Who are the best commentators ? And the worst ?

My favourite commentators:

Favourite is Frew McMillan
Then I also really like Peter Fleming and Jim Courier

Worst:

Least favourite is probably John Lloyd, as well as Andrew Cotter. Mats Wilander is a nice commentator generally, but some of his further analysis can be so nonsensical it's beyond belief.

Peter Fleming wins hands down for me. Insightful, but also humorous at times. Also offers non bias views. John Barrett was a legend. The voice of tennis. I will always be annoyed at Sky for letting Chris Bailey go. He was awesome. Instead we got Buckland! Grrrrr.

The worst is Barry f*cking Cowan!! I have no idea what school of tennis he comes from.

Actually my least favourite is Boris Becker, just remembered him. Every piece of analysis he made was either nonsensical or something really really obvious.

It Must Be Love wrote:Actually my least favourite is Boris Becker, just remembered him. Every piece of analysis he made was either nonsensical or something really really obvious.

Who would have thought he would go on to be such a successful coach....  

Greg Rusedski seems incapable of speaking in anything but platitudes.

Not strictly a commentator but I'm constantly amazed that Sue Barker can be so involved in tennis but seemingly never learn anything about it.

Robbie Koenig, Jason Goodall. End of.

Worst Gormless grinning Greg.

LuvSports! wrote:Robbie Koenig, Jason Goodall. End of.

Worst Gormless grinning Greg.

This. End topic.



emancipator

Wilander is awful. By far my least favourite.

Fleming is good and I don't mind Petchey and Frew.

HM Murdoch wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:Actually my least favourite is Boris Becker, just remembered him. Every piece of analysis he made was either nonsensical or something really really obvious.

Who would have thought he would go on to be such a successful coach....  

Djokovic has Becker on the sidelines so he knows exactly what not to do

Frew McMillan, Jason Goodall, Mark Petchey and Jim Courier I enjoy listening to.

Mats Wilander drives me mad, he makes outrageous statements sometimes and no one calls him on them.

I used to love John McEnroe but really have gone off him the last couple of years, everything is "best ever.."

Andrew Castle commentates like everyone who is watching has never watched a tennis match before

Jim Courier and Mark Petchy are my absolute favourites
Please spare me the one slam wonder Pat Cash
Mats Wilander and his side kick Annabel Croft the comedy duo!!!!
They can't make one sensible comment between them

Mats Wilander is terrible, his insights are eccentric at best
Jason Goodall in my mind is awesome head and shoulders the most professional and with a nice dry wit that isn't overbearing. He doesn't just talk to fill up time.

The great majority are just awful.

If I want a match commented on what I'm looking for is some insight into what's happening, perhaps some guidance into the tactical aspects, what's working, what might work. That is virtually always absent. The only thing tennis has now that's an improvement over the past is the depth of statistical analysis, but I can get almost all that without an idiot "expert".

What I don't need is:

- exclamations after most rallies, such as "too good" and other platitudes
- hyperbole
- the bleeding obvious
- speculation

This accounts for almost everyone who does the sport.

CAS wrote:Andrew Castle commentates like everyone who is watching has never watched a tennis match before

In fairness to him, I think that is his remit.

I think he is there for the audience for whom tennis doesn't exist outside of Wimbledon or slam finals.

don't know what it is, but I've never taken to Navratilova's commentary. It's weird as I generally find programs where she speaks about herself or whatever in a review type manner rather insightful, then she commentates in a match and I'm eternally disappointed.

HM Murdoch wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:Actually my least favourite is Boris Becker, just remembered him. Every piece of analysis he made was either nonsensical or something really really obvious.

Who would have thought he would go on to be such a successful coach....  

Do I detect a slightly sarcastic HM

Becker is a terrible pundit. It's as though "be aggressive" is the first words he learnt in English or he's a Faith No More fan (Angel Dust 1992 - yes my musical knowledge is almost as good as my tennis )

Seriously, Novak is winning slams because the others have all dipped and he's damn good. I'm not convinced at all about the Becker influence

Yes, banbro, my tongue was a little in my cheek!

I actually think Boris has done a decent job. Novak seems satisfied.

But coaching one of the world's best players, at a time when his greatest rivals have dipped, is not the toughest assignment in the world!

Fleming is my favourite by far, good humour and always very balanced. Also like McEnroe and petchey is decent.

Can't stand Andrew castle!!! Absolute clown college when that guy is in the studio. Sue barker annoying me more in recent years. Castle is Krusty, barker is sideshow bob and rusedski is sideshow mel

I always reckoned Boris, at Wimbledon, was better in the evening round-up role than at live matches. Castle's curse is that he tends to take the big Murray matches where BBC assumes that people not interested in tennis will watch as it's a final.
Tim Henman is the master of the banal and the bleeding obvious but at least is fairly easy on the ear.
For those long in the tooth no one, and I repeat no one, could have been as awful at the mic as Ann Jones.

sirfredperry wrote:I always reckoned Boris, at Wimbledon, was better in the evening round-up role than at live matches. Castle's curse is that he tends to take the big Murray matches where BBC assumes that people not interested in tennis will watch as it's a final.
  Tim Henman is the master of the banal and the bleeding obvious but at least is fairly easy on the ear.
  For those long in the tooth no one, and I repeat no one, could have been as awful at the mic as Ann Jones.

I agree with you about Boris.  He was very entertaining on the evening round-up at Wimbledon.  

Most people HATE Andrew Castle.  I don't actually mind him as much as everyone else, although I do wonder why the BBC seem to think that the marority of people watching know little or nothing about tennis and need to have every detail explained to them.  I don't know that much about football, but that sport has commentators who just concentrate on the game, on the assumption that the viewing audience have some knowledge, otherwise why would they be watching in the first place? 

I have to say I think Tim Henman has to be one of my least favourites. He is certainly easy on the ear - he barely opens his mouth, unless somebody else asks him what he thinks.

Surprised that nobody has mentioned Sam Smith, I think she is excellent.

Sam Smith. Quite knowledgeable but awful flat voice.

On the women's side, I like Evert, Navratilova, MJ Fernandez, Carillo. Davenport, despite being a wonderful player, is lukewarm. The second tier teams on the WTA side are not that great either.

I like Patrick McEnroe, Cahill, the TV channel crew is not that great though (Shiras, Arrias, Haber,...). I like the Aussies on Channel 7.

Courier on-court wins hands-down compared to anyone, Cahill comes close, Gilbert is all right. The French crew at RG is very nice, but Wimbledon needs a good makeover for on-court stuff.

CAS wrote:I used to love John McEnroe but really have gone off him the last couple of years, everything is "best ever.."

Same here. Mac was my favorite when he first came along. He used to be very insightful and honest - I suspect too honest for network coverage. I remember cases where he would provide quite negative commentary and you could literally feel how awkward his professional co-commentators felt. I suspect the networks explained to him they were looking for positive coverage and he really took it to the heart.

I quite like the TennisTV crew.

LuvSports! wrote:Robbie Koenig, Jason Goodall. End of.

Worst Gormless grinning Greg.

I agree: Goodall and Koenig are my favorites, because they are the most technical and tactical. To be honest, I can hardly stand to listen to anyone on TV anymore, but Darren Cahill and Brad Gilbert are also very technical. Gilbert gets a little annoying sometimes, but by far the worst is Chris Fowler. He really should stay away from play-by-play. He knows nothing about tennis, but still takes himself for an expert. Navratilova is also very good, very technical. In French, surprisingly good are Marion Bartholi and Henri Leconte. Leconte is into histrionics and is a bit of a clown, but he is deceptively technical and you can really learn a lot about strategy which is surprising from a guy who the french often called, "a genius from the elbow down".

MMT1 wrote: Gilbert gets a little annoying sometimes, but by far the worst is Chris Fowler. He really should stay away from play-by-play. He knows nothing about tennis, but still takes himself for an expert.

First, good to see you back.

Second, Chris Fowler has a counterpart on the Women's side - Chris McKendry, but she is a whole lot better than CF. Ian Eagle gets added to the CBS lines up, but  is in the same boat as CF. Bill Macatee is not half bad. Nick Bollettieri has excellent insight, but is a rare presence on TV. Vijay Amritraj used to cover Tennis on the Asian side for a bit, but have not seen him for a while now.

Koening (top), Henman (excellent), Cowan (very knowledgeable but a bit commercial at times) and Wilander. Mercer is good too.

Worst: Newcastle and Flemming.

laverfan wrote:Second, Chris Fowler has a counterpart on the Women's side - Chris McKendry, but she is a whole lot better than CF. Ian Eagle gets added to the CBS lines up, but  is in the same boat as CF. Bill Macatee is not half bad. Nick Bollettieri has excellent insight, but is a rare presence on TV. Vijay Amritraj used to cover Tennis on the Asian side for a bit, but have not seen him for a while now.

Actually I prefer McKendry to Fowler because she doesn't come with the pretense of knowledge. The same with MaCatee - they stick to what they know. I've never heard Bollettieri, but I would love to listen to him commentate, because my opinion is that Bollettieri has been the best coach in tennis in the last 30 years, and the reason is because he is almost 100% focused on technique and tactics.

The thing I really can't stand about Fowler is that he really exaggerates the importance of the "mental" game, and I suspect that's because that's really all he can speak to, so to keep himself relevant, he exaggerates the importance of the one thing he can speak to. He makes it out to seem like the mental game is more important than the technical and tactical. I mean, if you listen to Chris Fowler, the game is just chess with racquets - it's not. To be fair to Fowler, he's not the only one that goes on and on about confidence and belief - there are a lot of coaches out there trying to convince themselves and they're players that they've done everything they can, and the rest is just up to that ethereal intangible world of confidence and belief that only exists in your head - but he doesn't it more than anyone, and I just can't stand it.