We Need More Mike Cation

July 12, 2023 Chris Camillone Professional Tennis

We Need More Mike Cation

Mike Cation is one of the best commentators in all of tennis. Anywhere, on any level, Mike stands up. I came across Mike Cation where I imagine 99% of people do – the challenger circuit. He’s the voice behind basically every challenger that is played United States. He’s the Energizer bunny, fueled by what I imagine is an ungodly amount of caffeine as he hammers out like 6 matches a day. I consume an inordinate amount of tennis across all levels of the sport, and I’m telling you right now, the challenger circuit in the U.S. with Mike Cation going solo on the call, which is incredibly hard, is one of the best tennis media products we have.

If you don’t believe me, mark your calendars for challenger circuit towards the end of this year. Mike surely has more for you to check out before then with his podcast and other work in the U.S. hard court swing leading up to and through the U.S. Open. But there is a stretch in the late fall with challengers in places like Knoxville, Charlottesville, and Champaign where Mike goes to war, and it’s just so damn good. He puts on a clinic in that stretch. Perhaps what I enjoy the most about listening to Mike throughout the year is that he clearly knows the players and knows their games. He has genuine insight, and he does a great job of balancing what you’re seeing in that specific match with who a player is on the whole.

Mike is great on any match, irrespective of whether or not he has these deep insights to the individuals playing. But the intimacy of the Challenger tour, and Mike’s experience and knowledge of how to cover it, is what makes that product awesome.

Calling for Prime-Time Matches and Collaborations

This leads me to my next point. I need Mr. Cation calling more matches. Particularly more prime-time, higher stakes matches. I don’t know Mike on any level; never met the man. As such, I’m not sure how he will feel about me demanding that he work more. I assure you Mike, if you end up reading this, I’m not calling out your work schedule as light. And I know you’ve been able to call some incredible matches at the Grand Slam level, particularly in recent years. But I want more.

Mike should be on the call with the likes of Darren Cahill, Jim Courier, and Paul Annacone. I know Mike didn’t play tennis the same way those guys did and that certainly matters in some respects. But he belongs in the booth with them. Honestly, if you had those 4 rotating for every match called, I’d be set. Toss in Robbie Koenig for some international flavor and some reactions. Sign me the HELL UP. I want to see and hear Mike calling every match that involves players who recently spent considerable time playing Challengers, even and especially if that player is playing a top seed.

Imagine a world where we actually have someone on the call who knows BOTH of the players playing the match, particularly someone who knows about the lower ranked player. What if they actually knew about that player’s game in detail, or perhaps even knew the individual? Is that too much? Did I cross the line? It’s a novel idea, I know. Cooky, some may say, but let’s give it a whirl. Because if I have to sit through any more matches where it’s so obvious the people calling the match have no idea who they are watching, or they refer to a dude ranked anywhere from 40 to 120 in the world as a journeyman and insultingly act surprised as he puts games on the board against a seeded player like it’s some miracle, I’m going to jump through my TV screen and commit an act of violence. I actually think the tennis media world has gotten a little better in the department of being more knowledgeable of “lower” ranked players and how they are framed in terms of their abilities over the past couple of years (a few years ago, there were some ROUGH calls), but we can still be better. Mike can help with that.

The Value of Mike’s Player Knowledge

Mike called the JJ Wolf v. Ben Shelton match at the Australian Open this year. It was perfect. Mike has seen JJ play countless matches, and he was up close and personal as Shelton terrorized some of those challengers that I noted above for you to watch in the late fall of 2022. The match itself was awesome, and it was called so incredibly well because of Mike.

You know Wu Yibing? Mike (perhaps somewhat tongue-in-cheek) basically called him winning the 250 in Dallas this year before it happened because he saw him play up close for SEVERAL weeks in the challengers. He would have been able to help with the coverage in Dallas. Michael Mmoh just beat Felix at Wimbledon; that should be Mike on that call. Liam Broady beat Ruud on the center court of Wimbledon; could have used Mike. Chris Eubanks won Mallorca last week, is now in the second week of Wimbledon, and has lined himself up to be SEEDED at the US Open. You know what Chris deserves on top of his recent success and the opportunity to play Tsitsipas on a show court? He deserves somebody calling his match that is damn good at the job and actually knows who Chris is and knows how he plays!!!

Hmmm… wonder where we can find a guy like that. Mike should be on every match Chris plays, and I’m not really joking. You show me someone who says they’ve seen Mmoh, Broady, or Eubanks play more matches than Mike has, and I’ll show you a liar.

Bridging the Gap: Challenger Players Deserve Recognition

Some of the guys I mentioned, and others who play challengers on a somewhat regular basis, are already, or will become more, visible to the general tennis viewing public. But, if a guy is ranked like 50 or lower, particularly if he has spent some noteworthy time playing any portion of the U.S. challenger circuit throughout the preceding 12-18 months, there is a good chance Mike knows that player as well as, if not better than, anyone else calling matches in tennis media. The tennis world would be better served by having someone like Mike, and by that, I mean literally him, calling matches involving these players, particularly as they are having a breakthrough out of the Challenger circuit. Again, Mike could call any match from the first round to a slam final, irrespective of it involves players he has spent significant time watching. He’s just really freaking good at the gig.

But when you put Mike on the call for those “higher level” ATP matches involving players who have spent significant time in the challengers, you not only provide a better product for that match itself (a spot where we are often lacking), but you bridge the gap between what are often considered two different worlds of tennis. I know that tennis media, like media for many other sports, is largely propelled by its superstars. And I don’t want to get into a full-fledged discussion here about what’s “wrong” with how the sport is covered and how to best “grow the game.” But what I am fairly convinced of is, if you can create interest and exposure for more players in your sport, it helps. Mike can help with that, too.

I’m not sure how Mike’s going add to his busy schedule, because I am not going to allow him to drop any of his challenger work either. It’s just weird when he’s not on it. I’m also not really sure how to end this post. I’m not sure I have a point to it. I guess my point is that Mike is really good, and I think he’s the right guy to help improve tennis media coverage in certain spots. You basically read 1,400 words for me to say that. I’m not known for my brevity. I would say sorry, but don’t kid yourself, you had nothing better going on, and Mike deserves the props. I’ll just end with this random left turn: whether you’ve seen it a hundred times or none, take a couple minutes out of your day, turn to YouTube, and watch the clips of Mike sift his way through some tense moments Tiafoe-Krueger in Sarasota and his breakdown on Marcus Willis’ on-court fueling of choice… try to tell me we don’t need more of that.