Did Federer do something to tick off ESPN?

[NADALbULLS]

If Roddick wins Cincy it will be by far the biggest story, considering he was thought to be fading into retirement. And considering he just beat Djokovic in straight sets (the guy Federer almost last to last week), it could well happen. Roddick is 33-6 on hardcourts this year.

 

[abraxas21]

They always show Feds matches in ESPN Latin America.

ESPN tennis coverage is a lot better than in the states around here.

 

[BreakPoint]

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

Just a scheduling thing it seems.

That's the point. In the past, ESPN always made darn sure that Federer's matches were scheduled during their broadcast window, Not anymore.

 

[BreakPoint]

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.

Ha ha ha ha....********* much?

Nadal can't even make it to the final on a fast hardcourt and you're claiming that Federer only wins Slams when Nadal is injured? Ha ha ha ha...LOL

Oh, and if Nadal had played Wimbledon last year, Federer would have crushed him! Nadal only won it this year because he didn't have to face Federer. That's why I don't count Nadal's '10 Wimbledon as a proper win. See, it goes both ways , doesn't it?

 

[NADALbULLS]

In Wimbledon 2009 Federer played the worst I've ever seen him play off the ground on grass (he also played the worst Roland Garros I've ever seen him play off the ground, and was consequently all but beaten by Haas). The only guy he was bound to beat at Wimbledon was someone like Roddick who couldn't take advantage of Federer's poor ground-play.

That is the only way a 16-14 fifth set gets no mention of being "the greatest match of all-time" or even in the discussion. It was a more dramatic match than the 2008 Final yet it's not given much hype, and it's because apart from the serving it wasn't a great standard of tennis.

 

[jackson vile]

It's because ESPS sucks and are full of morons! WTA is a joke and I am tired of being force fed that crap.

 

[darthpwner]

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??????

Blame little league baseball. LOL

 

[Rippy]

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.

hahahahahaha.

And why exactly was del Potro "some competition", whereas all the previous US Open finalists Federer beat weren't? Oh right, because they didn't beat Federer... and by definition, anyone who Federer beats isn't considered real competition.........

 

[BreakPoint]

Blame little league baseball. LOL

You can't because Little League baseball wasn't scheduled to be broadcast until way later in the day yesterday. During the time slot that the Federer-Davydenko match was scheduled, ESPN had SportsNation and Pardon the Interruption scheduled, two taped shows that could have been easily pre-empted for live tennis.

 

[Chace]

ESPN2 is showing the Fed/Bags semi live tonite.

 

[Fedex]

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.

Dramatic hysterical monkey.
Federer the obliterator.
Sounds like a comic hero.
Issue no.1
He oblierates everything in his path.
Andy Murray straight sets Federer but Federer obliterates Murray!!
Issue no.2
Federer annihilates!!!

 

[Fedex]

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

Issue no.3
Obliterator, annihilator.
Now also the admirable Federer.

 

[The Baseline]

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.

your right, everything revolves around nadal. everyone in america wants to be nadal, wants to buy the babolats, wants to do the fist pumps and scream "Vamos". im getting sick of the copycat mentality anymore. federer has better technique and as a result more longevity in the sport. I just hate how the younger kids, all they do is idolize nadal and buy his racquet, and do his screams, when they should just play their game. its a disgrace networks dont show other players not named nadal and federer

 

[Dgpsx7]

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.

the funny thing is the fact that I would watch that channel.

 

[Deleted member 25923]

Seriously, why didn't ESPN3 cover the Fed match?

 

[aprilfool]

ESPN2 featured the Fed/Baggy semi Saturday night and will also broadcast the Sunday final.

 

[BreakPoint]

ESPN2 featured the Fed/Baggy semi Saturday night and will also broadcast the Sunday final.

Actually, they won't. The final on Sunday is on CBS at 9:00am PST. Not much turnaround time for the winner of the Sat. night semi.