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Break Point for the Fox Doubleheader Game

Roger Federer has been whaling the tar out of John McEnroe at the US Open the past two weeks. The world's top-rated tennis player is an odds-on favorite to do so again in today's men's final.

McEnroe isn't playing, of course, he's a CBS/USA commentator up in the broadcast booth. Oddly enoughl, that's why Federer has thrashed him more soundly than any of his six on-court opponents.

Tennis can be one of the most dramatic spectator sports ever invented, but when Federer plays it, not so much. He's too good. When the rest of the world's best players, say numbers 2 through 10, are on their very top form, they can give him a game. When not, Federer rips through them in a 6-0 or 6-1 set in about 15 minutes.

This poses a serious marketing problem for broadcasters. Tennis fans are the opposite of golf fans. In that game, when Tiger Woods (the athlete to whom Federer is most often compared) dominates a tournament, ratings soar. In tennis, it's the reverse. Oh, the fans admire Federer as a worthy champion, but tennis fans don't root for players so much as they root for the game. Oh, sure, the crowd will pull for Andy Roddick this evening, but it's not just because he's an American. Roddick's the underdog, and tennis partisans always pull for the guy or gal who's behind. They want to see more tennis, damn it. Give a tennis audience a five-set match with a few 20-18 tiebreakers thrown in, and it doesn't much care who wins it.

So McEnroe has a vested interest in seeing Federer lose, or at least struggle. But the former champ is really above such tawdry commerical motives. At bottom, McEnroe is a tennis fan just like his audience. He too wants to see more tennis. That desire is heightened by the fact McEnroe probably played in more memorable, even historic, matches than any of his champion peers, and lost as many as he won (Wimbledon in 1980 against Borg being the obvious case).

McEnroe's craving for high drama on-court has led to some comically peculiar commentary during Federer's last two wins in the quarter and semi-finals. He's constantly searching for vulnerabilities in Federer's game that aren't readily apparent to the naked eye.

Federer allows opponent to reach a break point. Mc Enroe, "He's really lost his concentration and let (opponent's name here) back in this game, set, match."

Federer gets broken. McEnroe: "He hasn't dominated as he has before, and he's let this become a match."

Federer breaks back at love in the time it takes Zorro to carve a "Z' with his blade. McEnroe: Silence.

Federer loses a match point. McEnroe: "He's had trouble putting guys away the last few matches."

Federer wins match point. McEnroe: Even more silence. Dick Enberg throws it down to the on-court interviewer.

It's not nice to tease one of the handful of excellent ex-player commentators in all of TV sports. I just couldn't help myself. Besides, McEnroe is speaking for his audience. We're all tennis fans, and we too would like about four hours of five-set melodrama this evening at Arthur Ashe stadium.

We're not expecting it, however. I expect to hear a good deal of silence from McEnroe and to see most of the second half of the Cowboys-Jaguars game.

posted by Michael Gee @ 9:24 AM