logo
Tennis TV commentary gets a makeover for the French Open

Tennis TV commentary gets a makeover for the French Open

Washington Post22-05-2025

Sports
Tennis TV commentary gets a makeover for the French Open
May 22, 2025 | 8:57 PM GMT
French Open coverage in 2025 will feature new, more diverse voices, a feature that sports reporter Ava Wallace says has been lacking in Grand Slam coverage.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

The Advantages of Attacking the Net in Tennis
The Advantages of Attacking the Net in Tennis

New York Times

time9 minutes ago

  • New York Times

The Advantages of Attacking the Net in Tennis

Tennis is dominated by rallies from the baselines as players with supercharged groundstrokes try to overwhelm their opponents by blasting shots that are fast, deep and heavy with topspin, occasionally throwing in a drop shot to throw them off balance. As a result, players attack the net less frequently than they did in the past. 'The ball is being struck so hard with so much topspin it gets below the net really quickly, which makes it hard to volley,' the ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe said. But players who take advantage of short balls from their opponents to fight their way forward can seize control, winning points more quickly than those who stay at the baseline. Ask top tennis analysts to name the elite volleyers in the sport and there's little debate on who's best: Carlos Alcaraz — the recent winner of the French Open and defending two-time Wimbledon champion — is the unanimous choice. McEnroe said that Alcaraz 'has the best combination of speed, explosiveness and soft hands.' Alcaraz's footwork and agility also enable him to get back quickly and annihilate lobs, Pam Shriver, also an ESPN analyst, said. 'His movement going backwards is incredible.' That ability to go backward well means he can move closer to the net, Martina Navratilova, a Tennis Channel analyst, said, which makes volleying easier, especially because he reads his opponents so well and can quickly cut off the lanes for passing shots. 'He can push off to go back or explode forward.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

'Didn't get a chance': Major blow after Oscar Piastri dudded by rival driver
'Didn't get a chance': Major blow after Oscar Piastri dudded by rival driver

Yahoo

time10 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

'Didn't get a chance': Major blow after Oscar Piastri dudded by rival driver

Lando Norris soared to a stunning pole for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday after Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen were robbed of their final qualifying lap by a mishap from Pierre Gasly. Norris delivered the perfect response to his Montreal horror show, which saw him collide with McLaren teammate Piastri and cost himself vital points in the championship race. The Brit's world championship bid was dealt a major setback a fortnight ago when he ran into the back of Piastri and failed to finish. But he produced a sublime drive on Saturday at the Red Bull Ring, landing his 12th career pole after topping all of the practice sessions. Norris' margin over second-fastest qualifier Charles Leclerc was a huge 0.521 seconds - the biggest of the year so far at the shortest track on the calendar. Piastri, who leads Norris by 22 points in the championship heading into Sunday's main race, qualified third - 0.583 seconds behind his teammate. Piastri and Verstappen (seventh fastest) were denied one final chance to improve their times when Alpine driver Gasly spun ahead of them, resulting in a yellow flag that meant drivers behind had to slow down. Piastri was furious at having his final lap runed, saying 'f*** me, man, Jesus Christ' on team radio. He later said: 'I had (Pierre) Gasly spin at the first corner so I didn't even open my second lap. Lando's been very quick all weekend so it would have been a tough challenge, but we had the pace to be on the front row. 'We can still have a good race from there and we are not here to come home third. I'm not planning on finishing third, that's for sure. Always a shame when you don't even get the chance. Sometimes it's just not your day." Gasly said of his mishap, which saw him spin into the gravel before ending up back on the track: 'I think I was pushing a lot, and I did a mistake. I felt like I had a bit of time to get in that last corner after my lap in Q2 and, yeah, I went for it. 'Unfortunately, when I turned in, I didn't manage to rotate the car the way I wanted. So I didn't get the apex the way I wanted and went on power, tried to turn the car, and eventually it didn't go the way I wanted. Not happy about it.' RELATED: F1 legend accuses Oscar Piastri 'nasty' act in teammate collision Daniel Ricciardo floated for shock F1 return as race ban looms Norris' first lap in Q3 put him two tenths faster than anyone else in the field, and he then pulled out more than half-a-second with his next lap. "It was a good lap, that's for sure," he said. "I feel like my first lap in Q3 was good but I knew I could get more time and I did exactly that. I did what I planned to do and when I do that and it goes right it is usually very good." Verstappen (43 points behind Piastri) complained that his Red Bull was "undriveable", and faces the prospect of losing further ground in the championship. "The car is completely undriveable," he said over the radio after finishing nearly a second behind Norris. "It is even worse than before. I don't even know what to say." He later added: 'The whole of qualifying didn't go well at all. There was no corner where the car felt good, so that is a huge problem in qualifying. It wasn't nice to drive at all. I don't think we're strong enough to challenge the McLarens... They're at another level, but hopefully tomorrow we can at least be competitive with Ferrari or Mercedes.' with agencies

Hull FC ratings as Aidan Sezer moments fail to mask under-par team display
Hull FC ratings as Aidan Sezer moments fail to mask under-par team display

Yahoo

time23 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Hull FC ratings as Aidan Sezer moments fail to mask under-par team display

Hull FC were defeated 24-10 at Warrington Wolves on Saturday evening. Here are the ratings. Jordan Rapana - The Kiwi does some good things, and his involvements are plentiful, but there are still too many errors in his game playing at full-back. He'll know that, but it's also a team game, and Hull need to be better collectively. 4 Advertisement Harvey Barron - Scored a try for the third game in a row. A couple of tough errors when under pressure, but he also stood up defensively at times with one or two big plays. 4 READ MORE: John Cartwright reacts to Hull FC defeat as search goes on for key performance answer READ MORE: Hull FC suffer disappointing defeat at Warrington Wolves as side made to rue sloppy account Tom Briscoe - A big moment in the second half could have gone his way if not for a big play from Rodrick Tai to palm back a Hardaker pass. Ifs and buts now. Tried his best; it was just not Hull's day. 5 Davy Litten - Ran strong and was really solid, especially in the first half. Never backed down. Some pressure-relieving plays from Warrington kicks too. Certainly one of Hull's strongest performers. 6 Advertisement Lewis Martin - Dealt with all kicks and returned the ball strongly. Made one break. Went well as always, even if denied a second-half try with a foot in touch. 6 Cade Cust - Involved in both of Hull's first-half tries, unleashing his half-back partner Aidan Sezer. Always a threat with his running game, but the link at times in attack just wasn't fluent. With John Asiata and Will Pryce out, that's no surprise. Moved to hooker for the last quarter of the game. 5 Aidan Sezer - Had Hull's best moments. His assist to Barron may have been forward, but there was no doubting his own try, running strong to score. Unfortunately, that spell was as good as it got. 6 Herman Ese'ese - Ran strong as always and bumped off plenty of tackles. Couldn't turn the tide in the second half. 6 Advertisement Amir Bourouh - Tidy. Tried to keep Hull ticking. Came off on the hour mark. 5 Liam Knight - Used as Hull's middle ball link. Played big minutes and tried to lead the charge. 6 Zak Hardaker - Competitive as always, he tried his best to get at Wire. Massive defensive effort. 6 Ed Chamberlain - Ran well off Sezer when he got the opportunity. Put himself about as always. 5 Yusuf Aydin - Played the whole first half in what was a big effort from the energetic middle. 5 Jack Ashworth - Tried to add a bit of punch off the bench. 5 Brad Fash - Hull were under the cosh during the large majority of Fash's time on the field, but he never backed down defensively. 5 Jack Charles - Came on after the game had already slipped away. 5 Sam Eseh - Put himself about but to no avail. 5

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store