Your Call, 7.26

Hi everyone - and here's today's post for talking tennis or anything else that occurs to you. It might be best to  take advantage of this quiet time to go off-topic, because soon enough we'll be back in Crisis Center mode - the Masters event in Montreal begins in less than two weeks, and the U.S. Open is only five weeks away.

I've not been around TW much for the past week or so - lack of T.V. coverage of any of the current tournaments being the main reason. It's unfortunate, because when the chance arises, it's a pleasure to watch some of the smaller events, which frequently showcase players we don't see in action too often. This time last year Juan Martin Del Potro was building up a head of steam with several tournament wins in succession, which proved to be the springboard for a U.S. Open quarterfinal, and reaching his current status in the game.

I've tried using the internet to watch tennis, but really can't get into staring at those tiny windows containing unreliable livestreams all the time (for me, that's mainly the tour's official subscription site, tennistv.com, not the obscure sources that many of you are familiar with). I suppose that until the quality improves, which appears to require a faster internet connection than I can achieve, I'll only look at them for must-see matches. I don't know how some TWibe members manage it. Can any of you estimate how much time you spend peering at your computer screen in pursuit of your regular tennis fix, as opposed to watching on T.V.? Had it been televised, I probably would have been watching that Davydenko-Mathieu showdown in Hamburg earlier, because it's a tournament that I've enjoyed seeing over the years, but its T.V. coverage here in the UK vanished along with its Masters status.

Pete will be back in action tomorrow. Meanwhile, enjoy the rest of the day's tennis.

-- Rosangel Valenti

Note: Master Ace has kindly provided us with the following timechecks (U.S. Eastern Standard Time) for today's finals:

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WTA: Bad Gastein at 6 AM - Andrea Petkovic defeated Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-2, 6-3
ATP: Hamburg at 9 AM - Nikolay Davydenko defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4, 6-2
WTA: Portoroz at 2 PM - Dinara Safina vs Sara Errani
ATP: Indianapolis at 3 PM - Sam Querrey vs Robby Ginepri