Chris Evert is a crappy commentator

[suwanee4712]

Originally Posted by jaggy

Shriver has been disappointing as I feel she has a personality that just is missing when she commentates. I never expected much from Evert.

Pam regressed as a commentator from the mid 80's to now. She used to offer great insight based on her own experiences. I also used to think who she got paired with mattered. These days ....I don't get much out of her commentary.

Chris is as calculated as a commentator as she was a player. It worked for her tennis and her image, but it fails miserably in this capacity. She gives you nothing but fluff and even when she tries to draw from her playing days she's often wrong. Whatever she is paid it's too much.

[suwanee4712]

Novotna is interesting. Someone mentioned her English or her accent. The monotone drone is a bit of a problem. But she reminds me of Ann Jones who I thought was great as a color analyst.

Many disagree with me but I've always liked Joanne Russell. Wendy Turnbull was quite good and I will always love Virginia Wade.

[NadalAgassi]

Joanne Russell was horrible and she had her head so far up Steffi Graf's butt it wasnt even funny. You could tell she was jealous over both Martina and Chris, and loved watching a young developing Steffi already starting to put the beatdown on them when they were still in or very close to their primes. It got to the point she could barely contain her over the top jubiliation for Graf in every point she won, and then when Sanchez Vicario beat her in that French Open final it was like her favorite pet died. Too bad she left commentating for major networks before Seles took over the #1 from Graf and began to dominate the game in Graf's former place for awhile, I would have loved to have seen Russell's reaction to that.

Virginia Wade is excellent.

Wendy Turnbull is quite good.

Novotna I thought was decent the few times I heard her but she didnt say very much, but in a way that was nice in itself.

I quite like Ann Jones the times I heard her.

Shriver is getting a bit worse over the years, but on the whole she is better than Navratilova (who also was better in the 90s and gradually regressed since) and far better than Evert. Shame on ESPN for relegating Shriver to a side role to put the ghastly Evert in a more key spot. Evert's legacy as a player should not come before her crappy commentating skills, there is a reason NBC fired her *** all those years ago (taking way too long to do it), and she could not find broadcasting employment (and was seeking it and admited so) for another decade. I did not think Evert could get any worse than she was in the 90s and early 2000s but boy was I wrong. She went from a cocky know it all who spewed more incorrect facts, outdated cliches, false set viewpoints reflecting personal bias, and disrespect to all players outside her personal 2 or 3 favorites, to a half zombie-ish presence who struggles to even know what to try and talk about. How one of the smartest players in history, who writes insightful and refreshing columns for Tennis Magazine, and has helped run a very successful tennis academy for decades, can be such a wasteful fool in the booth is beyond me, but it is reality.

[Rjtennis]

I like Evert. She actually has positive things to say. Unlike Shriver who is very negative and rips on everyone even though she never won any big singles titles herself. Evert just seems nice and actually says positive things about players even when they are losing. Shriver is also just ackward. She has a hard time communicating with people during interviews.

[NadalAgassi]

Originally Posted by Rjtennis

I like Evert. She actually has positive things to say.

Such as what? Referring to Davenport as a nobody and Graf's path to the 99 Wimbledon title as a cakewalk over a bunch of nobodies left if she beat Venus (Venus who herself was without a major singles title, while Davenport was the reigning U.S Open winner and previous year end #1 who would embarass Evert in typical fashion by beating Graf in the final). She even lumped Davenport in with Tauziat and Lucic. Such as saying in one of her introductions in Tennis Magazine that Venus and Serena should be automatically put in seperate halves so they are certain to always have a chance to reach the final, as if the World of tennis revolves around only them, this in 2007 the year Justine Henin was far and away the #1 and dominant player. Such as her disrespecting a young Kim Clijsters's performance in the 2001 French Open final by saying Capriati was playing at about 20% of her potential, as a way to save face after she declared Kim had nothing to compete with her womencrush Clijsters with pre match. Such as her saying World #3 and reigning Wimbledon Chamipon Conchita Martinez was "a joke of a player" (her exact words) during a 1995 broadcast. I could go on forever when it comes to Christine Evert's history of infamous commentary.

Shriver does disrespect some players who arent even top 30 level, but I have hardly ever seen her speak in a negative tone towards a top 15/top 20 player. Sometimes when they play a Williams sister she dismisses their chances, but that isnt a diss on them, as an observation of reality. Evert has at times disrespected top 5 players and major winners for many years in the booth.

[Rjtennis]

Originally Posted by dmcb101

I will never understand how anyone could dislike Cahill. He is so sensible and always has great things to input on players developing. I could not disagree with you more.

Cahill is great. He is also probably the closest to the players on the tour today so can offer great insight from a personal perspective. He is my favorite commentator for sure.

[Limpinhitter]

Fred Stolle is the best commentator out there since Tony Trabert retired.