On somewhat of a whim, I decided to keep track of ESPN's US Open coverage. We all get aggravated by isolated comments or programming decisions, but the aggregate can be easy to lose sight of, so I jotted down the things that stuck out over the Worldwide Leader's coverage of the year's final major...
The Good
ESPN's interviews were surprisingly good this time around.
The standouts were the Sloane Stephens sitdown that included her sharing how Madison Keys rushed to get her sushi during a break, and how her family is in the mortuary business, with how she came to actually like the idea of doing that kind of work.
Another great one was their time with Roger Federer, which was shockingly John McEnroe's best work that I can recall in his history.
While still being over-the-top deferential to Federer, McEnroe pushed Federer out of his comfort zone, asking questions in ways no other analyst would attempt. Instead of being asked the same "Is Nick Kyrgios good for the sport?" type of questions, McEnroe was much more aggressive, and the results included Federer conceding that he's largely stopped doing the SABR because practice partners didn't appreciate it, and that Kyrgios is still doing things that players usually have out of their system by now.
There were definitely cringeworthy moments like Chris McKendry being the latest to ask Rafael Nadal if he was inspired to keep playing because of Federer, or very clumsily telling him he hadn't made the quarterfinals of all 4 majors since 2011, rather than phrasing it as he was the only player in tennis to do so this season.
On the whole though, their desk interviews were quite strong, I learned new things, and I looked forward to seeing them so long as they weren't distracting from live action (some did, some didn't).
Chris Fowler continues to be the best play-by-play analyst in the sport (Ted Robinson is good, but isn't around the sport as much, thus isn't as dialed in). He can get brought down a level by lesser color analysts, but gives the best "camp" details around, sharing nuggets that coaches or team members have shared, and he clearly cares, getting back as soon as he can every year from his mid-tournament college football induced absence.
Despite his shielding of Nick Kyrgios, Darren Cahill also remains the best color analyst around. Rennae Stubbs, who was *excellent* on the sidelines in the Maria Sharapova/Patty Schnyder match, also does good work when used, and Brad Gilbert, though an acquired taste, brings knowledge and enthusiasm. After being mysterious absent to the point people thought she was gone, Mary Joe Fernandez continues to be the most informed women's analyst on American TV, save for maybe the lightly-used Stubbs or Lindsay Davenport.
The Bad, and Occasionally Ugly
-John McEnroe (despite the Federer interview) and Chris Evert continue to drag the network down. They don't watch the sport year-round and don't invest the time that the other analysts put in. I mean, I don't care for Pam Shriver, but at least she watches throughout the year and builds up credit from having gone to the other tournaments.
In addition to their lack of knowledge, they frequently belittle other players and infamously lean on "Youngster/Journeyman X is really feeling the pressure"-type analysis, which is useless and makes players appear weak to casual viewers.
In particular, the men's final really suffered for substituting the voices of Gilbert and Cahill for the McEnroe brothers. In what was largely a dull final, the energy in the booth was quite low as well and was easy to tune out (intentionally or not) on a busy Sunday that saw the NFL season get underway and, for those aware of it, Game 2 of the WNBA Finals.
-It's possible this was influenced by the tournament itself, but the insistence on showing Ashe matches over other courts was frustrating at times.
-It's been true for years and impacts all sports but...how is the ESPN app still so delayed? I understand ESPN won't sacrifice their morning programming to go to first ball coverage at 11 AM EST/8 AM EST, but it becomes more aggravating when their app isn't a good place to watch the first hour that is not televised.
-Finally, ESPN continues to do a MASSIVE disservice to the sport with their ticker coverage.
Ticker coverage of the majors is reduced to a daily line that reads, "Women's singles, second round: Halep (1), Kerber (3), Keys (13) advance, Muguruza (8) upset."
At non-majors, the extent of event coverage is usually two lines on Sunday that reads something like,
"Sloane Stephens defeats Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets to win Miami Open"
"Stephens: first title since winning US Open"
In previous years, set scores were listed for finals. Now they rarely are, treated as an inconvenience.
It's even gotten worse with their new ticker that just debuted. Their men's final information didn't even include sets! It just said "Djokovic defeats del Potro" and added that Djokovic has tied Pete Sampras in Slams.
This appears to be their overall route (for example, I noticed NFL info on Sunday would list yards without number of catches for receivers), which is even more discouraging as a general sports fan.
When other channels like FOX that don't have dollars invested in tennis are treating it with more respect on the ticker, something's not right.
Daily Notes
Day 1
Chris McKendry says heat and humidity don't bother Nadal. As anyone who watches Nadal knows, humidity definitely affects him, largely due to his profuse sweating, and the toll it takes on him as he ages is largely why he stopped playing the South American clay events.
Chris McKendry confuses the Zverev brothers.
The opening Kelly Clarkson concert gave viewers roughly an hour with no tennis on Day 1, when there's a gazillion matches going on. In this case, I'm willing to blame the USTA, because the USTA was atrocious all tournament and it wouldn't be that weird if the concert was required in the rights deal.
Chris Evert says Sam Querrey's retirement is a shame because he's had a great year. After a resurgent 2017, Querrey is 54th in the 2018 race and down to 59th in the rankings.
Jason Goodall says "fellow countryman." Not a big deal, more of a annoyance, and a redundant term that gets used by Tennis Channel analysts too.
Chris Evert thinks David Ferrer retired for good after the US Open.
Day 3
A ground level heat segment from McKendry/Goodall keeps coverage from showing Stan Wawrinka serving out the match versus Ugo Humbert, and Steve Johnson rolling his ankle versus Dominic Thiem, which went many minutes before being shown.
ESPN's ticker gave a stat about WTA players who had never reached #1. The list included Garbine Muguruza, who has reached #1.
Tom Rinaldi and Mardy Fish miss how massive a blown call on the baseline is for Nicolas Jarry against John Isner.
Day 5
Coverage routinely missed first points of games in Nadal/Khachanov, a trend throughout the tournament
Rinaldi/McEnroe/Gilbert talked about what Khachanov can learn from the match and what his coach can show him, all while he was only trailing by one break in the fourth, leaving them shocked when Karen broke back and got into a tiebreaker.
Day 7
John McEnroe thinks Milos Raonic getting treatment before the 5th set vs John Isner "shows vulnerability" because he had the momentum.
Chris Evert laments how other WTA players aren't as competitive as Serena.
Day 8
Louis Armstrong montage goes on too long while multiple relevant matches are going on.
Novak Djokovic's MTO against Joao Sousa took too long to be addressed. This was somewhat defensible because it happened during Osaka/Sabalenka, but there needed to be quicker mention of the title favorite feeling unwell in the conditions.
The Vondrousova/Tsurenko match was all but ignored (not entirely certain the extent, as I was not at the TV for stretches, but it was never on while I was viewing).
Evert says there's never been more momentum switches in a match during Osaka/Sabalenka.
Day 9
ESPN misses two points at 3-4 of the second set of the Stephens/Sevastova quarterfinal to show empty courts. It highlighted how conditions were so bad that juniors were not on court, but it lasted far too long. Show. The. Tennis.
Fantastic next-day coverage of Roger Federer's post match treatment after the Millman match. McKendry was close as a viewer, while Fernandez used her connection to Federer (being married to Federer's longtime agent) to provide inside details, a nice contrast to the usual conflict of interest.
Day 10
Chris Evert says Naomi Osaka will win a Slam because you need the power, you need the big serve. Osaka did go on to win, but a season with a Wozniacki/Halep/Kerber trio winning Slams probably isn't the most relevant time to deploy that cliche.
Day 11
Evert isn't sure if Osaka still bows after matches, which seems like something that could be learned by watching the matches.
Day 12
The bizarre Pam Shriver/Chevy Chase interview.
Day 13
Chris Evert says Serena Williams wasn't given a chance to fight because of the game penalty. In actuality, Williams held in 1.3 nanoseconds after the penalty and Osaka had to fight past Williams and the crowd to close out the biggest match of her career to date.
Fernandez says Serena is more sensitive, which played as an impartial excuse.
And perhaps the funniest moment of the entire tournament...Evert bowing to Naomi Osaka.