The US Open Series (Tennis)
Sun Jul 31, 2005 11:06 pm
So, anyone else planning to keep up with the US Open series this year? ESPN/ESPN2 are going to be covering quite a bit of the late round matches of some of the tournaments, so there will actually be a few opportunities to watch on television, at least in the US.
I watched the semis and final of Bank of the West, and the quarters, semis, and finals of the Mercedes Benz championship. Clijsters winning and winning solidly over Venus was not much of a surprise. She's going to be tough to beat now that the season has switched back to the hard courts. I'm looking forward to some future head-to-heads with Henin-Hardenne to see how she's able to handle the rivalry mentally after both had most of last year off.
Agassi winning MB was quite a bit of surprise for me. After what happened at the French, I was actually getting scared he was done for good, and I'm not even a fan. Although more and more recently I've been starting to respect him as a player and a person.
With the start of the US Open Series, Davenport's ranking is going to be easy enough to overtake, especially since she's injured. She's already lost all of her points from Bank of the West championships. It'll be interesting to see if she'll be able to get healthy and get back to the level she was at last summer. With the Belgians back in the game though, it's going to be tough. Clijsters and Henin-Hardenne are both pretty stunning on the hardcourts, and I expect them to fly up the rankings in the weeks leading up to the US Open.
Anyway, I've been rambling a bit too much here. Just curious to see if I'm the only one interested in all of this or not. Technically, I could care less about the 'series' itself, as it's just a marketing tool. But the hardcourt tournaments it covers are fairly big, even if they tend to be populated more by the American players. Can't blame the Europeans for not wanting to spend their entire summers away from their homes. ^_^
[Sorry about the poor flow of this post. I've had caffeine today and I think it's affecting my ability to be coherent.]
I watched the semis and final of Bank of the West, and the quarters, semis, and finals of the Mercedes Benz championship. Clijsters winning and winning solidly over Venus was not much of a surprise. She's going to be tough to beat now that the season has switched back to the hard courts. I'm looking forward to some future head-to-heads with Henin-Hardenne to see how she's able to handle the rivalry mentally after both had most of last year off.
Agassi winning MB was quite a bit of surprise for me. After what happened at the French, I was actually getting scared he was done for good, and I'm not even a fan. Although more and more recently I've been starting to respect him as a player and a person.
With the start of the US Open Series, Davenport's ranking is going to be easy enough to overtake, especially since she's injured. She's already lost all of her points from Bank of the West championships. It'll be interesting to see if she'll be able to get healthy and get back to the level she was at last summer. With the Belgians back in the game though, it's going to be tough. Clijsters and Henin-Hardenne are both pretty stunning on the hardcourts, and I expect them to fly up the rankings in the weeks leading up to the US Open.
Anyway, I've been rambling a bit too much here. Just curious to see if I'm the only one interested in all of this or not. Technically, I could care less about the 'series' itself, as it's just a marketing tool. But the hardcourt tournaments it covers are fairly big, even if they tend to be populated more by the American players. Can't blame the Europeans for not wanting to spend their entire summers away from their homes. ^_^
[Sorry about the poor flow of this post. I've had caffeine today and I think it's affecting my ability to be coherent.]
Mon Aug 01, 2005 6:35 am
Unfortunately, I can't actually watch because I don't have the right television channels (in England).
I don't even know who of my favourites are in the draw. D'oh.
I don't even know who of my favourites are in the draw. D'oh.
Mon Aug 01, 2005 4:52 pm
Federer won't be in most of the draws (he's your favorite male player, right?). I think he usually only goes to the Canada Open and Cincinnatti tournaments most years. 
'Tis a shame, but I really can't blame him. It's not the like Americans go live in Europe all spring to participate in bundles of clay court tournaments.
Aside from the Grand Slams, there have only been three other televised tournaments this year on ESPN/ESPN2 (I don't get the Tennis Channel). Two were in the first hardcourt 'season', the other was a couple of weekends ago and only the finals were shown, I believe. It was the RCA Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was actually planning on going to that one, but I swear they upped the ticket prices, and about that time the gas prices leapt up too, so I decided to skip it.
'Tis a shame, but I really can't blame him. It's not the like Americans go live in Europe all spring to participate in bundles of clay court tournaments.
Aside from the Grand Slams, there have only been three other televised tournaments this year on ESPN/ESPN2 (I don't get the Tennis Channel). Two were in the first hardcourt 'season', the other was a couple of weekends ago and only the finals were shown, I believe. It was the RCA Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was actually planning on going to that one, but I swear they upped the ticket prices, and about that time the gas prices leapt up too, so I decided to skip it.