By: Nathan M. Cuny
With such great tennis being played as of late, the lack of television coverage has become very frustrating. It’s wonderful reading about matches for those who enjoy imagining, and even better for those with great imaginations to listen live on the Davis Cup radio scoreboard. But come on people this isn’t 1920, radio isn’t the primary form of entertainment, its television. TELEVISION.
There are several options where you can find live coverage of the matches, like the aforementioned radio station, or the watch live Davis Cup site. That’s not including the website for the ATP world tour tournaments. Then there’s the final option that’s actually on television for those who reside in the USA and its called The Tennis Channel. How about a little ESPN for those of us who aren’t ballers, huh?
Here’s some food for thought, over the next three seasons from 2012 to 2014, prize money for the ATP world tour will surpass 90 million dollars yearly, excluding Grand Slams. Prize money will increase for all tournaments, with a record blowing 9% yearly increase for all ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments over the next three years. This isn’t excluding the whopping 30% increase Barclays ATP World Tour Finals winners receive, jumping from 5 million dollars to 6.5 million dollars. Can’t the ATP CEO, or somebody in power throw the average Tennis-Joe a bone and figure some way to get more on tennis on regular television?
Take the second match of the Davis Cup finals opening day. The match featured David Ferrer (Spain) vs. Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina). The epic match spanned a grueling yet exciting four hours and forty-five minutes. Coverage of the match for the general public would have been fantastic considering how hard Ferrer fought for his 6-2, 6-7², 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win. Ferrer won the match by drawing on great reserves of stamina , making all of the points very long.
Following the legendary match, in an on-court interview Ferrer commented on his performance, stating, “Today I played one of the best matches of my career. I’m very happy as it’s in the final of the Davis Cup and it’s very important to us. Now I want to relax and enjoy this moment. I will see how the doubles goes tomorrow and if we lose, I will be prepared for Sunday.”
Imagine that, one of the best matches of David Ferrer’s career missed by a large portion of tennis fans, especially Ferrer fans, and you can bet those fans are disappointed. If you’ve got 5 bones for the day-pass, 10 for the weekend, or 50 for the year, then throw them at the official Davis Cup site for some live visual coverage. To all else, your best bet is adding the tennis channel to your cable or satellite subscription. If any of you head tennis honchos come across this, please find a way to get more tennis on regular and American TV. See it as an investment, more fans means more revenue. Spread the tennis joy.
Topics: David Ferrer, Davis Cup Finals, Television Coverage