Give ESPN credit for French Open coverage

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Josselin Ouanna, a 23-year-old French qualifier at the French Open, just beat Marat Safin 10-8 in the fifth set in a worthy tennis match full of cascading emotions and head-slapping shots. But, most notably, ESPN, the American sports network that often gets criticized for paying attention only to Americans, stuck with Safin-Ouanna even as American Venus Williams fell behind Lucie Safarova 3-1 in the first set. By the time ESPN finished up with the Safin-Ouanna match, Williams was deeply into a first-set tiebreak with Safarova.

It was the right move and one we should remember next time someone dismisses ESPN’s tennis coverage as American-centric.

--Diane Pucin