As John Isner and Kevin Anderson slogged through an historic 6-hour, 36-minute Wimbledon semifinal match on July 13 — including a final set that lasted for 2 hours, 50 minutes — one of ESPN’s broadcasters grew weary.
Wimbledon does not use a tiebreak in the final set. Anderson and Isner kept holding serve until Anderson finally prevailed 26-24 in the fifth and final set. As the score crept into the 20s, ESPN announcer Patrick McEnroe used his platform to call for a rule change.
“There needs to be a tiebreak at some point in the final set — for the crowd, for the players, for you watching at home, for the other players, for the good of the game,” he said on air.
I caught up with ESPN’s Mark Gross a few days later and asked if he agreed with McEnroe’s assessment. Gross, who is ESPN’s senior vice president of production and remote events, had a different take. He loved the drama from the final set.
John Isner and Kevin Anderson battled for 6 hours, 36 minutes. getty images
“The drama on TV was good, and the ratings supported it,” he said. “I get both sides of the argument. There’s buzz that was created that brought viewers to TV. All of a sudden, people gravitate towards it. It’s unique. It’s special. It’s memorable. It doesn’t happen every day. The drama and excitement is great for the storytelling. It was unique and special.”
Gross pointed to statistics that showed the match’s TV ratings building as the match wore on. ESPN’s ratings eclipsed a 1.0 from 1 to 3 p.m. — something that does not happen on a typical Friday afternoon.
“Casual sports fans and people who didn’t know much about tennis knew something special was going on because their phones were buzzing with alerts,” Gross said.
Gross was quick to say that he understood McEnroe’s point, especially for fans who were looking forward to watching the higher-profile Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic match, which could not be completed Friday because Anderson-Isner ran long.
“I get both sides,” he said. “I get that if you’re a ticket holder, you only got a couple of sets of Nadal-Djokovic on Friday.”
Gross, who watched the match from Connecticut after spending the first week of Wimbledon in London, sent the production team a note complimenting them on their work. He also praised McEnroe and play-by-play announcer Darren Cahill for maintaining high energy throughout the match.
“Six-and-a-half hours is a lot,” Gross said. “It’s a Herculean task for two guys on the air and for the guys behind the scenes.”
Still, Gross said more matches like Anderson-Isner would help Wimbledon, tennis and ESPN.
“I’m OK with anything that generates more buzz and attention to Wimbledon or to tennis,” he said. “As a fan and someone who works in TV, it worked for me. I enjoyed it. Viewership proved that others did, too.”
John Ourand can be reached at jourand@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @Ourand_SBJ.
