Wonderful BBC

Elegant Point · Satellite level

RE: Wonderful BBC

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Yes, Mark Petchey was right on point too (which meant he agreed with me re service directions etc

l)
And he got really technical about the importance of the little jump this way or that way...
But, yes, I like Courrier

Armchair · County player

I admit I'm a bit of whinger over commentators, I cannot abide Castle who by his own admission likes to include lots of detail about who's sitting in the crowd to make it more interesting. Somebody who's been in Hello ! magazine , or who's going out with a footballer I've never heard of doesn't improve my enjoyment at all. He may be a lovely man but I loathe his commentating and tun off the volume when he's about.

I don't mind the Henman, Sue bless her is an icon but totally irrelevant. Laura Robson is doing an amazing job on Radio 5 , fun but also very informative. Cavaday knowledgeable but a bit dry, Broady a tad glib. But a good combination of different styles is the key. And sometimes they get it just right.

I used to love McEnroe but I do think we do need to see the commentators move on just like the players.
Some seem to age better to my mind like Shriver . And please more Andrew Cotter a knowledgeable and wry commentator.

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

Not sure if this is the right thread but I normally have music playing when I watch tennis as the commentators typically distract from my enjoyment but I was watching Alison Riske's match last night on Amazon Prime and thought I heard Naomi Broady's voice, so turned off the music. I was genuinely surprised by how good she was. She explained aspects of that match that weren't obvious to me. She had plenty of insight into Riske's game, her injury history, her strengths and vulnerabilities.

At the end of the first set when the stats came up, Naomi pointed out that of 31 points Alison Riske had won, 22 (or similar) of them were gifts (unforced errors) from En-Shuo Liang.

There was even some humour: "En-Shuo is quite short. Most people are compared to me"

At the US Open I liked Martina Navratilova. Mark Petchey was fairly good, perhaps better in pre-match analysis of Emma's game than when commentating. I don't feel Greg Rusedski offers much, or indeed does enough research/homework. Anne K and Sam Smith normally fine. As mentioned above, Jim Courier was interesting to listen to about his experiences in his early Slam finals and how life changed for him after he got his first Slam.

Madadman · Masters Series Champion

When I watched one of Cam's matches in San Diego on prime Naomi was commentating and was saying that Liam had told her that Cam's VO2 max was really good and that's why his fitness is so good was an interesting insight. I guess it always helps when the commentator is till around the current crop of players.

Christine · Intermediate Club Player

Yes, Naomi spoke very realistically about Emma on Radio 4 this morning - one of the things she said was that even if she never wins another Slam this has been a great achievement, though she wasn't saying that she won't!

the addict · Tennis legend

Naomi hasn't played on tour since Wimbledon. I haven't heard about any injuries, so perhaps she is heading towards commentating more frequently. I thought she was doing just radio, but I'll have to listen more carefully.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

She is good - I like her and Laura, both bring a decent analysis and insight to the booth. In fact the women commentators are better than the men.

As an aside - is atp finals in Turin on the bbc this year - since it moved from the o2 I wasnt sure if anyone was showing it on terrestrial tv ?