You say you are a tennis fan?
Live for the grand slams?
Would love to be at the U.S. Open but just can’t make it?
Well my friends for the next two week’s ESPN2, the Tennis Channel and CBS Sports will make it almost impossible to say that you missed anything at the U.S. Open.
As a matter of fact you could not see this much tennis action if you were at the Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows in person.
Let’s start with ESPN2 coverage:
During the first week of the tournament, ESPN2’s coverage will start at 1 p.m. each weekday and will continue non stop through both the day and evening sessions. A one-hour US Open Scoreboard program will lead into Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM at 7 p.m. and until 11 p.m. or play is concluded, whichever is later. The second week, ESPN2 will have Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM at 7 p.m. on Labor Day Monday, Sept. 7 (ESPN’s 30th Anniversary), followed by 12-hour windows Tuesday – Thursday starting at 11 a.m., with US Open Scoreboard at 6 p.m. and Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM at 7 p.m.
On the final day of the tournament, Sunday, Sept. 13, ESPN2 will televise live the women’s doubles championship at 1 p.m., and will review all the action at 9 p.m. with a special two-hour edition of SportsCenter presented by BMW at the US Open. Both weeks, ESPNEWS will present a two-hour weekday US Open update show at noon. As with the other three Grand Slams, ESPN2 will work with Tennis Channel to bring fans virtually round-the-clock coverage during the US Open, each utilizing its own commentators.
ESPN2’s Commentator Lineup
ESPN’s tennis team is led by Cliff Drysdale, completing his 30th year with ESPN. The former US Open finalist has been with ESPN since its first tennis telecast September 14, 1979, exactly one week after the network launched, making him second in ESPN tenure among commentators behind only Bob Ley. Chris Fowler, ESPN’s lead studio anchor for Grand Slam tennis since 2003, will serve as a host and call matches. Mike Tirico of Monday Night Football and Hannah Storm of the weekday morning SportsCenter will make their debuts as a tennis host.
They will team with John McEnroe, the four-time US Open champ who has joined ESPN for the event, plus familiar ESPNers Darren Cahill, Mary Carillo, Fernandez, Brad Gilbert, Patrick McEnroe and Pam Shriver, plus Hall of Fame tennis journalist Bud Collins. Shriver will frequently be utilized as a sideline reporter and as a roving reporter covering play in “outer courts”, as will Luke Jensen, and the McEnroes will at times be teamed together to form a sibling booth pairing. In addition, Tom Rinaldi will provide essays and conduct interviews during the first week and Rick Reilly will contribute commentary.
The Tennis Channel coverage is as follows:
The Tennis Channel has their big guns on hand:
Tennis Channel will begin coverage of its first US Open with 72 live match hours, 240 hours of dedicated tournament programming overall, a reporters’ station on top of Armstrong Stadium that overlooks the iconic Unisphere and Court of Champions, wireless roving cameras, round-the-clock coverage and a viewer “Grounds Pass” experience the likes of which has never been seen on television.
Beyond its live, high-definition coverage which, with ESPN2 and CBS, brings more hours of US Open matches to television than ever in history, Tennis Channel will keep viewers in the Flushing Meadow loop 24 hours a day via US Open Tonight and Breakfast at the Open. Like the city that never sleeps, these news, interview, highlight and replay shows will air from 11 p.m.-11 a.m. ET each day of the two-week tournament, and bridge the late-night gap between each day’s on-court play.
Tennis Channel’s typical US Open schedule starts with 11 a.m. ET coverage from Arthur Ashe Stadium or Louis Armstrong Stadium, and follows the action throughout the day until 7 p.m. ET. US Open Tonight begins at 11 p.m. ET and runs through the night until 6 a.m. ET, when Breakfast at the Open carries viewers up to the 11 a.m. ET start of play. The day portion of this schedule changes on Labor Day Weekend when the network carries prime-time matches from center court from 7 p.m.-11 p.m. ET. As with the other three Grand Slams, Tennis Channel will work with ESPN2 to bring fans virtually round-the-clock coverage during the US Open, each network utilizing its own commentators.
