@ESPNTennis at the US Open

Dave Nagle

August 18, 2014

· 100 Hours on TV and WatchESPN; Nearly 400 on ESPN3 from Multiple Courts

· Year’s Final Major: Three Men and Women Have Won One Each, Players of Year Honors Up for Grabs

· Serena to Defend Title Seeking 18^th Major but First of 2014 after Surprising Losses

· Former Champs Djokovic, Federer Lead the Men with Nadal Sidelined

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In a tennis year where three different men and women have each won a Major championship, the biggest stars of the sport come to New York for the US Open with much on the line and ESPN will again provide extensive, multi-platform coverage with 100 hours on television and 400 from up to seven courts on ESPN3 beginning Monday, Aug. 25. Before the action at the year’s final Major begins, ESPN3 will show the draw announcement live from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow, N.Y., on Thursday, Aug. 21, at noon ET.

“We are proud of what we have brought to the US Open for now a sixth year in the U.S. – serving fans with more television hours than ever, all TV courts on ESPN3, online coverage highlighted by Courtcast on ESPN.com, and the best tennis team in the business on both sides of the camera – and we look forward to an exciting event where so much is on the line for the game’s brightest stars,” said Jason Bernstein, ESPN senior director, programming and acquisitions. “We take seriously our role in documenting the sport’s year-long narrative, and while saluting the tremendous work CBS has done for 46 years we’re excited about what lies ahead for fans starting next year.”

ESPN2’s live coverage of the opening Monday night will include a three-song set from Arthur Ashe Stadium by Fitz and the Tantrums. As a lead-in to the group’s performance, a ceremony with1984 US Open champions John McEnroe of ESPN and Martina Navratilova will conclude with them triggering the lighting of New York’s Empire State Building.

Highlights

During the first week of the tournament, the television coverage will start on ESPN at 1 p.m. ET each weekday and will continue nonstop – transitioning to ESPN2 at 6 p.m. (except Tuesday) – for at least 10 hours through both the day and the 7 p.m. Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM sessions until play is concluded.
The second week starts on Labor Day Monday, Sept 1, with Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM at 7 p.m. on ESPN2, followed by more day-long windows Tuesday – Thursday on ESPN, switching to ESPN2 on Wednesday, Sept. 3, at 6 p.m. The Thursday, Sept. 4, afternoon telecast will include a doubles semifinal match to be determined.
ESPN3 will offer nearly 400 hours of action from multiple courts each day ESPN has TV coverage, including an additional seventh court this year during the first week when the action begins each day at 1 p.m.
On Sunday, Sept. 7, ESPN2 will televise live the men’s doubles championship at 12:30 p.m.
Also on Sunday, Sept 7, a special one-hour edition of SportsCenter at the US Open on ESPN2 at 8:30 p.m. will review that day’s women’s championship and preview Monday’s men’s final.

All the action on ESPN and ESPN2 is also available through WatchESPNonline at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the award-winning WatchESPN app, and streamed on televisions through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV to more than 92 million households nationwide via an affiliated video or internet provider.

When ESPN or ESPN2 is on the air, SportsCenter will have the right to cut-in live for updates and key moments. SportsCenter’s daytime edition is on ESPN 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. with later editions from 6 – 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. – midnight. On ESPNEWS, SportsCenter airs from 3 – 6 p.m. and 7 – 11 p.m.

ESPN & the US Open in 2015

In May 2013, ESPN and the USTA announced that ESPN will be the exclusive home in North and South America of the US Open from first ball through the championships each summer from New York beginning in 2015. ESPN has televised approximately 100 hours of live US Open matches annually since 2009, and will air more than 130 hours with the addition of day-long coverage of the “middle weekend” – Saturday, Sunday and Labor Day Monday – plus the men’s and women’s semifinals and finals. The 11-year agreement also includes expanded digital and international rights.

The ESPN Tennis Team, the best tennis team in television, at the US Open:

Darren Cahill, who once reached the US Open semifinals and the Australian Open doubles finals and went on to coach fellow Australian Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi, has worked for ESPN since 2007.
Cliff Drysdale, who was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in July 2013, has been with ESPN since its first tennis telecast in September 1979 (Davis Cup, U.S. vs. Argentina). He reached the US Open finals and is a two-time Wimbledon and French Open semifinalist. Drysdale was a leader on the court – a top player for many years who was one of the first to use a two-hand backhand – and off the court, as the first president of the ATP.
Chrissie Evert, a Hall of Famer who joined ESPN in 2011, counts a record six US Open titles among her innumerable career highlights, including 18 major titles and the best career win-loss record in history.
Mary Joe Fernandez, who played in three Major singles finals and won two Majors in doubles, won a Gold Medal in doubles at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics and a Bronze in singles in 1992. An ESPN analyst since 2000, she leads the United States’ Fed Cup team and coached the 2012 U.S. women’s Olympic team.
Chris Fowler, who joined ESPN in 1986, has hosted College GameDay on football Saturdays since 1990 and tennis since 2003, the year of ESPN’s first Wimbledon, branching out over the years to also call matches. His diverse resume includes hosting World Cup soccer, college basketball including the Final Four, the X Games and Triple Crown horse racing events. Originally the host of Scholastic Sports America and later a SportsCenter anchor, in 2014 he becomes the lead play caller on ABC’s Saturday night college football, including the new championship game.
Brad Gilbert, whose flair and unique nicknames for players has enlivened ESPN’s tennis telecasts since 2004, parlayed his playing career – once reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open and at Wimbledon – into coaching Andre Agassi (six Major titles with Brad), Andy Roddick (US Open victory) and Andy Murray.
LZ Granderson, a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine (and formerly a tennis editor) and ESPN.com who has covered the sport for years, will provide his perspective in reports and features. He often appears on SportsCenter, Outside the Lines and other ESPN programs addressing a variety of topics. He also is a contributor to CNN and CNN.com and has previously worked at the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
John McEnroe won four US Open crowns – plus three at Wimbledon – during his storied career, which included 10 more major championships in doubles or mixed doubles. He also led the U.S. to four Davis Cup titles and won the NCAA’s while attending Stanford. He has worked for ESPN since 2009.
Patrick McEnroe, who has worked for ESPN since 1995, was the U.S. Davis Cup captain 2001-2010 and in 2007 the team won its first championship since 1995. A three-time singles All-American at Stanford – where the team won NCAA titles in 1986 and 1988 – he is General Manager, USTA Elite Player Development. He won the 1992 French Open doubles title and reached the 1991 Australian Open semifinals in singles.
Chris McKendry, a SportsCenter anchor since joining ESPN in 1996, has hosted ESPN telecasts from all four tennis Majors. She attended Drexel University on a tennis scholarship.
Tom Rinaldi will serve as a reporter and will call matches. His features and interviews have graced a wide variety of ESPN programs – including SportsCenter, Outside the Lines, E:60 and event telecasts such as Wimbledon, golf’s Majors, college football and more – since 2003, winning numerous Sports Emmy Awards.
Pam Shriver, who started working for ESPN in 1990, long before her Hall of Fame career ended, played in the US Open finals at age 16 (losing to Evert) and won 21 Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles (another in Mixed) including five at the US Open plus a Gold Medal in doubles at the 1988 Olympics.
Hannah Storm joined ESPN in 2008 as a SportsCenter anchor and will host telecasts; she also hosts Breakfast at Wimbledon. Previously, she spent five years with CBS’ The Morning Show and for NBC Sports hosted a variety of sports, including Wimbledon. She was a producer on two ESPN Films tennis projects: the 2010 documentary Unmatched reviewing the rivalry and friendship between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, and Venus Vs. in 2013 about Venus Williams and her fight for gender equity in prize money.
Mike Tirico, the voice of ESPN’s Monday Night Football since 2006 and the network’s golf host, will again anchor telecasts and call matches, as he also does at Wimbledon. After joining ESPN as a SportsCenter anchor in 1991, Tirico has handled a wide variety of assignments in the studio and in play-by-play, on TV and on ESPN Radio, including the NFL, NBA, World Cup Soccer plus college football and basketball.

Surveying the Fields

After three Majors in 2014, three different men – Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – and three different women – Li Na, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova – have won a Grand Slam title, leaving Player of the Year honors very much up for grabs on both sides. Nadal and Li will miss the US Open due to injury.

MEN

The “Big Four” of men’s tennis – Roger Federer (17 career major wins), Rafael Nadal (14), Novak Djokovic (7) and Andy Murray (2) – have won 36 of the last 38 Majors (that’s over nine years) and comprise 30 of the last 32 Major finalists and 58 of the last 68.
Djokovic has appeared in the final four straight years, winning in 2011, but the world’s top-ranked player is only 2-2 since capturing his second Wimbledon trophy last month.
Federer is 33 and it’s six years since the most recent of his five US Open victories, but he has reached the final of his last four events, including Wimbledon and winning Sunday’s championship in Cincinnati.
Murray, who broke through for his first Major title at the US Open in 2012 and reached the quarters a year ago, has shown inconsistent play since back surgery last fall.
Other leading contenders: Stan Wawrinka, who won the his first Major in Australia; Tomas Berdych, a 2012 US Open semifinalist; tireless 32-year old David Ferrer, who has reached at least the quarters in 13 events this year including Australia and Paris; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the recent winner in Toronto; and a pair of 23-year olds long heralded as stars-to-be who each reached their first Major semifinal at Wimbledon: Canadian Milos Raonic (who won this month in Washington, D.C.) and Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.

WOMEN

Two-time defending champion Serena Williams is ranked No. 1 but has not reached the quarterfinals of a Major this year. A victory would be her 18th Major, tying her with legends Chrissie Evert and Martina Navratilova and would tie Evert with six US Open championships. Since Wimbledon, her play this summer – victories in Stanford and Cincinnati and the semis in Montreal – has been vintage. Many believe she must win in New York to salvage her year, given her status and expectations.
The 2006 US Open champion Maria Sharapova leads the WTA in 2014 points and won her second French Open.
Ranked No. 47 at the conclusion of 2012, Simona Halep has emerged as a top player, winning eight tournaments in the last 18 months, reaching the final of this year’s French Open, and ranking No. 2 in year-to-date WTA points.
Two-time champion Venus Williams (2001, 2000) – despite illness and now at age 34 – is again the second-ranked American at No. 20 with a title in Dubai, giving Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova her toughest test of the tournament, and making the final recently in Montreal, defeating her sister along the way.
Two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka hopes to rebound for year-long foot problems in New York where she is a two-time finalist.
Eugenie Bouchard, the 20-year old Canadian, has reached the semis or better at all three Majors this year, although her performance the rest of the year has not matched that level.
Others with the firepower to go deep: Agnieszka Radwanska recently won in Montreal, Petra Kvitova delivered an impressive performance winning a second Wimbledon title, former No. 1 players Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki have enjoyed resurgent seasons capped by a strong summer; and 21-year-old American Sloane Stephens reached the fourth round a year ago.

DIGITAL MEDIA, AT HOME AND ABROAD; INTERNATIONAL TV; ESPN DEPORTES; ESPN CLASSIC

ESPN3, the company’s live multi-screen sports network, will once again cover the action around the grounds with nearly 400 hours from up to seven courts on the days ESPN has television coverage. ESPN3 carries every major global tennis event on the men’s and women’s circuit, including all four Majors, every ATP World Tour 500 and ATP Masters 1000 event, WTA Premier events and the season-ending championship of both tours.

ESPN.comwill have previews, reviews, analysis, the latest news, polls, videos and more:

Courtcast: One-stop shopping for the fan who wants to keep up on the action while on the go as well as get involved in the social media conversation. As a multi-tool application with live events via the ESPN3 syndicated player, it provides all-court scoring, match stats, “Scribble Live” conversations, poll questions that are discussed on television, a rolling Twitter feed with the latest from the ESPN commentators and a scrolling bottom line.
Five Things We Learned: Video series reviewing the top five storylines of the day
60-Second Slice: The key news of the day, in a one-minute video.
Open Book: A daily notebook wrapping up the best and worst of the day
Digital Serve: Daily original videos previewing the next day
Baseline Buzz: Greg Garber, Melissa Isaacson and Matt Wilansky weigh in on the hottest topics with a daily, written, roundtable discussion.
Center Court: Weekly video show highlighting the best and the worst.
Tech it out: Latest technology news, including Roger Federer’s new racket (text and video).
At this minute video update: Instant analysis off an exciting match or preview into the night session.

espnW.com

Complete analysis of the women’s draw when it is announced Thursday, Aug. 21.
Melissa Isaacson and Jane McManus will provide on-site coverage for espnW.com (and ESPN.com), including daily columns and analysis of matches.
Daily espnW.com analysis segments.
Weekly video reports from The Word, discussing play to date.

ESPN Interactive TV will be presented on DIRECTV and ESPN3. During the ESPN2 telecast windows for the first five days, a six-screen mosaic will include the ESPN2 program, along with matches with commentary from five other courts. In total, viewers will have access to more than 435 hours of live tennis action and 140 extra matches. Production will be enhanced with press conferences, interviews and features that will be added during court changeovers and between matches. All six screens can be expanded to full screen or picture-in-picture at the touch of the remote button. In addition, DIRECTV will offer “Matches On Now,” a graphic across the bottom with scores from each of the matches currently on the court channels, with the ability to tune directly to the match, and “Results,” an instant look at real-time scores and schedule info for matches ahead – all without leaving the match the viewer is watching.

ESPN International will offer extensive coverage in high definition via its many regional services throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, including first ball to the final in English on the ESPN Caribbean network totaling 140 hours. In Spanish-speaking Latin America, multiple feeds from the US Open will total 160 hours of action, while the two ESPN networks in Brazil will combine for 190 live hours. Veterans Luis Alvarez and Eduardo Varela will provide the Spanish play-by-play alongside analysts Javier Frana and Jose Luis Clerc who both played in the US Open. In Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, an anchor desk in New York will be manned by reporters Nicolas Pereira, Martin Urruty and Carolina Guillen. In addition, ESPN Argentina and ESPN Brasil will have reporters on site conducting interviews and producing daily features for SportsCenter and ESPN’s complete line-up of daily news and information shows. Online, Latin America’s broadband service, ESPN Play (Watch ESPN in Brazil) will feature more than 500 hours of live streaming which will include up to seven tennis courts in separate windows. A daily recap, ESPiaNdo, hosted by Varela and Alvarez, will include highlights and analysis on the Latin American ESPN.com.

ESPN Deportes will provide the latest from the US Open on ESPN Deportes TV and Radio news and information shows, with comprehensive coverage across its digital platforms in the U.S. ESPN Deportes+ – the brand’s broadband channel available via ESPN3 and ESPNDeportes.com – will present live coverage of select matches including the singles quarterfinals for both men and women and the Men’s Doubles Championship. ESPNdeportes.com will provide the latest highlights, news, analysis and information every day. The web series ESPiaNdo will also return with daily recaps and analysis from the experts.

ESPN Classic: Great US Open Matches from the Past

Each day this week from 7 a.m. – 6 p.m., ESPN Classic will televise great US Open matches from the past, ending Friday, Aug. 22, with the 2012 finals – Serena Williams vs. Victoria Azarenka at 2 p.m. and Andy Murray vs. Novak Djokovic at 4 p.m. Other highlights include:

The oldest matches on the schedule are victories by John McEnroe in 1980 – a semifinal vs. Jimmy Connors and the final against Bjorn Borg – on Thursday, Aug. 21, at 1 and 4 p.m.
Andre Agassi’s emotional farewell to the US Open – a 2006 third-round match against Benjamin Becker – will be aired Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 11 a.m.
The Williams Sisters met in a Grand Slam event final for the first time in New York in 2001, with Venus taking the title, and it will be aired Wednesday, Aug. 20, at 9 a.m.
Juan Martin Del Potro’s victory in the 2009 final over Roger Federer – one of only two Major championships won by someone outside the ATP’s “big four” in the last 38 events – will be seen Thursday, Aug. 21 at 7 a.m.

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 in a 12-year agreement starting in 2012. Exclusivity for the US Open in an 11-year agreement begins in 2015. ESPN3 delivers an unmatched multi-screen presentation of the sport’s four majors, all ATP 1000 and 500 tournaments, WTA Premier Events and season-ending championships for both tours.

ESPN / ESPN2 & US Open 2014

Date	Time (ET)	Event	Network
Mon Aug 25	1 p.m.	US Open Early Rounds	ESPN
	6 p.m.	US Open Early Rounds	ESPN2
Tue Aug 26	1 p.m.	US Open Early Rounds	ESPN
Wed Aug 27	1 p.m.	US Open Early Rounds	ESPN
	6 p.m.	US Open Early Rounds	ESPN2
Thur Aug 28	1 p.m.	US Open Early Rounds	ESPN
	6 p.m.	US Open Early Rounds	ESPN2
Fri Aug 29	1 p.m.	US Open Early Rounds	ESPN
	6 p.m.	US Open Early Rounds	ESPN2

Mon Sep 1	7 p.m.	US Open Round of 16	ESPN2
Tue Sep 2	11 a.m.	US Open Men’s Round of 16 / Women’s Quarterfinals	ESPN
Wed Sep 3	Noon	US Open Quarterfinals	ESPN
	6 p.m.	US Open Quarterfinals	ESPN2
Thur Sep 4	Noon	US Open Men’s Quarterfinals	ESPN
	8 p.m.	US Open Men’s Quarterfinal	ESPN
Sun Sep 7	12:30 p.m.	US Open Men’s Doubles Championship	ESPN2
	8:30 p.m.	*SportsCenter at the US Open*	ESPN2