Monday's Men's Final Was the Last Time CBS WiIl Air US Open Tennis

Well, it's all over now!

In what seemed like a huge surprise to everyone (certainly, myself included), two surprise finalists matched up for yesterday's US Open Men's Final. 14th-seeded Marin Čilić of Croatia defeated No. 10 Kei Nishikori of Japan, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

Čilić just was a bit too much for Nishikori. Too much of a big physical presence, too powerful and accurate of a serve, and perhaps, the nerves from such a huge event (Nishikori was the first Asian ever to qualify for a Grand Slam Men's Singles Final!) got the better of Nishikori. So, Čilić has broken through with his first ever Grand Slam championship with this year's US Open, with former tennis great and 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanišević as his coach.

It was a dream opportunity for both men, as neither had ever made it to a Grand Slam final before. In fact, this was the first Grand Slam final since the Australian Open way back in 2005 not to feature either Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, or Novak Djokovic! And it was the first time since 2009 that a Grand Slam Final was not won by any of those men, or Andy Murray (the only other man to break through during that time was Juan Martin Del Potro in the 2009 US Open, when he stunned the heavily favored Roger Federer.

Maybe Nadal's prediction that the era of dominance by the big four was coming to an end was indeed prophetic.

But whether or not that proves to be the case, yesterday's men's final did mark the end of an era in another way: CBS will not air the US Open again.

Next year, the rather unfortunate trend of everything leaving network television in favor of going to cable will continue, as ESPN will get the US Open. It seems to be an extension of privatizing and spending ever more money for things.

It is sad, but I am appreciative to have watched the US Open on CBS for all of these years, and will miss it next year! Yes, I have ESPN presently, so it should not make too much of a difference in terms of my ability to watch. However, I can see the trend, and where it is going, and find it unfortunate.

Just wanted to make a note of it here!




After Decades on CBS, U.S. Open Will Switch Channels Full Time by RICHARD SANDOMIRSEPT. 3, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/sports/tennis/after-decades-on-cbs-us-open-will-switch-channels-full-time.html?_r=0