Djokovic, others say no to ESPN mid-match interviews, but idea could catch on

Nick McCarvel | Special for USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK — In 2001, when massive video board screens were first installed inside Arthur Ashe Stadium at the U.S. Open, Andre Agassi wouldn’t play with them turned on.

“When we first put the video screens in the stadium, Andre told us, ‘Turn them off,’ so we did,” Chris Widmaier, the managing director for communications at the USTA, told USA TODAY Sports. “We accommodated that. But the next year, it was old hat for all the players.”

Fourteen years on, the 2015 version of the video board at the Open is a new initiative pushed by the USTA and ESPN: the mid-match, on-court interview.

On the first day of the tournament, ESPN, which began its stay as exclusive broadcast rights holder this year, made history when CoCo Vandeweghe was interviewed after winning the first set against Sloane Stephens. No official mid-match interview for TV had ever taken place at a Grand Slam.

But on Day 9, Vandeweghe remains the lone player to do an on-court interview during her match, and the initiative – which ESPN commentator Chris Evert said she thought would draw “one interview per day” – has been met with a shrug of the shoulders and a roll of the eyes from most players.

Sort of like Agassi and those video boards.

“I think it’s interesting,” world No. 1 Novak Djokovic said after his first round match. “What I think they’re trying to do is implement a same kind of media interaction as other sports, like basketball. I don’t know how much it can really work in tennis. ... But it’s going to be interesting to see if somebody is going to follow up and accept to do the same.”

Would Djokovic be that player?

“I will not, definitely, this tournament,” he said. “But who knows? Who knows what the future brings?”

That’s the gamble for the USTA and ESPN: What does the future bring? Does the mid-match on-court interview go the way of the video boards (still in use) or does Vandeweghe’s 30-second chat with Pam Shriver on ESPN stand on its own, never to be repeated?

“We have a partner in ESPN that’s always looking to push the boundaries in an attempt to bring an approach that has worked in other professional sports,” Widmaier said, adding that the interviews bring fans watching at home closer to the game. “We’d like to see it catch on.”

Acceptance from players could take time.

“In my opinion, it’ll eventually happen,” said Tony Godsick, who is Roger Federer’s agent, in an interview with USA TODAY Sports. “It’ll go down the route like the pre-match interview where people will get comfortable with it. Obviously it should always be optional, but I think it will add more to our sport and should happen over time.”

That pre-match interview was once viewed as a ‘Are you crazy?!’ exercise in tennis. Made mandatory by the tours in 2004, the pre-match, “walk-on” interviews are now perfunctory in the sport, at the Grand Slams and beyond.

“It shouldn’t be something that happens overnight,” Godsick continued. “When it does happen, I think everyone will appreciate the sport moving forward. It’s going to be these little things that keep people interested in watching tennis.”

Federer, the five-time champion here, has turned down the request to do any in-match interviews at this tournament.

In fact, according to ATP Player Council president Eric Butorac, as far as he understood, no male player had agreed to a mid-match interview request. American Steve Johnson initially said yes, then opted out, according to Butorac.

“We were very upset about it,” Butorac said of the reaction when the mid-match interview idea was introduced. “... I’m all for moving the sport forward, [but] we felt like this initiative was too aggressive.

“That’s why after we gave our feedback and they disregarded it, it was a little disappointing. It’s ESPN and it’s a major network. They want to push the sport as they feel.”

The U.S. Open has been known as a stage for change in tennis: The aforementioned video boards were implemented in 2001, as was scheduling the women’s final in prime time on Saturday night that same year. Blue tennis courts came along in 2005 and electronic line calling (Hawk-Eye) in 2006, the first among the majors.

New York is a good fit for pushing the limits.

“At first, people were surprised that music would be played at a tennis event [on changeovers], but now you see that concept all over the place,” Widmaier said. “Integrating entertainment into a more traditional sport, it works for us here in New York.”

Behind the scenes, there are several aspects that must come together for the mid-match interview to go off, said Jamie Reynolds, ESPN’s vice president for event production. First the player requested has to agree and then win a set. He or she must be playing on one of four show courts (Ashe, Armstrong, Grandstand and 17). And of course, ESPN talent has to be available to actually conduct the interview.

“A lot of the folks who actually accepted the opportunity and option were losing after the first set,” Reynolds said. “It became self-limiting in that regard. That’s one of the dynamics among ourselves, the USTA, the tours and the players themselves has very much been a work in progress as we’ve introduced this idea.”

But Butorac says most players were introduced to the idea too late for the Open, with some first asked about it at Wimbledon and others in Cincinnati three weeks ago. The response was a “resounding ‘not at this time,’” he said.

Even Butorac, an American double player, sees value in the idea. “If players feel comfortable doing this in the future, it could be awesome for the sport,” Butorac said. “But we just need to make sure the players understand the process. I’m not going to argue it: It’s a much better product for TV. CoCo was on ESPN getting great coverage.”

But will it work for the rest of tennis — in or out of New York? That is yet to be seen, although Reynolds said interview requests continue to be made daily.

Godsick, Federer’s agent, sees it as a long, slow process.

“The players fight a lot of things at first, and they should,” he said. “But, at the end of the game, it should be looked in a way at that tennis is entertainment and entertainment isn’t just sitting in the stands – there are fans at home too. You see it with the NBA, the NFL and I think tennis is starting to understand that.

“You don’t want to trip up the game so people don’t take it seriously anymore, but you need things that will make it more exciting.”

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