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ESPN's Chris Fowler talks Serena's pressure, John McEnroe and his love for tennis

As the lead voice for ESPN’s college football broadcasts, it feels surprising that Chris Fowler would dedicate so much of his time to a sport that’s largely lost its popularity in the United States. But during a phone call with Fowler on Thursday as he traveled to Flushing to call Andy Murray’s U.S. Open match, you got the sense that Fowler doesn’t view tennis as a secondary sport at all. His passion for tennis, for the intricacies of calling one of the more difficult sports and for continued self-improvement come through in the first few minutes of the conversation. Over a half-hour conversation we talked about his baptism by fire into the tennis world, the way-too-serious tennis fans who don’t prefer the jocularity of the ESPN booth, John McEnroe, how he went from a college basketball booth to the biggest seat in tennis and his concern about Serena Williams’ chances of winning the Grand Slam. It’s a long read, but to tennis fans who are now intimately familiar with Fowler’s tennis announcing, it’s a worthy one.

FTW: At ESPN, you were known as a college guy — basketball, football, Gameday — how did you first get into the sport of tennis and then into calling to?

(ESPN)(ESPN)

Chris Fowler: I played every day as a kid. I was a fan of Jimmy Connors when he arrived on the scene in the early ’70s. My first memories are in ’74 when he and Chrissie won Wimbledon when they were an item and that’s when it got me into the sport. Later, I was a big Johnny Mac fan. There were lots of people who were dynamic and interesting. And I was a tennis fan throughout. I used to go to tournaments — I was there in 1991 when Jimmy made his run at the Open, just as a fan. I tried to cover tournaments for quite a while but we didn’t have enough of them at ESPN and the management couldn’t justify kicking me off college basketball, which was a conflict with the Australian Open and the other tournaments in the winter season.

In 2003, I jumped on board for the Australian, and it was the same year we got rights to Wimbledon. It made a lot of sense. I loved coming aboard. If you told me then that we were going to have three of the majors start-to-finish, I wouldn’t have believed you. But I didn’t get into it because it was a big, important sport to the company or because it made good sense to my career, I just loved the sport.

Tennis star Chris Evert kisses Jimmy Connors as they show off their Wimbledon trophies, 1974. (Photo: AP File)

Tennis star Chris Evert kisses Jimmy Connors as they show off their Wimbledon trophies, 1974. (Photo: AP File)

FTW: The beats and rhythms of tennis are so different than other sports. When to talk. When not to talk. When to have fun with a match, like when there’s one-way traffic in a 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 Novak Djokovic blowout and when to take it seriously. So how did you figure out that balance when you started in the big leagues at the Aussie and Wimbledon?

Chris Fowler: It’s always a work in progress and you’re always trying to refine what you do. But you’re right: The challenges of broadcasting tennis are unique. Every match is different. Situations in the tournament, the scoreboard — you have to keep in mind how much your viewers know or don’t know about the players. There are an endless number of variables that dictate your presentation.

(ESPN)

(ESPN)

I would say I had a pretty rough baptism. I didn’t really know a lot about calling tennis matches, other than just listening to them as a viewer. Here I am calling Serena and Venus in the ’03 Aussie final and she’s going for a Serena Slam and I’m working with Mary Carillo and I’m sure she’s looking at me thinking “what is this guy doing here?” You sort of get thrown into the deep end and have to learn. I’m sure it’s cringe-worthy if I were to listen now. But you slowly develop the rhythm. You learn to listen to the people you work with who have made tennis their lives and that’s been a big part of it.

The challenges of processing when to talk and when not to speak — I love them. When this match need entertainment. When the viewer needs more information. The differences between the three-ring circuses of the early days of a Slam and the very narrow focus of the big matches at the end.

We eventually had Dick Enberg come on board and obviously getting the chance to listen to him — Dick is, to my mind, the greatest American voice to have done this job — it was great to watch and learn for him. When I got the chance to get into the booth, I felt ready and I’m certainly flattered to call six Grand Slam finals. It’s beyond my wildest dreams.

(USA TODAY Sports Images)

The great Dick Enberg. (USA TODAY Sports Images)

FTW: Speaking of the six Grand Slam finals, I believe this is your first in calling both finals at the Open?

Chris Fowler: Well, I did call the U.S. Open women’s final when Wozniacki lost to Clijsters because that got pushed back outside a window when CBS couldn’t do, but that’s the only one. But sitting there the last few years, knowing our time was coming, I’d go to the men’s final after working on college football Saturdays and I’d be looking at John in the CBS booth and thinking how much I couldn’t wait to get in there. For me, it’s been a long time imagining it and now it’s 10 days away.

(ESPN)

(ESPN)

FTW: Okay, so if you wade onto tennis Twitter — not something I recommend — you seem to have two factions: the uber-serious fan who doesn’t care if it’s Djokovic vs. Souza (6-1, 6-1, 6-1) — they want serious analysis all the time.

Chris Fowler: (Laughs)

FTW: Then there’s other group who understand that levity that needs to be involved. At what point do you get a feel for the need for such things? In Wednesday’s Rafael Nadal match it’s 5-3 in the first, with Rafa up a break, he’s cruising and all of a sudden Diego Schwartzman breaks back and all of a sudden there’s a match. How do you manage the ebbs and flows?

(USA TODAY Sports Images)

(USA TODAY Sports Images)

Chris Fowler: You’re paid for your judgment. You know you’re not going to please everybody. Tennis fans are notoriously hard to please and very picky. And that’s okay — we appreciate their passion. Those viewers make commitments to watch their sport more than anybody else does. You get up in the middle of the night, you stay up, you don’t know when your player is going to get on the court, the rain delays, all of the things that make it challenging to be a viewer, they live through. So I have a deep appreciation for the commitment they make.

But there’s also an understanding that there’s a wide spectrum of types of matches and situations. We have an obligation to please, especially at the night matches at the U.S. Open (because if you’ll notice, the presentation is different and has been since forever). Because you’re competing with primetime television, people going to sleep so you have the obligation to make it interesting as a viewer because in those early days there might not be a lot of tension on court. So now there’s Jamie Foxx in Novak’s box, so we’ll have fun with him. We’ll look at the draw. We’ll look at guys who have come into the Open with five or fewer losses, with John all over the graphic. We examine the difference in prize money. So we’ll look for ways to broaden the appeal beyond tennis hardcores, because if you only have hardcores watching a match, we’re not going to be able to get a return on our investment.

(Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

In terms of rhythm though, when in doubt, focus on the court. We were thrown the Mardy Fish story when we were on the air yesterday. It looked like a Cinderella moment. What a script. He comes back, he beats a seed, he’s going to be in the third round. This is all just gravy for a guy just getting back on court. He serves for it, falls apart and then the body collapses and it’s just sad. And it ended up not being a fairytale but a sad final chapter. We have to document that, but it’s tough to watch. You keep it in perspective though. He’s going to have a nice, rich life and he’s dealt with this problem and he’s gone public with it. It’s helped a lot of people but, man, it was a tough thing to watch. It just came so quickly. That’s what tennis does. The narrative comes quickly. So even if you’re BS’ing about something else, you have to keep your antenna up.

FTW: And to me, that’s what’s so great about the game. It’s 4-4, 30-30 on serve, it feels routine, but — boom — you lose the next point and suddenly it’s a break point to have a chance to serve out the set. Or you win the next point and it’s a comfortable 40-30 lead to stay on serve. The ebbs and flow are tremendous.

(ESPN)

(ESPN)

Chris Fowler: Yeah, and I gotta be pretty honest with you. I’m pretty tough on myself with that. I feel that if your concentration lapses and put the focus too much on one thing and don’t keep your antenna up, it hurts. For Serena opening night, it was all about her. And that’s for every match. The story certainly wasn’t Vitalia Diatchenko but I regret the fact that we had no idea she was hurt. She had no team, there was no word whispered to anybody and I regret that we didn’t focus on what was going on with her. We have to remember that you often have a preconceived narrative going into match, but that it could quickly change. I have a great respect for people who call this sport, because it’s not an easy thing.

(Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images for the USTA)

(Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images for the USTA)

FTW: You’re right — this is the Serena show. It may be the first time of this current era that a women’s event has been bigger than the men’s, even though the men’s will be plenty big with a blockbuster final.

Chris Fowler: But it might be just one player overshadowing it. I don’t know that people are paying attention to Halep or Bencic or Kvitova or anyone else that might be a threat. It’s really about one player of the 256 entered. That’s probably overkill for lots of people, but tennis fans should celebrate someone chasing an achievement that crosses over their sport into culture. It’s having the chance to watch something special. It’s like the Triple Crown at the Belmont. It’s not about horse racing or even sports. It’s people seeing something so rare. I think that’s something that’s potentially there with Serena, but we have to guard against cheerleading.

You can’t root for Serena, which is a different sensibility. You’ll know from listening to the BBC or the French or Australian broadcasts, they openly cheer from their players. It’s very different from the model that’s developed in America where you’re not supposed to play favorites. And I will put our record on that against anybody who covers the sport. But we’ve never been faced with a challenge like this.

(Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

FTW: But while you’re not openly rooting for Serena, are you hoping she’s there on that last Saturday?

Chris Fowler: I think every Grand Slam is a piece of tennis history. I’ve called some excellent matches between all-time greats, like Rafa and Novak for 5:53 in Melbourne and Murray breaking through at Wimbledon and Roger-Novak at Wimbledon and it’s a privilege to call those, but I’ve also called duds and it’s still special. Honestly, is it a different event cultural event if Serena is there? Absolutely. Is it a lesser event if two other players are there a week from Saturday? It’s still a big moment in their careers and a piece of tennis history and I’ll be inspired to call that too. That’s not just spin either.

FTW: You mentioned Johnny Mac a little while ago. I find that you play quite well off him …

Chris Fowler: (Laughs)

(ESPN)

(ESPN)

FTW: In the booth with Gilbert you hang with his wackiness, but you play the straight man to McEnroe. How long did that take to get used to. At least to the viewer, he seems to be the polar opposite of Herbstreit.

Chris Fowler: (Laughs) I don’t know, I’ve never though about. John is a unique individual, he brings his own sensibility to it and that’s why viewers love him. That’s why he’s fun to work with, because there’s an unpredictability to it. John is someone you work with who you have to his respect. That probably took some time — we spent some time away from the booth, hanging out and getting to know each other, listening to each — though you mostly listen with John.

I love the challenge of playing off him. You have to stay on your toes and he’ll throw you questions you might not expect, he’ll come back at you and challenge your statements, which is perfectly good. John has the ability to make a lopsided match entertaining. But what I really love is that he instinctively knows when to step back. He has so many things in his head and so many things to say, but sometimes saying little or nothing is what you need to do.

(AP)

(AP)

FTW: I’ll probably be the first interviewer not to ask you about Gameday in the past eight months …

Chris Fowler: Hah!

FTW: … so let me ask, last question, what do you expect to see in the next 11 days? Do you anticipate a Serena final? Will the pressure get to her? Will the men’s final be back to “normal” or are we in for another Cilic-Nishikori?

Chris Fowler: I would never pick against the top men being there. Cilic-Nishikori was a phenomenal story, but was the exception. The way Novak is playing, with the draw in front of him, I’d be extremely surprised not to see him at the end. The Rafa-Novak quarter, obviously it’s still two wins away for each guy — Rafa’s path is much trickier because the way he’s been up an down, but that’s obviously a massive showcase match if it happens. On the other side, Federer is always so compelling. We know that most of our viewers hope he wins. That’s just a fact because he’s the most popular player in history. Does he have nothing to prove? No, except the ability to still beat the best guys in best-of-five in consecutive rounds. His one for the last 21 at majors is something that gives you serious pause.

(EPA)

(EPA)

With Serena, she’s shown the nerves. She’s been shaky in serving throughout the summer and the fact that she had eight doubles in the set and four in a game and was lucky to escape the first set against Bertens and had to go the practice court after the match — she’s vulnerable in every round from here on out. Perhaps not Bethanie, but maybe Bencic, Venus or anyone deeper in the draw. We like to think of Serena as unbeatable from the semis on, but she’s still got the third round, the fourth round and the quarters and that still brings some danger in the matches ahead. I thought from the start, like a lot of people, if she brings her A-game again, she’s winning. But if she does feel the nerves, inevitably the pressure impacts an athlete, and I think it’s going to be fascinating to see. It wouldn’t stun me to see her lose because of all those factors. It would not surprise me to see her on the ropes. Can she fight it off?

But you know what’s interesting — and I think Chrissie brought it up — how is the opponent going to handle the winning position if they get there? How will they react?

FTW: Right, Bertens sort of collapsed while leading in the first set.

Chris Fowler: It’s an underrated component of all this. To knock her out and serve the match who knows? We’ve seen Azarenka try to serve out Serena and choke it away. We’ve seen it again and again. To me that’s all magnified. But hey, it’s must see TV.

(Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

 

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