Tennis News: Andy Roddick criticizes Seven Network's coverage of Australian Open
American tennis professional Andy Roddick has come out and criticized the Seven Network, as according to him, it was questionable that the network broadcasted a completed match with a delay instead of considering to air a live
encounter. Roddick blogged on his Twitter account very recently, criticizing Seven Network's decision. Roddick's 'tweet' said, "why is channel 7 showing a women’s match that australianopen.org says has already been completed when there is live tennis all around?"
The message was retweeted by a countless number of Twitter users the very same day.
The Seven Network delayed the broadcast of the match played between Alicia Molik of Australia and Russia Nadia Petrova, which started off at 4 pm AEDT, shortly before 13th seeded Petrova brought a close to the match
defeating Molik 6-4 in the first set and 6-1 in the set to follow to advance to the third round of the 2011 Australian Open in the Women's Singles category. The viewers were indicated that the match was not being telecasted live.
Apart from directly criticizing the network's decision to air matches that had ended already, viewers claim that they were beyond unimpressed with Seven Network for being reluctant to admit that the matches that were apparently
delayed were factually not delayed at all.
A spokesman representing the Seven Network communicated to the Spy Report that the reason behind the choices regarding the broadcasting of the matches were in fact aired to enhance the 'viewing experience'. The spokesperson furthermore
defended the Network for not informing the viewers about when the matches were delayed.
"We obviously want viewers to get the feel that it's still happening... and we've still got people who want to see all the Aussies in action," said the spokesperson.
The Seven Network managed to disappoint their viewers further by airing a Round 2 match played between Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Andreas Seppi of Italy right after broadcasting the match played between Nadia Petrova and
Alicia Molik. The match was telecasted on delay in spite of the fact that Tsonga had already made it through (6-3, 7-6, 7-6). The Network also aired matches such as Roddick's first match of the 2011 Australian Open on the first few days of the championship.
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