•    250 Hours from Three Events (one combined ATP/WTA) in Two Weeks
•    All Three Men’s Championships Live on ESPN3
•    No. 1 Djokovic Defending Two Titles with Small Points Lead over Federer; Nadal Returns to Action
•    With Li Retired, Serena Ailing & Azarenka Sidelined, an Opportunity for Others
•    Slots up for Grabs in ATP, WTA Year-End Finals

ESPN3 will have an extensive schedule of daily tennis from three events across two weeks, Sunday, Sept. 28 – Sunday, Oct. 12 – the ATP/WTA China Open in Beijing and the ATP Rakutan Japan Open Tennis Championships from Tokyo starting Sunday, Sept. 28, and the ATP Shanghai Rolex Masters Sunday, Oct. 5 – Sunday, Oct. 12.

These are a particularly important two weeks in the year’s points race for the men, with two 500 points-level events followed by a Masters 1000-level tournament, including the much-anticipated return of Rafael Nadal, sidelined by injury since Wimbledon.  To date, only three players have secured a spot in the year-end ATP Finals in London, an eight-player round robin:  Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, with this year’s two first-time Major champions Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic on the brink of qualifying.

On the women’s side, there is great opportunity for players to grab important points, given the retirement of Li Na and Serena Williams’ uncertain status, withdrawing mid-match due to illness this week in Wuhan – plus Victoria Azarenka’s announcement that injuries will keep her out of action the remainder of the year.  To date, only three players have qualified for the WTA Finals in Singapore, also an eight-player round robin:  Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep.

Looking ahead, ESPN3 will have week-long daily live coverage of two ATP 500-level events Monday, Oct. 20 through the championships Sunday, Oct. 26 – the Swiss Indoors Basel from Switzerland and the Valencia Open from Spain.

ATP and WTA China Open
•    National Tennis Center, Beijing.  Hard court, outdoors.
•    83 live hours on ESPN3.
•    Action starts late Sunday, Sept. 28, 12:30 a.m. ET – 11 a.m.;
•    Generally airs late-night (12:30 a.m.; 9:30 p.m. PT) and early morning ET.
•    Men’s championship:  Sunday, Oct. 5, at 7:30 a.m. ET.
•    Defending Champions:  Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams
•    Men’s Field:  Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Tomas Berdych, Grigor Dimitrov, Ernests Gulbis, Richard Gasquet, John  Isner and US Open winner Marin Cilic.
•    Women’s Field:  Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Agnieszka Radwanska, Maria Sharapova, Angelique Kerber, Genie Bouchard, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki, plus Americans Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys, Coco Vandeweghe, Christina McHale and Alison Riske.

ATP Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships
•    Ariake Colosseum, Tokyo.  Hard court, retractable roof.
•    Site of the tennis competition at the 2020 Olympics.
•    48 live hours on ESPN3
•    Action daily starting Sunday, Sept. 28, 10 p.m. – 7 a.m.
•    Airs at 10 p.m. daily until Friday, Oct. 3, with the semifinals at 11 p.m.
•    Championship:  late Saturday, Oct. 4 at 1 a.m. Sunday (Saturday at 10 p.m. PT)
•    Defending Champion:  Juan Martin Del Potro (will miss 2014 event due to injury)
•    Field:  Stan Wawrinka, David Ferrer, Milos Raonic, Jo-Wilfried  Tsonga, US Open finalist Kei Nishikori plus Americans Donald Young, Steve Johnson and Jack Sock.

ATP Shanghai Rolex Masters
•    Qizhong Tennis Center, Shanghai.  Hard court, outdoors.
•    115 live hours on ESPN3, including action from two courts simultaneously, Stadium and Grandstand.
•    Action starts late Sunday, Oct. 5 at 1 a.m. (10 p.m. PT)
•    Generally airs at 1 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. ET.
•    Championship:  Sunday, Oct. 12, at 4:30 a.m.
•    Defending Champion:  Novak Djokovic
•    Field:  the entire current top 10 in the rankings (Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, Wawrinka, Cilic, Nishikori, Ferrer, Berdych, Raonic, Dimitrov), plus Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and John Isner.

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.

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