And speaking of...

The Tennis Channel...Last night there was a run-down of the American losses at the U.S. Open yesterday, including the elimination of James Blake, the Bryan Brothers and Lisa Raymond, who--with partner Sam Stosur--lost to Bethanie Mattek and Sania Mirza. That last one is a bit suspect, though. Doesn't it come out even? As far as I know, Mattek is still an American, but there was no mention of her American upset win.

Dumbing it down for Americans

The Tennis Channel has several of the expected "I'm Big-Name Player, and you're watching The Tennis Channel" spots. Yesterday, I saw one in which Justine Henin painfully mispronounces her name--the entire thing--so that it will sound "American." We already have several highly paid commentators who are too lazy and ignorant to learn to pronounce players' names; now we have a sports venue that obviously requests mispronunciations. Because we wouldn't want Americans to have to learn anything. I'm disappointed that Henin complied with this ridiculous request.

Chakvetadze talks, and she's worth hearing

If you have The Tennis Channel, don't miss the new "Center Court" interview with Anna Chakvetadze. Chakvetadze, who is charmingly amusing, talks about her fitness problem, about not liking to be compared with Hingis (one of her chidhood idols), and about coaching during matches. She dispels the "fact" that she does not have a coach; she has frequently had one, but not one who travels with her. And, she says, she would not want a coach to come onto the court in between sets. "I like to stay alone and think alone about my game."

Chris Myers made such a big deal about how "difficult" it is to pronounce her name. He couldn't stop talking about it. Chakvetadze says this is a problem in the United States and in France. This whole affair puzzles me. I spotted Chakvetadze a long time ago and started following her career because I thought she was going to be somebody important. I learned how to pronounce her name the first time I ever saw her. It is easy to pronounce unless you are a total idiot. But Myers, like the ESPN commentators, has to go on and on about how hard it is. At least he asked her how to pronounce it, which is more than the ESPN comentators do.

I had a nice surprise today

For some time, I've bemoaned the fact that I do not have The Tennis Channel. When I asked my cable provider to provide it, a representative said the company wanted to provide it, but was unable to get possession of the batch of channels that included The Tennis Channel.

I learned today, however, that I now have it! The nagging question is: How long have I had it and not known? What ESPN unscheduled or cancelled matches could I have been watching all along? It's probably better for me to not know.