BROADCAST BATTLE CONTINUES: Despite a Cablevision announcement that The Tennis Channel’s coverage of the U.S. Open would be available on its iO Sports Pak via a National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) agreement, the two entities remain at odds as the final Grand Slam of the year gets underway in New York. TTC released the following statement on Tuesday: “Cablevision has taken a step that raises serious problems for all cable programmers. We are sorting out these issues and will decide what steps to take when we are ready to do so. They are too important to the future of cable programming to be governed by the immediacy of the U.S. Open, as much as we would like to help people see it. Cablevision’s decision to wait until just before the U.S. Open began to demand carriage under the NCTC agreement makes it responsible for this situation; it could have given us notice of its intention to do so well before now, so that the questions could have been addressed and resolved in advance.”
WATCH WHAT YOU TWEET: U.S. Open officials sent out a warning to players, saying, in essence, be careful what you Tweet. The Tennis Integrity Unit is hoping to discourage ATP and WTA pros from revealing any inappropriate information. Players are now forbidden from using Twitter during matches, and coaches, agents and family members have been asked to keep their off-court Tweets to a minimum during the last Slam of the year.
CURIOUS QUESTION: Referring to Serena Williams’ on-court bling, Jim Courier asked Mary Joe Fernandez, “Did you ever play with earrings that big?”
WHAT DO THE ROYAL AIR FORCE AND ROGER FEDERER HAVE IN COMMON?: They both won the Battle of Britton (the Swiss defeated NCAA champ Devin Britton in the first round).
SHAVE AND AN EAR-CUT, TWO BITS: Asked if a cut on his ear had come from a shaving accident, Andy Roddick said, “My ears aren’t actually that hairy.”
BOOK OF JAMES: Asked is he’s feeling his age at 29, James Blake said, “I’m probably going to groan when I get up out of this seat.”
HEADLINES
Club Fed
Far From Fed Up
Comeback Kim
THE NUMBERS
36,085: Day-session attendance at the U.S. Open on Aug. 31, an opening day record.
30%: Increase in ESPN ratings over last year’s USA Network ratings for Day 1 of the U.S. Open.
QUOTEBOOK
“Remember when he was a punk?” — Mary Carillo on Andre Agassi
“My goal is to not get crushed.” – NCAA titlist Devin Britton on what he was thinking before his matchup with Roger Federer
“This is pretty cool. I’m sitting out here on Ashe and playing against Federer. This is awesome.” — Devin Britton on what was going through his mind during his opening-round match against Roger Federer (Britton fell 6-1, 6-3, 7-5).
“It’s been a wild spectrum of a journey.” – Andre Agassi
“I sit on my couch and think of a thousand reasons why I’m not glad not to be out there on the court.” – Andre Agassi
