CoCo Vandeweghe provides ESPN with 1st-ever mid-match interview
Though spectators have grown accustomed to - perhaps even tired of - mid-game interviews with players and coaches in most sports, no pro tennis broadcast had ever seen a player answer a reporter's questions in the middle of a match.
Until Monday.
After winning the first set of her first-round US Open match against fellow American Sloane Stephens, world No. 45 CoCo Vandeweghe gave ESPN's Pam Shriver a brief interview - the first of its kind.
Big thx to @CoCoVandey. 1st interview conducted mid match with a player just aired on ESPN. Players choice after a set win. @ESPNTennis
— Darren Cahill (@darren_cahill) August 31, 2015
This year, ESPN acquired exclusive domestic broadcast rights for the US Open and US Open Series, a deal that runs through 2025. The mid-match interview was a joint ESPN/USTA initiative, an ESPN spokesman told For the Win's Chris Chase:
Both parties wanted to bring new wrinkles to its coverage and agreed that interviewing players mid-match would be an innovation to benefit fans. The decision is made before the match and a player can back out up until the beginning of the interview.
The "new wrinkle" came as a shock to some.
Did I just see Coco do an interview on court, mid match, after the first set?? Surely you would wanna focus on the game out there? No?
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) August 31, 2015
While others felt it was a long time coming.
Tennis asks little of players/coaches compared to media obligations in most sports. Change slow. We're just trying to bring viewers closer.
— Chris Fowler (@cbfowler) August 31, 2015
Mid match interviews at the @usopen ...nicely done @espn ...#breakthecode
— Mahesh Bhupathi (@Maheshbhupathi) August 31, 2015
For her part, Vandeweghe didn't see what any of the fuss was about.
"In general, I'm a sports fan," she told Shriver after the match, which she won in straight sets. "For anyone to have an insight into an athlete's mind is a positive. I'm glad ESPN was open to the idea."
Vandeweghe could meet Serena Williams in Round 3.