Big mistakes on "Only At The Open"

[Moose Malloy]

Tennis Channel has been airing an original program called 'Only At The Open' over the last month or so. They are 30 minute programs devoted to a particular player's career at the USO. So far they have done episodes on McEnroe, Seles, Austin, Graf & Lendl.

During the McEnroe episode, the host incorrectly said that Mac lost in the semis of the '83 USO. Not a big deal, but still disappointing to see that sort of mistake on the 'Tennis Channel.'

But the mistake I noticed during the Ivan Lendl episode(which just premiered on sunday, check your listings for re-runs) was inexcusable.

They spent some time discussing Lendl's 5 set match with Pat Cash in '84, in which he saved a match point with a great running forehand lob(this point has been replayed in many highlight reels during CBS' coverage over the years, imo it is one of the most famous shots of the TV era, anyone who grew up playing tennis in the 80s was likely to have seen it somewhere)

On 'Only At The Open' they had Cash & Lendl both describe the match point, twice showing a point in which Lendl hit a lob winner over Cash. Problem is this point wasn't the match point! It was a point earlier in the game in which Cash was serving for the match, 30-15.

Cash describes the point pretty accurately, "He hit a chip backhand return, I closed the net, & hesitated for just a second & he passed me."

Then Lendl describes the point, & they show the (wrong) point in slow-motion.

"I think he hit a forehand volley after my return, I still had a backhand grip when I ran it down, so I had no choice to hit the lob, if I had more time I would have hit a drive instead."

The (incorrect) point they showed in slow mo while Lendl was talking did have Cash hitting a forehand volley, while in the right point he hit a backhand volley.

Did tennis channel deliberately show the wrong point just so it could match Lendl's recollection of the point? Or did someone just screw up?

The point they showed was an easy pass for Lendl, & didn't really fit his description except for the part about Cash hitting a fh volley. In this point he didn't have to run much, or worry about switching to a fh grip.

I can't find any clips of this point on youtube, would appreciate it if anyone who can would post it here.

I emailed TC, if anyone else is interested:

general@thetennischannel.com

[krosero]

Did tennis channel deliberately show the wrong point just so it could match Lendl's recollection of the point? Or did someone just screw up?Whether it was deliberate or just sloppy, who knows. Their problem was that if they show the correct point, and the player describes the point incorrectly, it's disorienting to the viewer. And, it makes the player seem to have a faulty memory, or else the network looks like they made a mistake.

I'm sure documentaries are commonly put together that way: collect the imagery; collect interview material; then match them up. Or just combine them as if they match up. And that results in cases where the photo or movie onscreen is actually about something else than what's being talked about.

That's just sloppy work. If Lendl's recollection was bad, then why use it at all? Why not just use the narrator, if anything needs to be said?

[Moose Malloy]

If Lendl's recollection was bad

I think his recollection was close enough to reality. He only got what kind of volley Cash hit wrong(& he did preface it with "I think..")

The part about him getting caught in between grips & having no choice but to lob was good stuff, & would have sounded great...if they showed the right point. I don't think most would have noticed/cared that he was wrong about the details of Cash's volley.

I was very surprised to see Lendl's poor memory later in the show, when they talked about the '87 USO final. The host asked him about it being a Monday final(due to rain) & Lendl said he was glad it rained because he was sick on Sunday, & that he was grateful that the USTA scheduled it for 7pm on Monday.
As you know, the final started at what, 1 pm that Monday?

Oh, and thought you might find what Cash said interesting, after Lendl's lob on match point, he claimed he hit an ace that was called out(which they showed as well)

Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure TC deliberately chose the wrong point to match what Lendl said, since they went to the trouble of showing Cash's 'ace,' someone certainly viewed the 'right' match point.

Why not just use the narrator, if anything needs to be said?

They had Steve Flink interviewed during the show & he sounded like he could have described the match better than either Cash or Lendl.

[krosero]

I was very surprised to see Lendl's poor memory later in the show, when they talked about the '87 USO final. The host asked him about it being a Monday final(due to rain) & Lendl said he was glad it rained because he was sick on Sunday, & that he was grateful that the USTA scheduled it for 7pm on Monday.

As you know, the final started at what, 1 pm that Monday?
It would really be strange if Lendl actually remembered that final as a night match. The '88 final ended at night but even that one was largely a daytime match.

In interviews I think it can be easy to mix up your thoughts, for instance if Lendl was thinking about the time the final ended, but it just came out wrong.

But I do think the details of individual points, or scorelines, can be easy to misremember.

[Benhur]

Tennis Channel has been airing an original program called 'Only At The Open' over the last month or so. They are 30 minute programs devoted to a particular player's career at the USO. So far they have done episodes on McEnroe, Seles, Austin, Graf & Lendl.

During the McEnroe episode, the host incorrectly said that Mac lost in the semis of the '83 USO. Not a big deal, but still disappointing to see that sort of mistake on the 'Tennis Channel.'

But the mistake I noticed during the Ivan Lendl episode(which just premiered on sunday, check your listings for re-runs) was inexcusable.

They spent some time discussing Lendl's 5 set match with Pat Cash in '84, in which he saved a match point with a great running forehand lob(this point has been replayed in many highlight reels during CBS' coverage over the years, imo it is one of the most famous shots of the TV era, anyone who grew up playing tennis in the 80s was likely to have seen it somewhere)

On 'Only At The Open' they had Cash & Lendl both describe the match point, twice showing a point in which Lendl hit a lob winner over Cash. Problem is this point wasn't the match point! It was a point earlier in the game in which Cash was serving for the match, 30-15.

Cash describes the point pretty accurately, "He hit a chip backhand return, I closed the net, & hesitated for just a second & he passed me."

Then Lendl describes the point, & they show the (wrong) point in slow-motion.

"I think he hit a forehand volley after my return, I still had a backhand grip when I ran it down, so I had no choice to hit the lob, if I had more time I would have hit a drive instead."

The (incorrect) point they showed in slow mo while Lendl was talking did have Cash hitting a forehand volley, while in the right point he hit a backhand volley.

Did tennis channel deliberately show the wrong point just so it could match Lendl's recollection of the point? Or did someone just screw up?

The point they showed was an easy pass for Lendl, & didn't really fit his description except for the part about Cash hitting a fh volley. In this point he didn't have to run much, or worry about switching to a fh grip.

I can't find any clips of this point on youtube, would appreciate it if anyone who can would post it here.

I emailed TC, if anyone else is interested:

general@thetennischannel.com



This is the sequence. Cash serving for match at 6-5. 30-0

30-0
Cash serves to Lendl's backhand. Lendl hits a backhand return down the line to Cahs's feet. Backhand volley by Cash down the line. Lendl passes him with a forehand down the line.

30-15
Serve to Lendl's forehand. Poor, high return straigh to cash at the T. Forehand volley deep to Lendl's forehand. Lendl hits a winning lob that lands well inside the court.

30-30
Serve more or less at body. Lendl has time to turn around the backhand to hit a winning cross court forehand pass.

30-40
Service winner.

Deuce
Serve down T. Good backhand return to Cahs's feet. Backhand volley down the line. Lendl hits a good crosscourt forehand pass attempt, dipping fast. Cash cuts it with winning crosscourt forehand volley.

Ad. Cash (match point)
Serve to Lendl's backhand. Crosscourt backhand return. Backhand volley down the line, almost at the corner. Lendl on the run (still backhand grip I guess) gets to it and hits a lob that lands on the baseline. Cash has time barely to get behind the ball but hits it wide.

[Moose Malloy]

It would really be strange if Lendl actually remembered that final as a night match. The '88 final ended at night but even that one was largely a daytime match.

In interviews I think it can be easy to mix up your thoughts, for instance if Lendl was thinking about the time the final ended, but it just came out wrong.


No, he really seemed sure that it was a night match. He made a point of saying that he was sick that weekend & was grateful to the USTA for scheduling it at night. Strange indeed.

I posted a thread about Borg's poor memory during the French this year, and last year during the HOF induction weekend they had an interview with Sampras & it was shocking to see him not know what year he won what major (and he's a young guy, only a few years removed from his career, unlike Lendl)
Others have found errors in his book as well.

I think some of these players shoudn't wait too long to write books, memories fade fast.