Did Federer do something to tick off ESPN?

[BreakPoint]

ESPN used to go out of their way to show Federer's matches. If they only had the time slot to show one match, they would always choose to show the Federer match over any of the other matches. Nowadays, it seems to be the exact opposite. ESPN is now going out of their way to avoid showing Federer matches. Last week in Toronto, they scheduled to show a WTA match over the Federer/Berdych match, even though it was a very intriguing match given that Berdych just took Federer out of Wimbledon (thereby breaking Federer's string of 7 consecutive Wimbledon finals), and also won their last two meetings. Lucky for us that the WTA match was a blowout so ESPN had some time left to show us the end of the Federer match, but it was not originally on their schedule.

Yesterday in Cincy, ESPN planned to show the Murray, Nadal, and Roddick matches but planned to skip the Federer match altogether which was scheduled to be right in between. It just turned out that Federer got a walkover so there was no match anyway, but again, it was not originally on ESPN's schedule anyway. So now today we have the Cincy QF's. ESPN is scheduled to show the Murray/Fish and the Djokovic/Roddick day matches and the Nadal/Baghdatis night match, but skip the Federer/Davydenko match altogether (which comes after the Djokovic/Roddick match), despite that being also a very intriguing match given that Davydenko has beaten Federer a few times in the past year.

So my question is: Did Federer do something to tick off ESPN?

Don't they realize that Federer has more fans than any other tennis player? Federer is ranked #2 yet they choose to show lower ranked players over Federer?

All I have to say is: What's up with that??????

 

[Solomnstr]

If they really showed a WTA match over Federer/Berdych then wow.
That's just dumb

 

[flyinghippos101]

They found out he wasn't American and that his name wasn't Tiger Woods

 

[President of Serve/Volley]

They found out he wasn't American and that his name wasn't Tiger Woods

This.

Agreed.

 

[Devilito]

They found out he wasn't American and that his name wasn't Tiger Woods

you have to coat that with a little more ******** for the american crowd

 

[veroniquem]

Newsflash: Federer is not American and he's not the #1 anymore.
All eyes are on Rafa right now, not just because he is #1 but because everyone wonders if he can make it at the USO. I think that's the main storyline for the media even in the US. Federer is the past, Nadal is the future.

 

[flyinghippos101]

Newsflash: Federer is not American and he's not the #1 anymore.
All eyes are on Rafa right now, not just because he is #1 but because everyone wonders if he can make it at the USO. I think that's the main storyline for the media even in the US. Federer is the past, Nadal is the fure.

I always thought you were a fan, but I never thought you saw him THAT way.

 

[SplitStepper]

I am very disappointed in tennis on tv these days. Its got to be about money. They choose wta over fed, they cant seem to show matches live, etc. Its like we are being forced to pay $100 a year to tennistv.com or get direct tv. Greedy slimballs.

 

[veroniquem]

I always thought you were a fan, but I never thought you saw him THAT way.

Oops
Fish and Roddick also trigger interest because they're American of course.

 

[Moose Malloy]

ESPN's coverage of this tournament (and pretty much all events/sports they cover) was decided many, many months. Ditto with the schedule last week, WTA was always scheduled for that time slot.
many, many months ago, I really doubt they had any idea who would be playing in the 12-4 pm timeslot for August 20 back then.

I really can't comprehend some of the questions/ideas/theories on so many issues on this board. usually I would just chalk this up to newbies, but sadly this isn't the case.

Seriously, you think a tv network decides on what timeslot to carry tennis(or any live sporting event) the day of the event? or even the week of the event? do realize how inane that sounds? I'm sure ESPN would have loved to show Federer between 12-4, but the tournament scheduled him for later in the day. Jeez, they commit to showing 4 hours of tennis & you want 6. Its never enough. Its rare for any other sport to be shown for 6 straight hours on tv(& team sports have designated start & pretty much stop time...you can effctively plan accordingly, while you never know how long a tennis match will go, or when the 2nd match will start etc. Tennis is a nightmare sport to plan tv coverage around & I think espn does a pretty good job, esp since they do show other sports as well, you know)

Try searching your direct tv schedule(or espn's) a month or so before any event & see what times are set for that event. And when that event comes around, don't be shocked when they actually stick to that schedule, no matter who is playing outside of those time slots)

 

[BreakPoint]

Newsflash: Federer is not American and he's not the #1 anymore.
All eyes are on Rafa right now, not just because he is #1 but because everyone wonders if he can make it at the USO. I think that's the main storyline for the media even in the US. Federer is the past, Nadal is the fure.

Newsflash: Federer has never been American. His nationality didn't change with his ranking. :???:

Neither Murray nor Gulbis are American, either.

Oh, and the storyline is everyone is wondering if Federer can regain his US Open title after winning 5 in a row and losing in a tough 5 setter in the final last year, just like he regained his Wimbledon title last year after winning 5 in a row and losing in a tough 5 set final in 2008.

Oh, and Federer is also the defending champion in Cincy, where he totally obliterated Murray and Djokovic back-to-back last year.

 

[SplitStepper]

Newsflash: Federer is not American and he's not the #1 anymore.
All eyes are on Rafa right now, not just because he is #1 but because everyone wonders if he can make it at the USO. I think that's the main storyline for the media even in the US. Federer is the past, Nadal is the future.

This statement is completely ridiculous. Federer isn't finished, but when he does it will be THE BIGGEST story line. He is the greatest of all time. His finishing run should and will be well documented. We're just going to have to wait t few years for that.

 

[bolo]

ESPN's coverage of this tournament (and pretty much all events/sports they cover) was decided many, many months. Ditto with the schedule last week, WTA was always scheduled for that time slot.
many, many months ago, I really doubt they had any idea who would be playing in the 12-4 pm timeslot for August 20 back then.

I really can't comprehend some of the questions/ideas/theories on so many issues on this board. usually I would just chalk this up to newbies, but sadly this isn't the case.

Seriously, you think a tv network decides on what timeslot to carry tennis(or any live sporting event) the day of the event? or even the week of the event? do realize how inane that sounds? I'm sure ESPN would have loved to show Federer between 12-4, but the tournament scheduled him for later in the day. Jeez, they commit to showing 4 hours of tennis & you want 6. Its never enough. Its rare for any other sport to be shown for 6 straight hours on tv(& team sports have designated start & pretty much stop time...you can effctively plan accordingly, while you never know how long a tennis match will go, or when the 2nd match will start etc. Tennis is a nightmare sport to plan tv coverage around & I think espn does a pretty good job, esp since they do show other sports as well, you know)

Try searching you schedule(or espn's) a month or so before any event & see what times are set. And when that event comes around, don't be shocked when they actually stick to that schedule, no matter who is playing outside of those time slots)

lol. 10 char.

 

[Underhand]

So my question is: Did Federer do something to tick off ESPN?

You ticked off ESPN with dumb *******ism. Now they punish you.

 

[OrangePower]

Actually there is a new cable channel launching - Fed TV.

Kinda like the Big 10 Network only much better.

This new channel is dedicated to showing only Fed live matches, repeats of classic matches, trick shots, interviews, etc.

I hear there might also be a reality show in the mix called "Nanny Search", where the Fed family find the perfect travelling au pair for the twins, starting with 16 hopefulls that get fired week by week until there is only the winner left. Apparently Mirka really shines in this as the demanding boss.

To answer the OP question - Fed TV now owns the live TV rights to all Fed matches, so ESPN can't show them.

 

[BreakPoint]

ESPN's coverage of this tournament (and pretty much all events/sports they cover) was decided many, many months. Ditto with the schedule last week, WTA was always scheduled for that time slot.
many, many months ago, I really doubt they had any idea who would be playing in the 12-4 pm timeslot for August 20 back then.

I really can't comprehend some of the questions/ideas/theories on so many issues on this board. usually I would just chalk this up to newbies, but sadly this isn't the case.

Seriously, you think a tv network decides on what timeslot to carry tennis(or any live sporting event) the day of the event? or even the week of the event? do realize how inane that sounds? I'm sure ESPN would have loved to show Federer between 12-4, but the tournament scheduled him for later in the day. Jeez, they commit to showing 4 hours of tennis & you want 6. Its never enough. Its rare for any other sport to be shown for 6 straight hours on tv(& team sports have designated start & pretty much stop time...you can effctively plan accordingly, while you never know how long a tennis match will go, or when the 2nd match will start etc. Tennis is a nightmare sport to plan tv coverage around & I think espn does a pretty good job, esp since they do show other sports as well, you know)

Try searching you schedule(or espn's) a month or so before any event & see what times are set. And when that event comes around, don't be shocked when they actually stick to that schedule, no matter who is playing outside of those time slots)

Um...no, that's not the way it works. ESPN sets the time slot and then tells the tournament when to schedule the matches they want to show into those time slots. That's the way it's always worked, especially for the North American tournaments. ESPN pays these tournaments a lot of money for the rights to broadcast these matches and the tournaments do what ESPN tells them to do. That's why in the past the Federer matches always somehow happen to fall right into ESPN's broadcast window. Not anymore.

 

[veroniquem]

Newsflash: Federer has never been American. His nationality didn't change with his ranking. :???:

Neither Murray nor Gulbis are American, either.

Oh, and the storyline is everyone is wondering if Federer can regain his US Open title after winning 5 in a row and losing in a tough 5 setter in the final last year, just like he regained his Wimbledon title last year after winning 5 in a row and losing in a tough 5 set final in 2008.

Oh, and Federer is also the defending champion in Cincy, where he totally obliterated Murray and Djokovic back-to-back last year.

1- his nationality didn't change but his ranking did and he's not the unbeatable prodigy he used to be either.
2- Murray is British (closest thing to being an American)
3- Fed has won the USO plenty of times. He's old news. People are more excited about someone new being able to win it. (at least mediawise, much better selling angle)
4- defending champion = yawn for the media. Remember how excited they were when Sod beat Nadal at RG? That's front page + a lot has changed since last year. Current Fed is not exactly the main favorite anymore.

 

[BreakPoint]

You ticked off ESPN with dumb *******ism. Now they punish you.

Yes, because I have so much influence over ESPN. :roll:

 

[BreakPoint]

1- his nationality didn't change but his ranking did and he's not the unbeatable prodigy he used to be either.
2- Murray is British (closest thing to being an American)
3- Fed has won the USO plenty of times. He's old news. People are more excited about someone new being able to win it. (at least mediawise, much better selling angle)
4- defending champion = yawn for the media. Remember how excited they were when Sod beat Nadal at RG? That's front page + a lot has changed since last year. Current Fed is not exactly the main favorite anymore.

That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

 

[veroniquem]

This statement is completely ridiculous. Federer isn't finished, but when he does it will be THE BIGGEST story line. He is the greatest of all time. His finishing run should and will be well documented. We're just going to have to wait t few years for that.

His last tournament will be a huge story line, sure. But Cincy isn't it and until then Fed is no storyline at all, just "same old, same old" kind of stuff.

 

[veroniquem]

That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

Gilbert was even Murray's coach + Murray is playing better than Fed currently, so will he win his first slam soon? More interesting than anything you could write about an old timer like Fed.

 

[Moose Malloy]

Um...no, that's not the way it works. ESPN sets the time slot and then tells the tournament when to schedule the matches they want to show into those time slots. That's the way it's always worked, especially for the North American tournaments. ESPN pays these tournaments a lot of money for the rights to broadcast these matches and the tournaments do what ESPN tells them to do. That's why in the past the Federer matches always somehow happen to fall right into ESPN's broadcast window. Not anymore.

Yes, the tournaments always consult with the broadcaster before deciding on the schedule, but ultimately its their decision, not the broadcasters.

Also players have some influence, Fed may have asked to be on later in the day. I doubt he would have been pleased to be on 1st at noon.

Oh & I just remembered what was said during yesterday's Murray match. When Gilbert coached Murray he said UK TV always asked North American events to put Murray on early in the day so his match could be seen live at 5 pm in the UK.
And Guess who's on at noon today? But I'm sure TW retards will say "LOOK ESPN WOULD RATHER SHOW MARDY FISH INSTEAD OF FED SINCE HE"S AMERICAN!!"
right...

There are so many factors in putting out a schedule of play, players, tv networks(not just american ones), fans, etc I don't envy being a TD.

I'd love to see if UK networks or ESPN pays more for tv rights to this event. From what I read about espn dropping Indian Wells a few years ago(where the tournament almost allowed them to broadcast it for free lol), I'm guessing the UK networks.

I've read interviews with espn execs who say the slams are the only events that really matter to the network. if the 'usopen series' didn't exist none of these events would be on espn(I'm pretty sure USTA only gave espn rights to the US Open if they agreed to commit to these warmup events as well)

 

[samjones]

2- Murray is British (closest thing to being an American)

Nope - Australian is the closest thing to being an American.

English would seem to be the closest thing to being a Canadian.

Scottish is neither.

In any case, with all these they seem to like to show the American or the #1 seed. There doesn't seem to be much thought put into showing which match has the most intrigue. I feel like this is the case with all tournaments on all networks, including (and especially) the NCAA basketball tournament and the Olympics.

 

[samjones]

BTW: Thank God for the Tennis Channel. On my cable network ESPN seems to favor Little League Baseball and some kind of Poker tournament over a matter as insignificant as a major American tennis tournament.

If you ask me, the Tennis Channel is the best sports network of its kind. Way better than the college conference channels or the other dedicated pro sports channels (e.g. NFL Network)

 

[decades]

he's just not that fun to watch and Americans, as a rule, will grab the remote and switch to Snooki and Jwoww when a Fed match comes on ESPN. Why? Because they're actually entertaining.

 

[yellowoctopus]

ESPN's coverage of this tournament (and pretty much all events/sports they cover) was decided many, many months. Ditto with the schedule last week, WTA was always scheduled for that time slot.
many, many months ago, I really doubt they had any idea who would be playing in the 12-4 pm timeslot for August 20 back then.

I really can't comprehend some of the questions/ideas/theories on so many issues on this board. usually I would just chalk this up to newbies, but sadly this isn't the case.

Seriously, you think a tv network decides on what timeslot to carry tennis(or any live sporting event) the day of the event? or even the week of the event? do realize how inane that sounds? I'm sure ESPN would have loved to show Federer between 12-4, but the tournament scheduled him for later in the day. Jeez, they commit to showing 4 hours of tennis & you want 6. Its never enough. Its rare for any other sport to be shown for 6 straight hours on tv(& team sports have designated start & pretty much stop time...you can effctively plan accordingly, while you never know how long a tennis match will go, or when the 2nd match will start etc. Tennis is a nightmare sport to plan tv coverage around & I think espn does a pretty good job, esp since they do show other sports as well, you know)

Try searching your direct tv schedule(or espn's) a month or so before any event & see what times are set for that event. And when that event comes around, don't be shocked when they actually stick to that schedule, no matter who is playing outside of those time slots)

I believe Moose Malloy has it right about this so-called issue. However, I would like to add that contracts negotiated between ESPN and these event organizers are based on ESPN's expected demand and their willingness to spend money. Chances are when they signed the contract with Rogers Cup folks a while back, ESPN just didn't want to spend a lot of money on buying rights to televise all the matches. As Moose put it, tennis is difficult to plan a television spot around. ESPN probably made a choice that is cheaper for them, a WTA match from Cinci. Unfortunately Tennis just hasn't been a money-maker for the sports networks in U.S. for a while. Personally I believe this is partly due to the fact that the other American sports (baseball, football, etc.) have done a much better job of marketing to the American audience. Notice that these sports are also more TV-friendly than tennis.

 

[BreakPoint]

he's just not that fun to watch and Americans, as a rule, will grab the remote and switch to Snooki and Jwoww when a Fed match comes on ESPN. Why? Because they're actually entertaining.

Oh really? Is that why Federer is the only player that the other pros will go out of their way to watch? :???:

 

[Augustus]

1- his nationality didn't change but his ranking did and he's not the unbeatable prodigy he used to be either.
2- Murray is British (closest thing to being an American)
3- Fed has won the USO plenty of times. He's old news. People are more excited about someone new being able to win it. (at least mediawise, much better selling angle)
4- defending champion = yawn for the media. Remember how excited they were when Sod beat Nadal at RG? That's front page + a lot has changed since last year. Current Fed is not exactly the main favorite anymore.

Do you play darts on a Federer picture?

 

[TEnnisguy]

Do you play darts on a Federer picture?

No, she has a voodoo doll of Fed.

 

[sureshs]

Fed is just a washed-up old guy now

 

[BreakPoint]

Fed is just a washed-up old guy now

Sure, that's why he was in the final in Toronto last week and 54 of the Top 56 players in the world weren't. :???:

 

[Bud]

Post Deleted

 

[Big_Dangerous]

ESPN used to go out of their way to show Federer's matches. If they only had the time slot to show one match, they would always choose to show the Federer match over any of the other matches. Nowadays, it seems to be the exact opposite. ESPN is now going out of their way to avoid showing Federer matches. Last week in Toronto, they scheduled to show a WTA match over the Federer/Berdych match, even though it was a very intriguing match given that Berdych just took Federer out of Wimbledon (thereby breaking Federer's string of 7 consecutive Wimbledon finals), and also won their last two meetings. Lucky for us that the WTA match was a blowout so ESPN had some time left to show us the end of the Federer match, but it was not originally on their schedule.

Yesterday in Cincy, ESPN planned to show the Murray, Nadal, and Roddick matches but planned to skip the Federer match altogether which was scheduled to be right in between. It just turned out that Federer got a walkover so there was no match anyway, but again, it was not originally on ESPN's schedule anyway. So now today we have the Cincy QF's. ESPN is scheduled to show the Murray/Fish and the Djokovic/Roddick day matches and the Nadal/Baghdatis night match, but skip the Federer/Davydenko match altogether (which comes after the Djokovic/Roddick match), despite that being also a very intriguing match given that Davydenko has beaten Federer a few times in the past year.

So my question is: Did Federer do something to tick off ESPN?

Don't they realize that Federer has more fans than any other tennis player? Federer is ranked #2 yet they choose to show lower ranked players over Federer?

All I have to say is: What's up with that??????

Yeah I don't get it either... They'd rather show PTI and ATH and all those other shows.... I don't mind those shows, but can we miss a day of those gas bags to watch a quality tennis match.... I really don't think that's too much to ask, it's not like those shows are giving you much you don't already know... Yes Brett Favre is back we've heard about it for the thousandth time, we don't need 4 shows all in a row talking about it...

 

[pjonesy]

Newsflash: Federer has never been American. His nationality didn't change with his ranking. :???:

Neither Murray nor Gulbis are American, either.

Oh, and the storyline is everyone is wondering if Federer can regain his US Open title after winning 5 in a row and losing in a tough 5 setter in the final last year, just like he regained his Wimbledon title last year after winning 5 in a row and losing in a tough 5 set final in 2008.

Oh, and Federer is also the defending champion in Cincy, where he totally obliterated Murray and Djokovic back-to-back last year.

Nice one, Breakpoint! As a whole, I think Nadal is not very popular in America. Personally, I think his game is amazing, but I don't care for his manufactured personality and annoying quirks.

Federer is not American, but he is well liked in this country compared to Nadal. He has a lot to prove at the US Open and the cameras will be there to capture it, win or lose.

 

[Big_Dangerous]

I just got it - Maybe it was that commercial he did for Tennis Channel. They were airing it earlier this week quite a bit.

He's like "I'm Roger Federer and you're watching my favorite channel, Tennis Channel."

Maybe ESPN is like **** you Roger we'll make sure to air Nadal, Murray and Djokovic before you from now on.

 

[Tony48]

Who knows. If Fed was scheduled earlier he would have been shown live.

Just a scheduling thing it seems.

 

[larlarbd]

Newsflash: Federer has never been American. His nationality didn't change with his ranking. :???:

Neither Murray nor Gulbis are American, either.

Oh, and the storyline is everyone is wondering if Federer can regain his US Open title after winning 5 in a row and losing in a tough 5 setter in the final last year, just like he regained his Wimbledon title last year after winning 5 in a row and losing in a tough 5 set final in 2008.

Oh, and Federer is also the defending champion in Cincy, where he totally obliterated Murray and Djokovic back-to-back last year.

I know You worship Federer but c'mon - he wasn't gonna regain Wimby last year if Nadal defened his title. & IMO Fed has been Lucky to win 5 in a row ( USO ) because of lackluster perf. by top ten in those years - now that we see some competetion - a 21 yr old who never won ANY Slam kicks Fed in the balls , Fed is a great player - I personally will miss him when he is gone , but he has been extremely lucky to get 16+ slams , 12 - yes he deserves it but not more than that - justice is sometimes cruel , his slams mean nothing to him because he always gets destroyed by his main rival , atleast Sampras had the dignity to walk away with last Slam & great record against Top-Ten & MOST IMPORTANT his biggest rival. I beleive The Quick Decline in Fed's form is actually Rafa's return , deep down Fed just knows - he is second best , he always has been because when he was asked to step up against his biggest upcoming rival he failed miserably. That must have taken a toll on a champions beleif system - I desparately hope Fed wins another Slam - possibly a year end one , but only way he's gonna win it is gonna be like 2009 when Rafa is injured - & that's not truely winning. And that's why I don't count Fed's RG as a proper win.

 

[aprilfool]

They found out he wasn't American and that his name wasn't Tiger Woods

They think he is Muslim.

 

[aprilfool]

1- his nationality didn't change but his ranking did and he's not the unbeatable prodigy he used to be either.
2- Murray is British (closest thing to being an American)
3- Fed has won the USO plenty of times. He's old news. People are more excited about someone new being able to win it. (at least mediawise, much better selling angle)
4- defending champion = yawn for the media. Remember how excited they were when Sod beat Nadal at RG? That's front page + a lot has changed since last year. Current Fed is not exactly the main favorite anymore.

You have zero understanding of American media regarding Federer.

 

[Deleted member 25923]

Why isn't Fed even on ESPN3?

 

[Ultra2HolyGrail]

You ticked off ESPN with dumb *******ism. Now they punish you.

 

[Banger]

he's just not that fun to watch and Americans, as a rule, will grab the remote and switch to Snooki and Jwoww when a Fed match comes on ESPN. Why? Because they're actually entertaining.

And this is why my America is going down the tubes. We(not including me) would rather watch this mindless idiotic sh.t rather than intellectually stimulating and educational programming.

 

[Al Czervik]

Gilbert just said two days without Fed is a rarity. Fowler indicated it is just by fluke of scheduling that Federer is playing while ESPN is not broadcasting.

 

[Jchurch]

That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

I mean, has the guy not heard about what the French did for us? Unbelievable.

 

[quest01]

If Federer was American he would be showed more in the US. This is the US Open series which means we are going to focus more on American players and not Eurotrash and other foreigners. Its always been this way, this shouldn't come as a surprise, the US Open Series has always been this way. The winners of the US Open on both the mens and women's side will be Americans.

 

[NADALbULLS]

ESPN used to go out of their way to show Federer's matches. If they only had the time slot to show one match, they would always choose to show the Federer match over any of the other matches. Nowadays, it seems to be the exact opposite. ESPN is now going out of their way to avoid showing Federer matches. Last week in Toronto, they scheduled to show a WTA match over the Federer/Berdych match, even though it was a very intriguing match given that Berdych just took Federer out of Wimbledon (thereby breaking Federer's string of 7 consecutive Wimbledon finals), and also won their last two meetings. Lucky for us that the WTA match was a blowout so ESPN had some time left to show us the end of the Federer match, but it was not originally on their schedule.

Yesterday in Cincy, ESPN planned to show the Murray, Nadal, and Roddick matches but planned to skip the Federer match altogether which was scheduled to be right in between. It just turned out that Federer got a walkover so there was no match anyway, but again, it was not originally on ESPN's schedule anyway. So now today we have the Cincy QF's. ESPN is scheduled to show the Murray/Fish and the Djokovic/Roddick day matches and the Nadal/Baghdatis night match, but skip the Federer/Davydenko match altogether (which comes after the Djokovic/Roddick match), despite that being also a very intriguing match given that Davydenko has beaten Federer a few times in the past year.

So my question is: Did Federer do something to tick off ESPN?

Don't they realize that Federer has more fans than any other tennis player? Federer is ranked #2 yet they choose to show lower ranked players over Federer?

All I have to say is: What's up with that??????

Maybe they think he's pompous?

 

[Clay lover]

The backhand shanks are too disturbing to the eye. They'd rather show women hitting wide but clean unforced errors.

 

[SiriusTennis]

The winners of the US Open on both the mens and women's side will be Americans.

Like last year?

 

[JennyS]

Why does ESPN hate Roger Federer? Because he's ruined American tennis!

1. He broke Pete Sampras's Grand Slam record. It's so unfair that Pete didn't get to enjoy the record longer!

2. He denied Agassi the US Open title in 2005! He could have ended his career just like Sampras! But the poo poo head had to beat Andre!

3. He's prevented Roddick from winning several Slams! The jerk!

So without Roger, Sampras is still the Grand Slam king, Agassi may have won another US Open or two (05 and maybe 04) and Roddick would probably have 3 Wimbledons and 3 US Opens!

 

[powerangle]

His last tournament will be a huge story line, sure. But Cincy isn't it and until then Fed is no storyline at all, just "same old, same old" kind of stuff.

Actually if Fed wins Cincy it'll be a pretty big story, seeing as how he hasn't won a title since January.