The Tennis Match Fans Should Not Have Missed: Clijsters vs. Ivanovic
At the Sony Ericsson Open yesterday, rain interrupted play on a day packed with matches including all the round of 16 men’s matches. As a result of the rain, the eagerly-anticipated fourth round match between Kim Clijsters and Ana Ivanovic was moved from
stadium court to court Number Two. Meanwhile, the men’s match featuring Janko Tipsarevic and Gilles Simon was played on the (televised) Grandstand court.
Life is about choices and when there is bad weather at a pro tennis tournament, match schedules are often shifted around. There are always numerous variables to be juggled when making the court assignment decisions including a player’s popularity, the draw, TV, etc. One can also always debate which matches will be/are most “entertaining” for tennis fans and which matches “deserve/should be” played on one of the major show courts. In this instance, Kim Clijsters is widely considered to be the Number One player in women’s tennis right now and Ana Ivanovic, a former Number One and French Open winner, is still very popular and “on the comeback”. Therefore, the Clijsters-Ivanovic match was an intriguing match-up for tennis fans. Clijsters-Ivanovic really should have been played on a show court so that more tennis fans onsite at the Sony Ericsson Open and fans watching on TV had a chance to view what turned out to be a long and dramatic match with Clijsters winning 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (5) after being down 5-1 in the third set and saving five match points. Maybe “next time”…
Life is about choices and when there is bad weather at a pro tennis tournament, match schedules are often shifted around. There are always numerous variables to be juggled when making the court assignment decisions including a player’s popularity, the draw, TV, etc. One can also always debate which matches will be/are most “entertaining” for tennis fans and which matches “deserve/should be” played on one of the major show courts. In this instance, Kim Clijsters is widely considered to be the Number One player in women’s tennis right now and Ana Ivanovic, a former Number One and French Open winner, is still very popular and “on the comeback”. Therefore, the Clijsters-Ivanovic match was an intriguing match-up for tennis fans. Clijsters-Ivanovic really should have been played on a show court so that more tennis fans onsite at the Sony Ericsson Open and fans watching on TV had a chance to view what turned out to be a long and dramatic match with Clijsters winning 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (5) after being down 5-1 in the third set and saving five match points. Maybe “next time”…
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