The Tennis Channel announcers at the Hamburg Masters gave such a one-sided running commentary during the Djokovich - Nadal semi-final, and again today during the final, that I just had to break down and post a comment here.
Imagaine, with Nadal up two championship points in the final set, one of these dingbats (I think it was Jason) says "It's hard to pick a winner from these two today." (!)
It seemed to me throughout the last two days that Nadal's skill, endurance and will-to-win was almost entirely taken for granted by these two talking heads. When Novak tanked a shot into the lower part of the net, for instance, one of them crooned about what a wonderful attempt it was by Novak and how "he JUST missed it. But his instinct was right..."
Please, please get somebody on the mike who knows the game and isn't prejudiced against one player or another.
These brown-noses have got to go!
EggyP
I noticed the same bias on both days and was strongly disappointed that the reporting seemed personal and not objective. This kind of reporting is not professioal, accurate or sportsman like. Please talk to Jason and straighten him out. I love tennis and was upset numerous times by the "one sided" personal cheering which takes away from the joy and excitement of a match for me as a viewer.
The bias is totally unprofessional and takes away from the quality and credibility of the broadcast. It certainly was out of line for the announcer to basically accuse Nadal of some type of cheating or gamesmanship by calling for the trainer. This was the worst commentary I can ever remember in any type of sporting event.
I completely agree with you. I am a Nadal fan and I often have to turn the volume off on my TV when I'm watching one of his matches. Without fail, they are so biased towards anybody else playing Nadal. They never just give him credit where it is due. And is there really anybody watching who doesn't know Federer is number 1? How many times do they have to say it? How do I make a formal complaint?