Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Murray & More in Round-Robin for Year-End Championship
The best eight players in men’s tennis will gather in London’s O2 Arena to decide the year-end championship, the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with 30 hours on ESPN3 and the semifinals and final match on ESPN2.
ESPN3 will provide 30 hours of live action of the round-robin event beginning Sunday, Nov. 20, culminating with the semifinals and final. ESPN2 will televise the semifinals on a tape-delayed basis, Sunday, Nov. 27, from 5 – 9 a.m. ET, with the finals aired live at 12:30 p.m. Cliff Drysdale and Brad Gilbert will be courtside to call the action on ESPN2 (with the final simulcast on ESPN3).
The key storylines:
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic will be seeking to secure his 2011 season as the best the sport has ever seen – 69-4 to date with 10 titles
- No. 2 Rafael Nadal seeks his first year-end title, having lost in the final last year
- No. 3 and native son Andy Murray will have the crowd’s full support
- No. 4 and defending champion Roger Federer, has won this event five times and won the most recent two ATP events.
- No. 8 Mardy Fish, the lone American, hopes to put a cap on his best year ever.
The field in London (current ranking in parenthesis):
GROUP A:
(1) Novak Djokovic
(3) Andy Murray
(5) David Ferrer
(7) Tomas Berdych
GROUP B:
(2) Rafael Nadal
(4) Roger Federer
(6) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
(8) Mardy Fish
2011 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals
All live except where noted
| Date | Time (ET) | Event | Network(s) |
| Sun, Nov 20 | 9 – 11 a.m. | Round Robin | ESPN3 |
| 3 – 5 p.m. | Round Robin | ESPN3 | |
| Mon, Nov 21 | 9 – 11 a.m. | Round Robin | ESPN3 |
| 3 – 5 p.m. | Round Robin | ESPN3 | |
| Tue, Nov 22 | 9 – 11 a.m. | Round Robin | ESPN3 |
| 3 – 5 p.m. | Round Robin | ESPN3 | |
| Wed, Nov 23 | 9 – 11 a.m. | Round Robin | ESPN3 |
| 3 – 5 p.m. | Round Robin | ESPN3 | |
| Thur, Nov 24 | 9 – 11 a.m. | Round Robin | ESPN3 |
| 3 – 5 p.m. | Round Robin | ESPN3 | |
| Fri, Nov 25 | 9 – 11 a.m. | Round Robin | ESPN3 |
| 3 – 5 p.m. | Round Robin | ESPN3 | |
| Sat, Nov 26 | 9 – 11:30 a.m. | Semifinal #1 | ESPN3 |
| 3 – 5:30 p.m. | Semifinal #2 | ESPN3 | |
| Sun, Nov 27 | 5 – 9 a.m. | Semifinals (taped) | ESPN2 |
| 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. | Final | ESPN2 and ESPN3 |
ESPN3
ESPN3 is ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network, a 24/7 destination that delivers thousands of global sports events annually and accessible online via WatchESPN.com. It is available to approximately 70 million homes at no cost to fans who receive a high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated provider. The network is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks. It can be accessed on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and on ESPN on Xbox LIVE through an affiliated provider.
ESPN – All Four Slams, All In One Place
Tennis has been part of ESPN since its first week on the air and provided many memorable moments, but it has never been as important as today, with the US Open joining the lineup in 2009, giving ESPN all four Grand Slam events, something no other U.S. network has ever done, let alone in one year. ESPN has presented the Australian Open since 1984, the French Open since 2002 (plus 1986 – 1993), and Wimbledon since 2003, with exclusivity for live television with all other rights extended added in a 12-year agreement starting in 2012.
ESPN debuted September 7, 1979, and the first tennis telecast was exactly one week later, September 14, a Davis Cup tie, Argentina at U.S. from Memphis with Cliff Drysdale on the call and John McEnroe playing.
In addition, broadband network ESPN3, now in nearly 70 million homes, carries thousands of hours of tennis annually, including all four Grand Slam events, plus ATP 1000 and 500 tournaments and WTA Premier Events, usually with additional, exclusive matches. Also, ESPN Classic shows great matches from the past and the sport receives extensive coverage on SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, Spanish-language ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. ESPN 3D aired its first tennis at Wimbledon in 2011.
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