Veterans' rivalries burn just as fiercely

If you notice a certain coldness to the television and radio
commentaries in the coming days, an edge that was not there before,
blame it on the tennis. No, not the tennis on the court in front of
the aforementioned terse analysts; we are talking about the Ladies'
Invitation Doubles. A cheery, chatty knock-about for the former queens
of SW19? Not on your life. You try telling Martina Navratilova that
the Invitation dubs is not another proper Wimbledon trophy to add to
her collection. Good luck with that.

The problems lies, then, with the second careers of the great and the
good of professional tennis: having spent years working out how to
wallop the opposition during their playing days, they do tend to spend
the rest of their lives explaining it to the viewing and listening
public as commentators. In between their shifts behind the microphone,
they rush to the courts to resume old rivalries with bat and ball.

This year, the unity of Team BBC is under threat. The Beeb’s very own
Sam Smith, Lindsay Davenport, Tracy Austin and Jana Novotna are all
part of the Invitation fun and Davenport, partnered with Martina
Hingis, is the defending champion. She will not take many prisoners in
Group A but given that she will need to flatten Smith and her playing
partner, Lucie Ahl (who is also part of the Live at Wimbledon team),
that may make for a few awkward moments behind the mic when both
ladies go back to the day job. Fortunately, today Sam was working with
Simon Reed on the first ladies’ doubles match on No.3 Court while
Lindsay was doing the late shift on No.2 Court. That was a relief.

It is just as complicated in Group B. Austin has teamed up with Kathy
Rinaldi and had to face Novotna and Navratilova on Tuesday. And they
lost. You would not have wanted to be the one to draw up the Beeb’s
commentary rotas the following morning; that might have been tricky.
Luckily, Novotna and Navratilova work for different broadcasters
(Navratilova is signed up with the Tennis Channel) so if one of them
has a duff day on court, they will not be forced to sit elbow to elbow
in a tiny commentary booth as the memories of missed opportunities
rankle.

So as you sit back to enjoy the Ladies' semi-finals on Thursday and you
notice a frostiness between the experts and analysts, check
the results from the Ladies' Invitation Doubles. It might just explain
everything.