Tennis Channel 10a.m.
Breakfast at the Open
11a.m. Live coverage of day two.
ESPN2 – Live coverage 1p.m.
Broadband Tennis Channel.com 11a.m.
ESPN 360
1p.m.
OK day one is in the books and as promised the team of ESPN2 and Tennis Channel made a long day’s journey into night a very entertaining one.
Some impressive first day thoughts:
Patrick Mc Enroe paired with Mary Joe Frenandez and Pam Shriver did some fine work.
P’Mac was solid in his first major role as a play by play man. Doing a fine job of not getting in the way of either of his partners and ever doing a good job of handling his promos.
Later P’Mac would joing brother John Mc Enroe for their first ever match together and all went well in primetime.
Tennis Channel Jimmy Conors was very entertaining doing some marathon work day one on the men’s side. While Tennis Channel vets Ian Eagle and Martina Navratilova were just as good as they have been at the French andWimbledon.
Here are some other highlight’s from day one and a look ahead at day two.
· There were matches that were routine — straight-set victories by defending champions Roger Federer and Serena Williams – and bizarre: two-time US Open winner Venus Williams flirting with unprecedented disaster before finally escaping from Vera Dushevina 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 in 2:43.
· ESPN’s newest analyst, four-time US Open champ John McEnroe, said to his booth partner for the Federer vs. Devin Britton, Cliff Drysdale, “I never thought this day would come that you and I would be in the booth together. This is pretty amazing. I’m sure you didn’t either.”
· Federer was interviewed by host Chris Fowler and analyst Brad Gilbert on the ESPN2 set, to the delight of hundreds of fans who gathered and chanted “Ro-ger, Ro-ger” on the plaza outside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
· Day merged into night as the afternoon session ran long and the network continued with James Blake’s match against Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo until its conclusion, virtually up to the start of the evening session at 7 p.m. ET, preempting the scheduled daily highlights show (6-7 p.m.).
· An emotional opening night ceremony, hosted by ESPN alumna Robin Roberts, now co-host of ABC’s Good Morning America, honored athletes who have done great deeds off the fields and courts of competition – Doug Flutie, Mia Hamm, David Robinson and tennis great Andre Agassi.
· The McEnroe brothers – John and Patrick – debuted as a booth pairing for the Andy Roddick-Bjorn Phau match. Earlier, on the ESPN set, John promised great things, saying to his younger sibling, “We can’t just be OK. We’re going to kick some ‘you know what.’”
· Roving reporter Pam Shriver provided fans insights into Venus Williams’ aching knee by interviewing the star’s father, Richard Williams, and Billie Jean King, who suffered from knee problems during her legendary career. (Pam also asked Billie Jean if she needs a ticket to enter a facility that is named for her. Ms. King admitted she goes “by the book” and has a credential for admittance.) In addition, Shriver tracked down Venus’ hitting partner David Witt about the knee and the high number of foot faults called on the #3 seed.
The “Lline of the Day”
· Lamenting the plight of fans who may have to leave while play continues late on a weeknight – at the time Venus Williams vs. Dushevina was barely into the 2nd set at 9:45 p.m. and did not end until 10:51 p.m., meaning the nightcap match of Andy Roddick and Bjorn Phau could be playing to 1 a.m. or later, Mary Carillo said, “Not us, but some people have real jobs.”
·
ESPN2’s coverage today:
(1) Dinara Safina (RUS) vs Olivia Rogowska (AUS)
(4) Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)
(5) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) vs Roberta Vinci (USA)
(22) Sam Querrey (USA) vs Michael Yani (USA)
(4) Elena Dementieva (RUS) vs Camille Pin (FRA)
At 7 p.m., ESPN2’s Primetime has two matches:
(29) Maria Sharapova (RUS) vs Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)
(2) Andy Murray (GBR) vs Ernests Gulbis (LAT)
