tv: australian open on espn (men’s SFs + champs weekend)



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For your DVR: The semi between Roger Federer and  Andy Murray at the 2013 Australian Open will be broadcast on ESPN (that’s the main stage, my squirrels) tonight at 3:30 a.m. ET.

The winner of this match will face two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic, who reached the finals after a comfortable, straight-set win over David Ferrer. The men;s final will be broadcast on Sunday early morning, at 3 a.m. ET (12 a.m. PT).

The ladies’ championship, already set between former finalist Li Na and No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, will air on early Saturday morning, also at 3 a.m. ET.

Reruns: Both championship matches will receive two encore presentations on ESPN2, at 9 a.m. and in prime time. If you’d rather be off your couch and online, the matches will also stream on WatchESPN.com and via the WatchESPN app. More: Get all the info here.

short balls: the post-wimbledon edition



Changing of the (screen) guard: While the victories of Petra Kvitova and Novak Djokovic marked somewhat of a changing of the guard on the respective tours, the biggest change at Wimbledon came in the week after the tournament was over: in its TV coverage. It was announced earlier this week that ESPN had outbid NBC for full TV rights of the tournament, meaning the peacock network was pushed out of a gig it had held for some 43 years. And for ESPN? They’ll have the whole shebang for the next 12 Championships. The network team of ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC will take over from London starting next year.

That’s a wrap? Did you miss the slew of Wimbledon post ops? If so, here’s a collection: Tignor’s A-List. Tignor’s the rest of them. Wertheim’s mail bag. ESPN’s Wimbledon grades. ESPN’s power rankingsWTA’s video highlights. Forty Deuce’s hilar “pic this.” The Guardian. Oh! The list goes on and on…

Too sexy for ya?  Time ran an interesting piece from its business section on the WTA‘s ad campaign, “Strong is Beautiful.” The thrust of the article: what the ?!?#?#%% Well, not exactly. But, the article points out that sexualizing the women the way this campaign does undermines women’s sports in a sense, and their ability to compete as athletes on court. We certainly see such a point.

The Journal recommends some tennis whites — including Boast — this summer. (WSJ)

Feeling Boastful? You guys know that TSF isn’t the only place online that talks about tennis fashion. OK, but we admit it: we’re the only ones that talk about it everyday. Anyway, the Wall Street Journal got in on the tennis fashion game during Wimbledon, running a piece that examined the cultural shift of the industry as it’s moved through the decades. Nope, tennis isn’t a rock-star sport driven by John McEnroe anymore, but the clothes he wore might be making a bit of a comeback. Featured in the article were one of TSF’s faves, Boast. | TSF Vault: Boast

Doesn’t it vibrate? While most of us have learned to silence our phones or at least put them on vibrate while at work or in public, it doesn’t seem as though Alize Cornet has attained such a habit. The Frenchwoman was down match point in the first round of the Swedish Open this week against world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki when a phone started ringing. Wozy first tried to ignore the noise, but it persisted, and she stepped back from the line to see if someone would answer/silence/ignore the call. It was then that her opponent, Cornet, ran to her bag to switch off the phone that had been ringing — hers! Hilarity. Video below:

Roll the tape: Seems as though the fellas at Tennis.com — Peter Bodo, Steve Tignor and Ed McGrogan — have a new outlet for their weekly chats. The trio has teamed up with BNP Paribas for a sit down in a round-table discussion called “The World of Tennis.” This week they talk about Andre Agassi, who will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame tomorrow in Newport, R.I. | ESPN: Agassi’s top 10 moments

Short(er) balls: It ain’t “Wimble-TIN.” Sportscaster raises money for charity by fueling PSA over pronunciation of Wimble-DON. | In case you forgot, Novak Djokovic is no. 1 in the world now. HEAD hails the king. | Are you reading Jonathan Scott‘s musings on Tennis.com’s “The Spin?” If not, you should be. | Lindsay Davenport is preggers and (tastefully) pulls out of the WTT season, via doctor’s orders. | This might be a little old, but who cares? It’s Maria Sharapova talking about Cole Haan. Take note, Martina Hingis. | Shouldn’t every short(er) balls end with Djoko dancing on stage? We think so.

(Image by George Ellison via Flickr.)

short balls: open hangover



We don’t know this guy, but he’s serving our post headline brilliantly with this beer-carrying pose. Great concentration on the step up, wouldn’t you say? (Photo by feltonamus via flickr.)

If you’re having a little bit of a US Open hangover like us, make sure to check out our week 2 podcast if you haven’t already. Erwin and I are chatting it up about all things TSF cares about at the USO. Which is all you should care about, too. Now, the short balls:

There’s nothing like curing a good tennis hangover with some non-tennis news. This version of (OT) is gay-tastic, which shouldn’t come too surprising to most of our readers. The VMAs happened on Sunday night in LA, and as a prep before the big show (in which Lady Gaga wore a meat dress – yes, meat), OUT.com put together a list of the gayest moments from the show’s nearly 30-year history. OUT also compiled photos from photographer Jeff Sheng that chronicles service men and women who have been effected by the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The exhibit is opening at the Kaycee Olsen gallery in LA on September 28th.

(MORE (OT)) As if you couldn’t get enough we have plenty of (OT) news up our sleeves this week. The blog we once loved to love is still churning out content, even after getting a book deal and getting published. Stuff White People Like is a hilarious and satirical blog. The latest ‘stuff’ white people like: The TED Conference. Hilarity. The US Olympic web site is celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the Sydney Olympics (remember Cathy Freeman? And Michael Johnson?!). And the New York Times flexes its graphic muscle with this panoramic view of the new Meadowlands Stadium, home of the Jets and Giants.

There’s been much (tennis) controversy following ESPN2‘s decision to cut away from the trophy ceremony at Flushing Meadows to commentary before the second Monday Night Football game of the night (yes, the second) between the Chiefs and the Chargers. Chris Chase laments on the Yahoo! tennis blog Busted Racquet about the debacle. We agree: us tennis fans are greatly outnumbered by the NFLers, but give our boys a little credit for the work they’ve done, and the history they’re making. Pretty sure no history was made on the gridiron on Monday night, no? Luckily, Forty Deuce has us saved with the full trophy presentation here. (And kudos on that post title, Courtney… )

While Serena (and Fashion Week) had/have nothing to do with the 2010 Open, there’s still plenty of connection between the two events. Fashion Week mainstay and Vogue editor Anna Wintour is a constant face (force?) in Roger Federer’s box and yesterday, Wintour’s right-hand man, Andre Leon Talley, penned a note for the Vogue Daily about Serena walking the runway for Fashion Week. As we write this, it’s 3 PM on Wednesday, so the big event’s already taken place (1 PM catwalk call time for ReRe at LaQuan‘s show at the Peninsula Hotel). Hopefully pictures soon. Meanwhile, this picture of Wintour and Serena at the Michael Kors show will have to do.

Serena and sister Venus both were a part of the Huffington Post‘s recent online musings. Venus’s US Open fireworks dress, which we talked at length about in our TSF podcast, was the subject of a photo gallery on the Huff‘s web site, while Serena is one of eight athletes selected by the Post as part of their Game Changer’s series.

Read more short balls with an epic version of short(er) balls after the cut. [Read more...]

malisse swings for sports center’s top 10 plays



Xavier Malisse pulled a trick out of the tennis bag last night in a first-set rally against Andy Roddick at the Atlanta Tennis Championships with an in-between the legs shot. Roddick was there to pounce at the net (click image above to watch the video), and the American won the match in three sets. The shot was #9 on Sports Center‘s Top 10 Plays reel from last night.

Delpo UPDATE: In Spanish on his Twitter account, Juan Martin del Potro told his fans: “I haven’t picked up a racquet yet so I can’t tell an exact date. When I know I’ll tell you the news here. I’m improving, that’s a good thing.” (Translation via Tennis-X blog.) Delpo musta read our timeline and decided it was time to clear things up.

(screen grab via espn.com)


short balls: the epic edition


Brooklyn gets wind-swept on the Bravo TV show Double Exposure. See more of Brooklyn, and what hubby Andy thinks of LiLo’s jailing in this week’s short balls. (screen grab via BravoTV.com)

Who said the week after Wimbledon was a dead one on the tennis news front? There is plenty of stuff going on, from the on-court happenings at Newport and beyond to plenty (and we mean plenty) of off court news. Here’s TSF‘s edition of short balls for the week.

If you are a Pam Shriver fan and still a little miffed by all the negative press the ESPN analyst got for her run-in with James Blake in the first round of Wimbledon a couple of weeks ago, we thought we would cheer you up by digging out this video clip of one of Pam’s big-time wins on the WTA singles circuit. The victim? Steffi Graf at the 1988 Virginia Slims Championships at Madison Square Garden. It was one of only three wins Shriver notched against Graf in 12 career meetings, and it’s a pretty good look at old-school, serve-and-volley tennis from PS herself.

Perhaps you miss Wimbledon mightily and have watched the many replays available on the official web site and on YouTube. Hopefully you’ve also had the chance to check out the “Off Court” section of the Wimby web site, which was sponsored by the bottled water company Evian. A trendy British gal roams the grounds in search of the good, bad and quirky in respects to fan fashion at this year’s tournament. I enjoyed every clip.

Andy Roddick’s wife, Brooklyn Decker (top) was on the Bravo TV show Double Exposure this last week and dang, girl looked good! We were digging the wind-blown hair. See a clip of the video by clicking the image above or here. Just to be clear, Brooklyn is the second girl, not the first who is, well, a little frightening. Recently, celeb Lindsay Lohan was on Double Exposure as well, though her shoot didn’t go as well as Brooklyn’s did. If you didn’t think Brooklyn’s hubby, Andy Roddick, had any opinion on Lohan’s recent court saga (she’s been sentenced for 90 days in jail for violating probation), think again:

Not to be outdone, Andy Murray also made the TV cut this week, appearing on the James Corden show in Britain. Murray chatted tennis and soccer, if a “Hawkeye” system should be used in soccer, and hit some tennis balls at fancy, over-sized cones. Not to be outdone by Brooklyn (or Lindsay!), Andy also slow danced with an adoring fan. Awkward picture after the cut.

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