m. – Noon 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.	Ladies’ Semifinal	Live Live	ESPN2 ESPN3.com
	8 – 10 p.m.	Ladies’ Semifinals Highlights	Same day	ESPN2
Fri, July 1	7 a.m. – Noon 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.	Gentlemen’s Semifinal	Live Live	ESPN2 ESPN3.com
Sat, July 2 Sun, July 3 Mon, July 4	8 – 11 p.m. 8 – 11 p.m.. 1 – 4 a.m. 2 – 3 p.m. 3 – 4 p.m. Midnight 7 – 9 a.m. – # 9 a.m. – Noon – # Noon – 3 p.m. – # 3 – 6 p.m. – # 6 – 8 p.m. – # 8 – 11 p.m. – #	Gentlemen’s Semifinals Highlights Gentlemen’s Semifinal #1 Gentlemen’s Semifinal #2 SportsCenter at Wimbledon SportsCenter at Wimbledon Ladies’ & Gentlemen’s Finals Ladies’ Final Gentlemen’s Final Gentlemen’s Semifinal #1 Gentlemen’s Semifinal #2 Ladies’ Final Gentlemen’s Final	Same day Same day Same day Same day Same day Taped Taped Taped Reair Reair Reair Reair	ESPN2 ESPN 3D ESPN 3D ESPN2 ESPN2 ESPN3.com ESPN 3D ESPN 3D ESPN 3D ESPN 3D ESPN 3D ESPN 3D

* – Alternate programming from 1 – 4 p.m. ET in Pacific Time Zone (10 a.m. – 1 p.m. PT)

# – All time slots on ESPN 3D on July 4 will expand as needed.

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