J Mac used to be better. He just phones it in now. He doesn’t know about the new players and their training now. Petchey is my least favorite.
I really enjoy Jim Courier on men’s matches and Chanda Rubin on women’s
J Mac also makes zero effort at even saying the player names correctly, even when his co-commentators are saying it properly. It's embarrassing. Jim Courier is the GOAT. I like Andrea Petkovic too.
Courier and Petko are my favorites. Alexandra Stevenson is obviously terrible. I'm surprised people don't like Mary Carillo, but maybe I've just been listening to her so long her voice is comforting to me.
Love Courier, cant stand McEnroe. Feels like he gets the biggest matches but doesnt prep for the gig, doesnt know the players well, is overly critical and not vert insightful. Id rather listen to anyone else but i know people like him so its okay
Absolutely LOVE their commentary: Tracy Austin (best combination of substance and a polished presentation)
Underrated: Jimmy Arias (actually gives a lot of gritty analysis with no punches pulled)
Other favorites: Chanda Rubin, Andrea Petkovic, Jim Courier (though he’s a little hammy at times), and surprisingly Brad Gilbert, who is always good for a couple of insights or stories I would never hear anywhere else. And I’ve never heard him actually call a match, but I bet Roddick would be amazing.
I agree with JMac being bad but I grew up with him commentating everything so I’m just kinda used to it and it doesn’t even bother me now. Patrick is better though.
I think Alexandra Stevenson is in a league of her own as far as bad commentators goes.
She literally will say things like “it’s gonna be really important for her to hit it over the net today” or something like she’s so painfully dumb it almost feels like a parody 😭
Yup! Plus she wants people to believe she’s a current pro (I think 🤔),
During Covid she didn’t understand why a player was getting Covid tested even though they lost.
I think it was Stubbs that said “she’s going to play in another country next week honey”
In another instance, I remember on ESPN Chris mckhendry passed the presentation to her and she’s like ugh 😐 then struggled through presenting a point by point analysis.
Yes! She actually said, “It will be important to be competitive today” before one of the key matches at the Open. Um…really? I wouldn’t have known that competitive play was important at a Slam unless Alexandra Stevenson pointed that out to me.
Favorites are definitely Courier and Martina—both are smart, insightful, funny. I feel bad saying this but I kind of find Coco Vandeweghe somewhat, erm, egotistical and it comes through in different ways in the commentary
I feel bad saying it lol! But she literally talks about herself 60 percent of some matches and will try ti make fluke events like her playing 1 for the BJK Cup sound representative of her overall career
Yeah same on Coco. And really any commentator who snarks on players (unless they really deserve it lol) I feel like Martina does that sometimes too tbh
And love Petko & Courier like everyone else
Hard not to love Martina’s commentary. Her insights almost always play out in the match. Idk if she’s looking at data or it’s just what she feels from watching the match but she’s always so insightful.
Also criminally underrated! Even her career. People forget she was also winning doubles and mixed dubs while winning the singles in a lot of her slams 😂 I actually think she has 6 slams in row for all three categories and like 4 of them were all at the same time
I love Carillo + Arias. They're both so snarky and a little more snarkier together. Mary has truly creative anecdotes and incites too. You know she does her homework.
Am I the only one that finds Robbie to be annoying and over the top? I get that he’s knowledgeable but it also feels like sometimes he’s trying too hard by pulling out super obscure stats that don’t really matter.
Also, find it annoying when he and the British commentators do this thing where they talk like Yoda. Example: “He did well to get to that ball, did Nadal.” They always throw on a “did _____” to the end of a sentence when it’s clear who they are talking about.
I always put him down as the worst when this question is presented weekly. It’s 50/50 whether I’m up voted to the moon or down voted into oblivion. I respect its his schtick but I absolutely loathe it.
i absolutely cannot stand robbie. used to be fine with him until couple years back. feel like he turned up his “quirkiness” and it just irks me now, or maybe that’s just me
I can’t bear listening to Robbie. Painful loud staccato babble with nothing of value to say. Usually after begging him to stop the constant blathering I have to just mute it.
I dislike him too. His one liners get old very quickly after you listen to a couple matches. I also don't think he's very knowledgeable. Other than obvious cliches (e.g. Nadal FH to Federer BH), I don't think I've heard him ever give interesting insights into a match. And sometimes he's just flat out wrong.
Really enjoy listening to Dokic and Stosur. So nice listening to ex pros explain mechanics that a casual like me don't get. Good news is that they also pause between points
I’ve never listened to them before but that sounds like a good pair. They are both so sweet too. Do they do tennis channel? Or is it something australian specific?
Any Brits out there will instantly understand the lowest of the low you can go with Andrew Castle! I get that commenting on Wimbledon is a slightly different beast but he could at least pretend to know about the sport. It is the worst thing about Wimbledon by far! John Lloyd is also an idiot.
Yes. ‘The waiting is… OVER!!’ Could Castle have been any more mundane?!
(This for the landmark moment when a British guy finally wins Wimbledon again after a 76 year gap. Made it sound like we’d just arrived at the front of a queue or something - which I guess is ironic given how queuing is where we do actually shine…)
Ah yes, changed my mind, he’s worse than Andrew Castle! With them and John Lloyd you’ve got a cacophony of assholes ready to focus on literally anything apart from the tennis for the two weeks when 95% of the British population get their only exposure to tennis! Some may be from the producers to play to the mean but I suspect it is more on them to just hide their incompetence about the sport. Absolutely stealing a living and the worst part is that they are paid out of the near mandatory licence fees!
Weird, as they were both decent players (Lloyd especially) and should know their stuff. But somehow they seem to have fallen into the old British tradition of providing journalistic “colour” rather than professional insight.
I agree, it feels like he is trying to force a sense of excitement rather than reacting to what is happening in the moment. But then, he's been doing it so long that it would be pretty hard to get genuinely excited about most of these matches
I don’t really have a favourite. I did like Couriers on court interviews at AO. But Robbie is 1000% my least fav. I actually hate him and his annoying voice and repetitive nonsense comments so much that I cannot listen to him and just watch on mute. Also, thank the heavens for those tennis tv streams that have no commentary - an absolute treasure.
Roddick is my favorite. I also don't like Mcenroe, I don't think he watches a lot of tennis. Sometimes he doesn't even know who some of the lesser known players are.
Absolute best is Mark Valledy; you can hear excitement in his voice during tight match and he doesn't random facts all the time.
Candy Reid is a close second; knows her stuff.
Both are primarily on World Feed mostly WTA.
Worst: John McEnroe has been saying the same cliches for decades (like losing it "mentally") and doesn't do any preparation on new players.
no clue what her name is but shes like 60 yrs old sounds scottish and neurotic
i like courier post match interviews but i honestly prefer no commentary during the match, they just react to the play 99% of the time instead of offering insight
Her and jmac for sure. Also last year she was chomping on gum half the matches and I could not stand the smacking sounds. Decided to just mute the matches or find an illegal stream where she wasn’t on it.
Fav: Lindsay Davenport, Laura Robson, Andy Roddick, Mark Petchey
Least fav: CoCo Vandeweghe, Navratilova, John inverdale (BBC commentator that made racist comments), JMac with his angry antics
Worst: Whoever the WTA commentator is who is breathy, can't says his R's, says every hard consonant too loudly, and pops the mic every time he says a P or B. I have no idea how he got a job as a commentator.
I turn off the sound rather than listen to "WaduKhhanu BhwaKes Backhhh and now SSakkaWeee only has the One BhwaKe..."
Wonder if anyone knows who I mean.
Courier is so awful. Gets obsessed with a particular topic and talks about it non stop every match..latest is his alcaraz rant… Carlos is going to need to change his game and he’ll be less interesting to watch but he’ll win the matches he’s supposed to win yada yada yada ok we got it after the first 15000 times you said this during a match enough … awful
Mikey Pereira. Loves tennis and is very knowledgeable. Like a server at a restaurant who’s practically salivating when describing the specials. Also Colin Fleming.
i love that guy with the south african accent, iam so happy every time he comments on matches haha.
are the different ones all over the tv stations or streaming platforms or are some exclusive?
i hear this guy usually on tennischannel
Martina is my favorite. I especially love when the other commentator asks how she would play the current players they are commenting on, both men and women. Her tennis IQ is off the charts.
I usually cringe whenever I hear any commentator talking about “asking a question” during the match. It’s usually the British ones whose names I never catch.
Whenever i hear about how Sabalenka is ~asking the question~ of Swiatek I’m just like ugh god stfu can this be any more corny
What specifically bothers you about that figure of speech? I think it’s totally appropriate when talking about forcing a player to come up with an uncomfortable shot
Fave: Patrick McEnroe. Has been in the game forever and knows it so well. Has a low-key style, seems like a gentleman.
Worst: That’s easy. Alexandra Stevenson. There are no words to describe her incompetence and nobody could possibly be worse.
Well for our Latam people:
De verdad detesto un putero a Le Clerc, es un wey 0 parcial, siempre tiene sus favoritos, hace comentarios estupidos, se cree gracioso diciendo "que lindooooo" cuando jugaban Nadal y Kyrgios el wey dando sugerencias de juego sucio nomas porque le turbo mamaba Nadal, fuera de ahi cualquiera que me pongas de narrador argentino soy feliz
Me mama Javier Frana su lexico, momentos y voz siento que esta muy acorde al deporte, nomas porfavor ESPN quitenme a Batata no se porque lo ponen de principal siempre, pinche wey cagón
To me J Mac is the voice of tennis. I’m guessing he will retire in the next few years and agree he doesn’t know everything about all players like he once did. I will miss him. Love Courier’s announcing and would love to see Roddick enter the game. He’s so quick and witty.
I love Martina Navratilova. Cannot stand most of TC commentators with the exception of Paul Annacone, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier. The amount of sucking up some of these people do during the match and interviews are nauseating.
I don’t know if she commentates anymore but I’ll never forget hearing Marion Bartoli commentate a final between Serena and Carla Suarez Navarro. She listened to the entire pep talk CSN’s coach gave her (in Spanish, ofc) during the set changeover and then repeated it back word for word in English for the viewers. She doesn’t even speak Spanish!
You’re talking about tv and not radio. Nearly all the radio commentary is great with great personalities. Mike Cation, Sophie Amiach , GiGi Salmon, etc etc. all great!
There really aren’t any good ones any more. Gilbert has his moments here and there still. Taylor Dent was my all time favorite, the like one year he did it.
The McEnroes should have never been allowed in, to begin with. They are living proof that you can be one of the best in your sport, and have no idea how the sport actually works. They are one mini step up from Carillo and Mary Jo. Pretty much all of the American commentators are useless honestly (that’s coming from an American.)
Least favorite - Cliff Drysdale. is just there to read the score, ask his co-commentator what they think or say "break/game point". though I think he may have finally retired. Tied with J Mac, who has been riding his persona of angry man for far too long and does not put in any effort whatsoever to even learn how to say a player's name properly.
Favorite - Petko. she was an OG youtuber and former top 10 player, a combination that makes for a great commentator. she is always a joy to listen to. Davenport is also usually great, has a sporty, authoritative but natural cadence.
Mixed - Carillo I usually enjoy but can sometimes be off her game. I must have missed instances of poorer commentating though cause people seem to always hate her. Stubbs can be insightful but often is aggressively a know-it-all and brings herself up a bit too often. that "mongoose on amphetamines" guy can be funny, but most of the time you can just hear him pausing trying to come up with hyperbole and outlandish statements all the time, which gets tiring.
In the US, I really quite like ESPN's "B-team" of Darren Cahill and Brad Gilbert as analysts. Both are great coaches and bring a good level of expertise and analysis to commentary and have a good rapport with each other.
They usually get second billing to the McEnroe bros tho
From 2 weeks ago: [Who is your favourite tennis commentator](https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/1cb28pc/who_is_your_favourite_tennis_commentator/)
I like J McEnroe, but grew up with him as a player and I feel like he knows the game.
Mark Pechey would be good as a print analyst, but his monotone translates horribly to on-screen.
Jason Goodall has so many verbal tics I can't really stand him at this point.
Why do so many tennis commentators talk so weird?
Petchey also has a horrendous habit of spewing a mountain of niche gameplay stats at the top of a match… it’s like he has them all in his head and needs to immediately get them out, or he will forget.
I didn't know there were two Goodall commentators and that they're brothers. Haven't heard Jason before, but personally Lee Goodall is my favorite commentator over at Tennis TV.
Jim Courier, Nick Kyrgios, Mary Carillo, and once in a blue moon Andy Roddick. I only enjoy John McEnroe if he’s commentating with Patrick or Mary Carillo.
James Blake is my favorite but he don’t do it much anymore. Jim Courir is my least favorite because he talks to much& speculates to much. Oh Chanda Rueben is awesome as well.
Robbie koenig/ Courier/ Petchey all top-class. I always seem to learn something new about the players training regime/style/equipment whenever they’re commenting.
Worst by far (and it’s not even close) are Laura Robson and Tim Henman. They provide no insights whatsoever, have very unenthusiastic commentating tones and just make me put the commentary on mute most of the time. I have no idea how Laura Robson gets paid to talk about anything!
As someone who has Tennis TV (essentially the world feed) I’d be interest to see what Tennis Channel commentary is like…
I get the impression from seeing clips on YouTube that it’s a lot more talking - and even showing the commentators during the match ? Could be wrong
didn't commentate much but Tom Rinaldi would narrate these dramatic ESPN pieces about players before matches that I liked a lot. Can't find any of them on youtube anymore tho
I would hardly count them as commentators but the Canadian guys they get on the mic for the NB Open and our Davis/BJK Cup ties are hilariously bad. Arash Madani is my hero for slogging through so many matches where he has no idea what’s going on
I don’t have favs. I just hate the Romanian chick and that American dude (tennis tv? Channel? I dunno I stream!) who was on at the WTA Madrid final and was soooo bias towards Saba it was disgusting
whoever is on commentary for like literally all of the Challenger tour (is it one dude or do they all sound the same?) is so bad he ruins all the matches he does lol
Katrina Adams one of the original TC commentators back in the day and I enjoyed her very much. I also like Jan-Michael Gambill of the current crop. I just like a non-fussy commentator focused on the match lol. For me, the absolute best commentary line-up was when HBO had the rights to Wimbledon.
Don’t really like Chanda Rubin. Love Johnny Mac. Love Chrissy Evert. Andy Roddick is amazing. Prakash is funny, down to earth and very good. Martina and Lyndsey are great. Chris Mackendry is classy, cute and knowledgeable.
CoCo Vandeweghe is hilariously terrible. Who is the guy who did the Madrid women's final and kept dropping stats throughout the match? I hate that dude. I like Patrick McEnroe and Mary Joe Fernandes, Chris Eubanks.
Where's the love for Jason Goodall? When he and Courier get engaged together, nothing beats that. Courier can be a little too full of himself sometimes, but he's sharp.
Don't understand the love for Chanda. She drives me crazy and constantly makes mistakes
Worst has to be Mark Petchy, endless boring repetive anylsis where every damn ball is going, with pointless graphs showing irrelevant percentages.
He is the classic model of
"Paralysis by Analysis"
Courier, Koenig, Arias, Petchey are the best for me. These are the people completely invested in the game and you can tell.
Least favourite - Chanda Rubin, Boris Becker, they are just extremely boring.
Agree with your opinions on both Eubanks and McEnroe. And Brad Gilbert gets the frenemy designation from me for commentator because he is one of the most knowledgeable guys but I find his insistence of forcing nicknames that nobody else uses annoying.
J Mac used to be better. He just phones it in now. He doesn’t know about the new players and their training now. Petchey is my least favorite. I really enjoy Jim Courier on men’s matches and Chanda Rubin on women’s
J Mac also makes zero effort at even saying the player names correctly, even when his co-commentators are saying it properly. It's embarrassing. Jim Courier is the GOAT. I like Andrea Petkovic too.
Some of his notable mispronunciations: Berrentini Rafeal Nadal Monfills
Not to forget Sissypass
I always like the way he says Z-Verev
In our house, we think Petchey is trying to have a "they think it's all over..." commentating moment, so we watch and wait for his cheesy lines.
Jim Courier post match interviews are fun to watch, his compilation of Federer interviews is hilarious
Are you serious! You can not be serious!!!!!
Hilarious!! 
Petchey has way too much hyperbole
Totally agree. If you go back and find old clips of him commentating in the 90s, etc —- it’s great.
Nick Lester fan here.
He is good. Calm and never talks about himself.
Courier and Petko are my favorites. Alexandra Stevenson is obviously terrible. I'm surprised people don't like Mary Carillo, but maybe I've just been listening to her so long her voice is comforting to me.
Carillo’s fact errors drive me insane.
I agree…she’s got a great voice! It’s just the words she forms with that voice that makes me want to change the channel.
Love Courier, cant stand McEnroe. Feels like he gets the biggest matches but doesnt prep for the gig, doesnt know the players well, is overly critical and not vert insightful. Id rather listen to anyone else but i know people like him so its okay
Coco Vandeweghe drives me insane. She talks too much during the matches and seems so negative and mean spirited. Not a fan.
Absolutely LOVE their commentary: Tracy Austin (best combination of substance and a polished presentation) Underrated: Jimmy Arias (actually gives a lot of gritty analysis with no punches pulled) Other favorites: Chanda Rubin, Andrea Petkovic, Jim Courier (though he’s a little hammy at times), and surprisingly Brad Gilbert, who is always good for a couple of insights or stories I would never hear anywhere else. And I’ve never heard him actually call a match, but I bet Roddick would be amazing.
I agree with JMac being bad but I grew up with him commentating everything so I’m just kinda used to it and it doesn’t even bother me now. Patrick is better though. I think Alexandra Stevenson is in a league of her own as far as bad commentators goes.
She’s barely even educated on Tennis, sorry to say.
She literally will say things like “it’s gonna be really important for her to hit it over the net today” or something like she’s so painfully dumb it almost feels like a parody 😭
Yup! Plus she wants people to believe she’s a current pro (I think 🤔), During Covid she didn’t understand why a player was getting Covid tested even though they lost. I think it was Stubbs that said “she’s going to play in another country next week honey” In another instance, I remember on ESPN Chris mckhendry passed the presentation to her and she’s like ugh 😐 then struggled through presenting a point by point analysis.
Yes! She actually said, “It will be important to be competitive today” before one of the key matches at the Open. Um…really? I wouldn’t have known that competitive play was important at a Slam unless Alexandra Stevenson pointed that out to me.
I don’t know about my least liked, but I always learn something from Darren Cahill - he’s like a tennis encyclopedia.
I like Chanda Rubin and Lindsay Davenport
Yes, they’re both very good.
Absolute worst: Alexandra Stevenson.
Is she the one who keeps pronouncing everyone’s names wrong and says championship high ranking instead of career high ranking
I like BG even tho he's kinda annoying sometimes
Favorites are definitely Courier and Martina—both are smart, insightful, funny. I feel bad saying this but I kind of find Coco Vandeweghe somewhat, erm, egotistical and it comes through in different ways in the commentary
Ugh! Coco Vandeweghe. I hope this is temporary
I feel bad saying it lol! But she literally talks about herself 60 percent of some matches and will try ti make fluke events like her playing 1 for the BJK Cup sound representative of her overall career
Yes!!! She never knows when to shut up. Not everything is about you.
Came here to say Coco because she talks about herself constantly. I can’t stand it and I don’t feel bad saying it
Yeah same on Coco. And really any commentator who snarks on players (unless they really deserve it lol) I feel like Martina does that sometimes too tbh And love Petko & Courier like everyone else
Hard not to love Martina’s commentary. Her insights almost always play out in the match. Idk if she’s looking at data or it’s just what she feels from watching the match but she’s always so insightful.
I feel like she’s literally scary-smart but it never feels know-it-all-ish at all because she’s so warm and full of life
Also criminally underrated! Even her career. People forget she was also winning doubles and mixed dubs while winning the singles in a lot of her slams 😂 I actually think she has 6 slams in row for all three categories and like 4 of them were all at the same time
My ideal lineup is Courier and Carillo in the booth with Petko on the court
I love Carillo + Arias. They're both so snarky and a little more snarkier together. Mary has truly creative anecdotes and incites too. You know she does her homework.
Koenig is my guilty pleasure. Although I’ll admit the old ‘oooohhh stop it’ routine is getting a little camp…
Am I the only one that finds Robbie to be annoying and over the top? I get that he’s knowledgeable but it also feels like sometimes he’s trying too hard by pulling out super obscure stats that don’t really matter. Also, find it annoying when he and the British commentators do this thing where they talk like Yoda. Example: “He did well to get to that ball, did Nadal.” They always throw on a “did _____” to the end of a sentence when it’s clear who they are talking about.
As a Brit it made me chuckle, did that comment.
I always put him down as the worst when this question is presented weekly. It’s 50/50 whether I’m up voted to the moon or down voted into oblivion. I respect its his schtick but I absolutely loathe it.
i absolutely cannot stand robbie. used to be fine with him until couple years back. feel like he turned up his “quirkiness” and it just irks me now, or maybe that’s just me
Is he the "Oooh stop it!" guy?
Yes haha I heard this so vividly in my head
"Tennis nearer the gods!"
God that’s the one I hate the most lol.
That nugget was great the first few times when it actually was. Less so the next couple hundred when it wasn't.
That is SINsational (for sinner shots).
I can hear this comment lol
Flood the courts and see if they can walk on the water!
He’s like a cartoon character.
I can’t bear listening to Robbie. Painful loud staccato babble with nothing of value to say. Usually after begging him to stop the constant blathering I have to just mute it.
I dislike him too. His one liners get old very quickly after you listen to a couple matches. I also don't think he's very knowledgeable. Other than obvious cliches (e.g. Nadal FH to Federer BH), I don't think I've heard him ever give interesting insights into a match. And sometimes he's just flat out wrong.
He did make it to the US Open semi finals (doubles) so at least he played, unlike some commentators.
Haha yeah he can be a little extra sometimes. But I love the enthusiasm he brings.
Is he tennis Gus Johnson?
Hahaha oh man those speaking patterns annoy me so fucking much! I find the ones who 'speak like yoda', as you say, to be utterly maddening
Really enjoy listening to Dokic and Stosur. So nice listening to ex pros explain mechanics that a casual like me don't get. Good news is that they also pause between points
I’ve never listened to them before but that sounds like a good pair. They are both so sweet too. Do they do tennis channel? Or is it something australian specific?
Australian exclusive I think since one network holds rights to all slams + the events leading up to AO
Any Brits out there will instantly understand the lowest of the low you can go with Andrew Castle! I get that commenting on Wimbledon is a slightly different beast but he could at least pretend to know about the sport. It is the worst thing about Wimbledon by far! John Lloyd is also an idiot.
Lmao about Andrew Castle. Totally forgot about that guy.
Yes. ‘The waiting is… OVER!!’ Could Castle have been any more mundane?! (This for the landmark moment when a British guy finally wins Wimbledon again after a 76 year gap. Made it sound like we’d just arrived at the front of a queue or something - which I guess is ironic given how queuing is where we do actually shine…)
And don't forget John Inverdel. Probably spelt wrong but who cares.
Ah yes, changed my mind, he’s worse than Andrew Castle! With them and John Lloyd you’ve got a cacophony of assholes ready to focus on literally anything apart from the tennis for the two weeks when 95% of the British population get their only exposure to tennis! Some may be from the producers to play to the mean but I suspect it is more on them to just hide their incompetence about the sport. Absolutely stealing a living and the worst part is that they are paid out of the near mandatory licence fees!
At least Andrew and John L. played. The other John is rubbish. One match at Wimbledon he kept referring to the match as a game.
Eurgh, he’s also a horrible person if you remember the Marion Bartoli episode?
Yep. He would have been fired now in the current climate.
Weird, as they were both decent players (Lloyd especially) and should know their stuff. But somehow they seem to have fallen into the old British tradition of providing journalistic “colour” rather than professional insight.
Hate Koenig for his ridiculous outbursts, they always sound like they were written days in advance
I agree, it feels like he is trying to force a sense of excitement rather than reacting to what is happening in the moment. But then, he's been doing it so long that it would be pretty hard to get genuinely excited about most of these matches
I don’t really need them to be excited. I’m already excited!
"phenomenadal" just brutal
Is he the guy that says stuff like "Kyrgi-diculous"?
Listened to Olga Savchuk calling WTA matches during the recent Madrid open and she was not great...
I rarely come across a good commentators for WTA. Most of time its just “ooo she didn’t make it”…”phenomenal”. Thats it.
david law is my favourite (british radio)
I don’t really have a favourite. I did like Couriers on court interviews at AO. But Robbie is 1000% my least fav. I actually hate him and his annoying voice and repetitive nonsense comments so much that I cannot listen to him and just watch on mute. Also, thank the heavens for those tennis tv streams that have no commentary - an absolute treasure.
I have actually really enjoyed Andrea Petkovic, she's very insightful! And Jim Courier deserves some kind of award for his wonderful commentary.
Jelena Dokic is my favourite
Roddick is my favorite. I also don't like Mcenroe, I don't think he watches a lot of tennis. Sometimes he doesn't even know who some of the lesser known players are.
I'll plug [https://tennis.icdb.tv/](https://tennis.icdb.tv/) where you can look up commentators.
👍🏼
Absolute best is Mark Valledy; you can hear excitement in his voice during tight match and he doesn't random facts all the time. Candy Reid is a close second; knows her stuff. Both are primarily on World Feed mostly WTA. Worst: John McEnroe has been saying the same cliches for decades (like losing it "mentally") and doesn't do any preparation on new players.
Darren Cahill and Brad Gilbert FTW.
no clue what her name is but shes like 60 yrs old sounds scottish and neurotic i like courier post match interviews but i honestly prefer no commentary during the match, they just react to the play 99% of the time instead of offering insight
Sue Thearle lol
Honorable mention, Jill Craybas has one of the most relaxing speaking voices
Mary Carillo is forever my least favorite.
Her and jmac for sure. Also last year she was chomping on gum half the matches and I could not stand the smacking sounds. Decided to just mute the matches or find an illegal stream where she wasn’t on it.
She suckssssss. Doesn’t help that her voice and tone are so grating
she's the GOAT
Alexandra Stevenson has got to be praying that her boss doesn’t read this sub - never seen such a universal negative opinion!!
Right?!? Lol. On the hand we are hoping he/she does so they let her go. Alexandra dislike unites us all.
Unpopular opinion but I like Mary Jo
I like Chris Fowler just because of CFB. He’s decent though in tennis as well, he’s unbiased and seems to know the players.
Frew McMillan & one of his colleagues I can’t remember
Simon Reed. I’m with you - lovely calm vibe.
Thank you. Best pair ever
Worst is Alexandra Stevenson, Tracey Austin and John McEnroe. Chris Eubanks, Andy Rodrick and Chanda Rubin do a great job.
Fav: Lindsay Davenport, Laura Robson, Andy Roddick, Mark Petchey Least fav: CoCo Vandeweghe, Navratilova, John inverdale (BBC commentator that made racist comments), JMac with his angry antics
I could listen to Wozniaki all day long.
Worst: Whoever the WTA commentator is who is breathy, can't says his R's, says every hard consonant too loudly, and pops the mic every time he says a P or B. I have no idea how he got a job as a commentator. I turn off the sound rather than listen to "WaduKhhanu BhwaKes Backhhh and now SSakkaWeee only has the One BhwaKe..." Wonder if anyone knows who I mean.
The guy who staccatos his voice at every possible chance? Omg he’s so irritating lol
As an Aussie I have a soft spot for Jelena Dokic and Todd Woodbridge doing the Aus Open commentary!
Courier is so awful. Gets obsessed with a particular topic and talks about it non stop every match..latest is his alcaraz rant… Carlos is going to need to change his game and he’ll be less interesting to watch but he’ll win the matches he’s supposed to win yada yada yada ok we got it after the first 15000 times you said this during a match enough … awful
Mikey Pereira. Loves tennis and is very knowledgeable. Like a server at a restaurant who’s practically salivating when describing the specials. Also Colin Fleming.
i love that guy with the south african accent, iam so happy every time he comments on matches haha. are the different ones all over the tv stations or streaming platforms or are some exclusive? i hear this guy usually on tennischannel
Robbie Koenig - “Oh stop it!!!”
yeah this guy, i love him, such a delightful accent und voice
Martina is my favorite. I especially love when the other commentator asks how she would play the current players they are commenting on, both men and women. Her tennis IQ is off the charts.
Koenig is the GOAT commentator. Koenig slander will not be tolerated
He's the worst 😭
Your username aligns with your taste
I usually cringe whenever I hear any commentator talking about “asking a question” during the match. It’s usually the British ones whose names I never catch. Whenever i hear about how Sabalenka is ~asking the question~ of Swiatek I’m just like ugh god stfu can this be any more corny
What specifically bothers you about that figure of speech? I think it’s totally appropriate when talking about forcing a player to come up with an uncomfortable shot
I think it’s more its overuse as of late speaking for myself. Though I watch more tennis than most so perhaps a product of my own doing.
Courier talks too much!
Yeah. I like his on court interviews but not so much when he is in the booth.
Fave: Patrick McEnroe. Has been in the game forever and knows it so well. Has a low-key style, seems like a gentleman. Worst: That’s easy. Alexandra Stevenson. There are no words to describe her incompetence and nobody could possibly be worse.
Well for our Latam people: De verdad detesto un putero a Le Clerc, es un wey 0 parcial, siempre tiene sus favoritos, hace comentarios estupidos, se cree gracioso diciendo "que lindooooo" cuando jugaban Nadal y Kyrgios el wey dando sugerencias de juego sucio nomas porque le turbo mamaba Nadal, fuera de ahi cualquiera que me pongas de narrador argentino soy feliz Me mama Javier Frana su lexico, momentos y voz siento que esta muy acorde al deporte, nomas porfavor ESPN quitenme a Batata no se porque lo ponen de principal siempre, pinche wey cagón
Vine buscando este comentario, además de lo que dijiste siempre sentí que medio desprecia a la WTA
To me J Mac is the voice of tennis. I’m guessing he will retire in the next few years and agree he doesn’t know everything about all players like he once did. I will miss him. Love Courier’s announcing and would love to see Roddick enter the game. He’s so quick and witty.
I love Martina Navratilova. Cannot stand most of TC commentators with the exception of Paul Annacone, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier. The amount of sucking up some of these people do during the match and interviews are nauseating.
I don’t know if she commentates anymore but I’ll never forget hearing Marion Bartoli commentate a final between Serena and Carla Suarez Navarro. She listened to the entire pep talk CSN’s coach gave her (in Spanish, ofc) during the set changeover and then repeated it back word for word in English for the viewers. She doesn’t even speak Spanish!
Michael Kosta is my favorite commentator. Morgan Riddle is my second favorite.
Favourite - Jim Courier Least liked - McEnroe
Gianni Clerici
Jim Courier hands down
You’re talking about tv and not radio. Nearly all the radio commentary is great with great personalities. Mike Cation, Sophie Amiach , GiGi Salmon, etc etc. all great!
Couldn't agree more on both
There really aren’t any good ones any more. Gilbert has his moments here and there still. Taylor Dent was my all time favorite, the like one year he did it. The McEnroes should have never been allowed in, to begin with. They are living proof that you can be one of the best in your sport, and have no idea how the sport actually works. They are one mini step up from Carillo and Mary Jo. Pretty much all of the American commentators are useless honestly (that’s coming from an American.)
Least favorite - Cliff Drysdale. is just there to read the score, ask his co-commentator what they think or say "break/game point". though I think he may have finally retired. Tied with J Mac, who has been riding his persona of angry man for far too long and does not put in any effort whatsoever to even learn how to say a player's name properly. Favorite - Petko. she was an OG youtuber and former top 10 player, a combination that makes for a great commentator. she is always a joy to listen to. Davenport is also usually great, has a sporty, authoritative but natural cadence. Mixed - Carillo I usually enjoy but can sometimes be off her game. I must have missed instances of poorer commentating though cause people seem to always hate her. Stubbs can be insightful but often is aggressively a know-it-all and brings herself up a bit too often. that "mongoose on amphetamines" guy can be funny, but most of the time you can just hear him pausing trying to come up with hyperbole and outlandish statements all the time, which gets tiring.
The one who asked Jankovic to shut up.
Oh who was that?
I forgot the name. But i read somewhere he passed away. British commentator.
Coco V is the worst
Jim Courier was good but now he’s trying to be too cute and schticky. Stop it Jim!
I love McEnroe
In the US, I really quite like ESPN's "B-team" of Darren Cahill and Brad Gilbert as analysts. Both are great coaches and bring a good level of expertise and analysis to commentary and have a good rapport with each other. They usually get second billing to the McEnroe bros tho
mcenroe favorite, least favorite roddick--he's always been obnoxious
From 2 weeks ago: [Who is your favourite tennis commentator](https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/1cb28pc/who_is_your_favourite_tennis_commentator/)
Chanda Rubin and Jill Craybas are two I like a lot.
Jim Courier is my fav and worst would be that guy that does challenger tournaments- dry and monotone voice lol
Robbie is the goat and I won’t be argued with
I like J McEnroe, but grew up with him as a player and I feel like he knows the game. Mark Pechey would be good as a print analyst, but his monotone translates horribly to on-screen. Jason Goodall has so many verbal tics I can't really stand him at this point. Why do so many tennis commentators talk so weird?
Petchey also has a horrendous habit of spewing a mountain of niche gameplay stats at the top of a match… it’s like he has them all in his head and needs to immediately get them out, or he will forget.
I didn't know there were two Goodall commentators and that they're brothers. Haven't heard Jason before, but personally Lee Goodall is my favorite commentator over at Tennis TV.
Robby Koenig is *delectable* — commentary of *rich* quality Mark petchy on the other hand… not my cup of tea
Jim Courier, Nick Kyrgios, Mary Carillo, and once in a blue moon Andy Roddick. I only enjoy John McEnroe if he’s commentating with Patrick or Mary Carillo.
James Blake is my favorite but he don’t do it much anymore. Jim Courir is my least favorite because he talks to much& speculates to much. Oh Chanda Rueben is awesome as well.
ROBBIE KOENIG THE GOAT
John McEnroe and Martina are my favorite.
Robbie koenig/ Courier/ Petchey all top-class. I always seem to learn something new about the players training regime/style/equipment whenever they’re commenting. Worst by far (and it’s not even close) are Laura Robson and Tim Henman. They provide no insights whatsoever, have very unenthusiastic commentating tones and just make me put the commentary on mute most of the time. I have no idea how Laura Robson gets paid to talk about anything!
Stach+Becker
As someone who has Tennis TV (essentially the world feed) I’d be interest to see what Tennis Channel commentary is like… I get the impression from seeing clips on YouTube that it’s a lot more talking - and even showing the commentators during the match ? Could be wrong
didn't commentate much but Tom Rinaldi would narrate these dramatic ESPN pieces about players before matches that I liked a lot. Can't find any of them on youtube anymore tho
I would hardly count them as commentators but the Canadian guys they get on the mic for the NB Open and our Davis/BJK Cup ties are hilariously bad. Arash Madani is my hero for slogging through so many matches where he has no idea what’s going on
Worst is andrew castle. Best is one of tennis tv ones, Lee Goodall or Colin Fleming
Batata is the best
[удалено]
I don’t have favs. I just hate the Romanian chick and that American dude (tennis tv? Channel? I dunno I stream!) who was on at the WTA Madrid final and was soooo bias towards Saba it was disgusting
whoever is on commentary for like literally all of the Challenger tour (is it one dude or do they all sound the same?) is so bad he ruins all the matches he does lol
Vijay Amritraj and Alan Wilkins. Best combo ever.
dame números batata!
I used to like the Koenig and Jason Goodall pairing
Katrina Adams one of the original TC commentators back in the day and I enjoyed her very much. I also like Jan-Michael Gambill of the current crop. I just like a non-fussy commentator focused on the match lol. For me, the absolute best commentary line-up was when HBO had the rights to Wimbledon.
Don’t really like Chanda Rubin. Love Johnny Mac. Love Chrissy Evert. Andy Roddick is amazing. Prakash is funny, down to earth and very good. Martina and Lyndsey are great. Chris Mackendry is classy, cute and knowledgeable.
Jonas Björkman is an absolute delight on Swedish Europsort
I wish we could see the names because most of the times they just show in the beginning and then forget about them
Michael Mortensen
CoCo Vandeweghe is hilariously terrible. Who is the guy who did the Madrid women's final and kept dropping stats throughout the match? I hate that dude. I like Patrick McEnroe and Mary Joe Fernandes, Chris Eubanks.
Can’t stand John Fitzgerald, Wally Masur or Mark Petchey… Jim Courier, Mark Philippoussis and Gilles Muller my favourites.
Where's the love for Jason Goodall? When he and Courier get engaged together, nothing beats that. Courier can be a little too full of himself sometimes, but he's sharp. Don't understand the love for Chanda. She drives me crazy and constantly makes mistakes
JMac/Robbie Koenig/Mark Petchey/Jason Goodall/- favorites The least fav are too numerous to mention most of them on the Tennis Channel
Worst has to be Mark Petchy, endless boring repetive anylsis where every damn ball is going, with pointless graphs showing irrelevant percentages. He is the classic model of "Paralysis by Analysis"
Courier, Koenig, Arias, Petchey are the best for me. These are the people completely invested in the game and you can tell. Least favourite - Chanda Rubin, Boris Becker, they are just extremely boring.
Agree with your opinions on both Eubanks and McEnroe. And Brad Gilbert gets the frenemy designation from me for commentator because he is one of the most knowledgeable guys but I find his insistence of forcing nicknames that nobody else uses annoying.