Tag: nicolas mahut

tennis

Congratulations on your … oh … sorry

Posted on by Beau Dure

A few thoughts on the viral video of a reporter congratulating Nicolas Mahut, not realizing he had lost.

1. We’ve all had to go into interviews without realizing what happened. At one of the 2008 Olympic biathlon events, one with a staggered start and athletes racing against the clock, I was down in the mixed zone interviewing one American athlete. We finished, and then Jay Hakkinen came right up for his turn. No one had given the handful of reporters any results, and we couldn’t see the course from the mixed zone. The other reporters deferred to me. “So … um … Jay — how’d you do?”

2. That said, if you’re in a press conference room, and you’re pretty sure other people watched the match, you might want to defer to them.

3. When you realize you’ve been given faulty information, apologize … then bow out.

Bottom line: It’s OK to let other people ask questions. Particularly if you have nothing to ask.

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tennis

Isner-Mahut and Wimbledon: Triumph of will or failure of tennis?

Posted on by Beau Dure

Mahut-Isner: 40-40. No, not deuce. That’s the score in the fifth set of this match at Wimbledon that has captured the attention of Americans recovering from Landon Donovan’s goal.

The stats boggle the mind. John Isner has 83 aces to Nicolas Mahut’s 69. Match duration: 458 minutes. ESPN’s crew has run out of superlatives.

Then come the stats that raise questions. Mahut has won 22% of his receiving points, and he’s 1-for-1 on his lone break point back in the second set. Isner has won 21% of his receiving points, and he’s 1-for-12 on break points … 0-for-3 in the fifth.

In other words, neither guy can return the other’s serve.

The way tennis has been going over the past several years, with racket technology and ramped-up serves, is that a surprise? And is that what we really want to see in tennis? Or is it time to tone down the rackets or move back the service line?

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