Tennis Channel

NOVAK DJOKOVIC’S FIRST MATCH SINCE SHUTDOWN WILL BE LIVE ON TENNIS CHANNEL THIS WEEKEND

June 12, 2020 By admin

WORLD NO. 1 NOVAK DJOKOVIC’S FIRST MATCH SINCE SHUTDOWN WILL BE LIVE ON TENNIS CHANNEL THIS WEEKEND

Network’s 2020 (Re)Open Tour Adds Djokovic’s Adria Tour Stop in Serbia, Other Events in France and the Czech Republic During the Next WeekMen’s and Women’s Stars Set to Play on Tennis Channel Include Dominic Thiem (Men’s World No. 3), Karolina Pliskova (Women’s World No. 3), Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 6), Alexander Zverev (No. 7), Matteo Berrettini (No. 8), David Goffin (No. 10), Petra Kvitova (No. 12) and Marketa Vondrousova (No. 18) LOS ANGELES, June 11, 2020 – Tennis Channel’s 2020 (Re)Open Tour will be the home of World No. 1 Novak Djokovic this weekend, when he plays his first match since the March suspension of professional tennis in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The 17-time major-singles champion is scheduled to compete Saturday, June 13, in Belgrade, Serbia, live on the network. It is the first day in Djokovic’s Adria Tour, a series of weekend exhibitions in the Balkan region in June and July. It is also among several live competitions on Tennis Channel beginning June 13, including two other weekend events and another that begins Monday. Since early May, the 2020 Re(Open) Tour has shown four live events as professionally ranked tour players gradually take to the courts again for a series of exhibitions and prize-money challenges. Within the next four days it will double that number, including three competitions that are underway Saturday, June 13, alone. In addition to Djokovic’s Adria Tour, Tennis Channel will offer live coverage of the women’s Tipsport Charity Cup in Prague and the men’s Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Cannes, France. All three take place on the weekend of June 13-14, debut rounds before they unfold during the next few weeks. Further, Monday, June 15, will see the start of the Eastern European Championship, also in Belgrade and scheduled to roll out over several weeks. Tennis Channel will have live coverage of the competition (schedule for all events below). Steve Weissman (@Steve_Weissman) and Noah Eagle (@NoahEagle15) will handle play-by-play duties for Tennis Channel this weekend, paired with Hall of Famer Lindsay Davenport (@LDavenport76) and coach Paul Annacone (@paul_annacone), respectively. With Monday’s competition comes the partnership of announcer Ari Wolfe and former player and analyst Jan-Michael Gambill (@JanmikeGambill). Tennis Channel Plus, the network’s streaming service, will offer all matches on-demand following live play. Tennis Channel International will show the Adria Tour, Tipsport Charity Cup and Eastern European Championship live and on-demand. Competition organizers will observe strict safety protocols at all venues in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Adria Tour – June 13-14, June 20-21, June 27-28, July 3-4 Based in Belgrade, Serbia, and Zadar, Croatia, the eight-man round-robin event features three of men’s tennis’ top-10 stars: Djokovic (No. 1), Dominic Thiem (No. 3) and Alexander Zverev (No. 7). Live coverage on Tennis Channel begins each day at 7 a.m. ET. Tipsport Charity Cup – June 13-15, June 29-July 1, July 11-13, July 25-27 All matches will take place in the Czech Republic, in Prague and Prostejov. Two teams of five women will play three singles matches and one doubles match against each other every day of the event. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova (No. 12) headlines one squad, with 2016 US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova (No. 3) leading the other, alongside Marketa Vondrousova (No. 18). Tennis Channel Plus will begin each day’s live competition at 6 a.m. ET before the matches shift to Tennis Channel at 8 a.m. ET. Ultimate Tennis Showdown – June 13-14, June 20-21, June 27-28, July 4-5, July 11-12 Near Cannes, France, at the training academy of famed coach Patrick Mouratoglou, five matches will be played every Saturday and Sunday for several weeks, featuring another roster with the biggest names in men’s tennis. Among them are Stafanos Tsitsipas (No. 7), Matteo Berrettini (No. 8) and David Goffin (No. 10). Following an initial round-robin schedule, players move on to a single-elimination knockout stage. Tennis Channel’s live coverage begins at 3 p.m. each day. Eastern European Championship – June 15-July 26 Six weeks of men’s and women’s tennis will get started next week at the Tipsarevic Academy in Belgrade, under the guidance of retired player Janko Tipsarevic. The event boasts an extensive field – 70 men and women are planning to compete – including, in the latter stages of the event, wild card Marin Cilic, who won the 2014 US Open. Live coverage on Tennis Channel begins at 6 a.m. Tennis Channel (www.tennischannel.com), which is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, is the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle. A hybrid of comprehensive sports, health, fitness, pop culture, entertainment, lifestyle and travel programming, the network is home to every aspect of the wide-ranging, worldwide tennis community. It also has the most concentrated single-sport coverage in television, with telecast rights at the US Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros (French Open), Australian Open, ATP World Tour events, WTA competitions, Fed Cup, Laver Cup and the ATP Cup. Tennis Channel is carried by all of the top 10 video providers. About Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. Sinclair is a diversified media company and leading provider of local sports and news. The Company owns and/or operates 23 regional sports network brands; owns, operates and/or provides services to 191 television stations in 89 markets; is a leading local news provider in the country; owns multiple national networks; and has TV stations affiliated with all the major broadcast networks. Sinclair’s content is delivered via multiple platforms, including over-the-air, multi-channel video program distributors, and digital platforms. The Company regularly uses its website as a key source of Company information which can be accessed at www.sbgi.net. # # #

TENNIS CHANNEL’S NIGHTLY WIMBLEDON PRIMETIME COVERAGE BEGINS JUNE 27

June 27, 2016 By admin

Network Dedicates More Than 200 Total Hours to Wimbledon Primetime,

with 85 First-Run Match Hours

Hall of Famers Martina Navratilova, Jim Courier, Lindsay Davenport and Tracy Austin Join Bill Macatee, Mary Carillo, Justin Gimelstob, Paul Annacone and Jon Wertheim for Tennis Channel’s Ninth Year at Wimbledon

LOS ANGELES, June 21, 2016 -Tennis Channel will broadcast its ninth straight year of Wimbledon Primetime beginning on the tournament’s Opening Day, Monday, June 27. The network will dedicate more than 200 hours to the event during its three-and-half hour evening show. The program will air every night of the two-week tournament, with encores following immediately, and run throughout the night and into the morning. Tennis Channel will televise 85 first-run Wimbledon Primetime hours in 2016, scheduled to begin the first night of the competition at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Based in the largest on-site studio on the grounds of the historic event, Wimbledon Primetime will feature the incomparable commentary of lead analysts and Hall of Famers Martina Navratilova (@Martina) and Jim Courier. They are joined by fellow Hall of Famers Tracy Austin (@thetracyaustin) and Lindsay Davenport (@LDavenport76). Combined, the women have won a total of 23 Wimbledon Grand Slam titles across singles, doubles and mixed doubles. In addition, Former Wimbledon mixed doubles semifinalist and Coach Justin Gimelstob (@justingimelstob), and legendary coach Paul Annacone (@paul_annacone), who is known for his guidance of the sport’s all-time best in Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, and more recently with American star Sloane Stephens, will also be a part of the on-air team.

Lead-host Bill Macatee (@BMacatee) has been with the show since its inception in 2008 and returns with his free-flowing conversational approach. He will be joined by fellow host Mary Carillo who will also provide analytic segments, panel discussions and special features throughout the tournament. Along with Macatee and Carillo,Sports Illustrated executive editor and senior writer Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) will contribute analysis and in-depth essays in his distinctive storytelling style as the tournament progresses. The show provides a nightly look of the day’s action, relaying the biggest news, expert analysis and encore matches from the legendary grass courts of the All England Lawn and Tennis Club. Wimbledon Primetime offers American tennis fans, which are typically at work during live play, a centralized destination for everything that happens at the London-based tournament.

Wimbledon Primetime generally runs in two editions each night of the two-week tournament, from 4:30 p.m.-8 p.m. ET and 8 p.m.-11:30 p.m. ET. Heading into the first weekend and second week of the event broadcast times vary slightly, but normally air during the late afternoon Eastern Time. In addition, Tennis Channel will devote seven-and-a-half hours to the All England Lawn and Tennis Club’s highlights program throughout the tournament. This will air 3 a.m-3:30 a.m. the first week of the tournament, Tuesday, June 28-Saturday, July 2, and then from 5 a.m-6 a.m. ET onSunday, July 3. The second week will feature four hour-long shows, in the early mornings Eastern Time, between Wimbledon Primetime encore broadcasts. For a complete schedule of all Wimbledon coverageplease visit: http://tennischannel.com/tv-schedule/daily-view/.

Tennis Channel will continue with its Grand Slam Staple Racquet Bracket: Wimbledonfor the second year. Premiering live Friday, June 24, 8 p.m. ET. The show will look into the Wimbledon draw, featuring 1999 Wimbledon doubles champion Corina Morariu along with commentators James Blake (@jrblake), Steve Weissman (@steve_weissman) and Leif Shiras (@lshirock), assessing the many variables and surprises that could come into play at tennis’ most historic tournament.

Leading up to the tournament, Tennis Channel will air multiple classic Wimbledon matches. In addition, digital subscription service Tennis Channel Plus will air five of the most historic Wimbledon matches in recent memory ahead of the tournament. These include: Bjorn Borg vs. John McEnroe, 1980; Steffi Graf vs. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 1995; Lindsay Davenport vs. Venus Williams, 2005; Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal, 2008; Roger Federer vs. Andy Roddick, 2009.

During Wimbledon, Apple and Android users can access Tennis Channel’s Tennis Channel Everywhere app for free, regardless of whether they currently subscribe to the network. The app offers daily updates, highlights, Court Report news, instruction clips and player Bag Check segments. Most viewers who subscribe to the network through a pay-TV provider are able to watch the channel live through their mobile devices whenever and wherever they want, through a TV Everywhere function, at no extra cost. Tennis Channel’s website will host extra content, including “Racquet Bracket,” the network’s free tournament prediction game. Players can get an inside take from Tennis Channel’s analysts during the new Wimbledon draw preview show, Racquet Bracket: Wimbledon. Also, longtime tennis reporter Steve Flink will contribute columns, which will be filed regularly to the Tennis Channel website,www.tennischannel.com.

For more content, Tennis Channel’s social media platforms will offer a multi-platform experience for viewers to stay engaged across the entirety of the tournament. To connect with Tennis Channel, visit: Facebook (www.facebook.com/tennischannel), Twitter (www.twitter.com/tennischannel), YouTube (www.youtube.com/tennischannel), Instagram (http://instagram.com/tennischannel) and Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/tennischannel).

Tennis Channel To Show Both French Open Men’s Semifinals Live Friday Morning

June 4, 2015 By admin

Network Adds Novak Djokovic Versus Andy Murray Semifinal to Already Planned Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Stan Wawrinka Battle

LOS ANGELES, June 4, 2015 – Tennis Channel has added live coverage of the second men’s semifinal match – Novak Djokovic versus Andy Murray – to its French Open lineup. It will air directly after Tennis Channel’s already planned live coverage of the first men’s semifinal of Stan Wawrinka versus Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at 7 a.m. ET. The Djokovic-Murray match will also be televised as originally planned on NBC.

Tennis Channel’s on-air talent for the first semifinal match includes announcer Bill Macatee and analysts Jim Courier and Justin Gimelstob. Martina Navratilova and Paul Annacone will join Bill Macatee in the booth as analysts for the second men’s semifinal. Immediately following the conclusion of Tennis Channel’s live men’s semifinals coverage, the network will re-air both matches.

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TRANSCRIPT — Tennis Channel Martina Navratilova Conference Call – 5-20-15

May 21, 2015 By admin

On Wednesday May 20 from 3:00-3:45 pm ET Tennis Channel held a media conference call with Martina Navratilova in which the Tennis Channel analyst discussed the 2015 French Open and other topics from the world of tennis.

An Interview With: MARTINA NAVRATILOVA

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by Martina Navratilova.

Q. There’s a lot of increased scrutiny of late for even for minor tournaments. Time was that there was almost no attention paid to them and all attention was paid to the majors. And do you think that that scrutiny on these tune ups heightens the stakes for when the majors come out, like Roland Garros?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: I’m not sure I understand the question. You’re saying there’s too much media attention on the Grand Slams and not on anything else?

Q. No, I think when you were playing tennis, there wasn’t a lot of attention, media attention they didn’t broadcast minor tennis events.
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: No, it’s the other way around. It’s the other way around, actually. In my opinion we had, it was the Tour that really buttressed the Grand Slams and certainly the players, we didn’t even play some Grand Slams because the Tour was the more important bit of the calendar. And it was only really in the late, maybe, ’80s and the ’90s that the Grand Slams became so powerful and players would schedule their whole year around slams. Nobody would even think of missing a slam now.
And those are the four big focal points of the year, whereas in my time it was Wimbledon and U.S. Open and the Tour as a whole and then the year ending championships was the third biggest tournament of the year. So I think the media did pay attention to the other tournaments and certainly the players were thinking that the other tournaments were more important, perhaps, than they are now.

Q. And why was that?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Why? Because there was more prize money in the regular tournaments than Grand Slams. Once the Grand Slams got bigger and got more money, more people paid attention to where the money is, basically. And also more worldwide television rights and media attention and all that.
So one kind of followed the other. I’m not sure what came first, the chicken and the egg thing, but we would get more money for, I think the prize money at the year end championships was like twice as much and that was for one week than what you would get in a Grand Slam for two weeks. You can do some research on the prize money, but it was a lot more on the regular tour.
I made more money winning a tournament in Dallas, Virginia Slims of Dallas, than I would at a Grand Slam than I would Wimbledon. When I won Wimbledon in ’78 I got, I think, $20,000 for winning it.

Q. I suppose, Martina, that the focal point coming into the French Open is the prospects of Rafa Nadal. What have you seen this year in Rafa, what is he lacking that he hasn’t in the past and has age finally taken its toll on him?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: I don’t know how much of it is I think it’s a little bit of everything. He seems to me a little bit less physically looking imposing. And I don’t know if it’s just my imagination. Just doesn’t seem to be as muscular as he was five or six years ago.
But he’s still in the prime of his physical life, maybe he trains differently maybe because of his injuries he can’t train as hard as he used to, but not sure.
Most of all I think it’s the other players are playing better and hitting a lot more top spin on the ball, hitting the ball harder, which does not give him the time to run around his backhand and dictate with the forearm, he has to kind of be more in the middle of the court.
He can’t park himself on the right side of the court. And also by his own admission, he gets more nervous now. And when he does get more nervous, his forehand goes shorter. Even when he does get to hit the forehand, he doesn’t hit it as deep, with as much, with as much depth and maybe power.
I’m not sure. You would have to kind of figure out the revolutions per minute. But I would bet dollars to donuts that the other players are using more spin than they did two years ago, 10 years ago, certainly. So that could be a combination of everything.

Q. Was his effectiveness on clay a factor of how much top spin he could put on the ball and the fact that the ball dug in so great?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: His movement and the top spin, yeah. Because of the top spin, players had a hard time attacking it and getting on top of the ball. And once they get on the defense, it was really hard to get off it. And his unbelievable speed around the court.

Q. But do you still think he’s anywhere near the prime of his career at this point?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, it could be that he’s just having a bad year or bad six months, whatever. We don’t know if he’s 100 percent healthy because only he knows that and his team.
So people tend to write people off too soon I think in my opinion. I mean, Roger Federer said himself, until Rafa loses at the French he still has to be a favorite. You can’t just throw out the last 10 years based on the last few months.
But certainly he’s, I’m sure, feeling most vulnerable. And he’s looking most vulnerable. And that gives the other guys confidence when they play him. Before it was, like, I don’t want to get embarrassed playing Rafa and now they think they have a chance. That’s a huge edge to them. Now he’s forced to play even better to beat the same guy.
So it’s kind of a nasty spiral that happens. But I still wouldn’t write him off. I mean, you can’t. You just cannot. Three out of five is a different animal as well. It’s harder to keep up that kind of intensity and physical play that it takes to beat Rafa over three out of five sets as opposed to two out of three and gives him some room for his own game as well.

Q. I know we don’t have a draw yet, but who do you favor as winning on the men’s side and the women’s side in singles?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: I think so much will depend on the draw in both of these. But particularly on the men’s side, with Rafa, I believe he’s ranked 7. So he could be playing these top three players in the quarters as opposed to the semis or finals.
That makes it difficult for whosever quarter he lands in and everything else how it plays out as well. Andy Murray now is looking like one of the favorites as well. Novak obviously is a huge favorite to win the event. But I’m sure that he’s not thinking that way, not yet. Not as long as Rafael Nadal is in the tournament.
So it’s really going to depend on who gets hot and how the draw plays out. The same time you only have to play seven guys. You don’t have to play everybody. But still the draw may dictate a lot in how the conditions are, the balls are pretty light. But conditions can get heavy.
So all of that will play out and that’s the beauty of it. We really don’t know. But all in all, if you just look at how this year has played out, Djokovic, it would be hard to, again, bet against Djokovic. And the same thing on the women’s side, Serena Williams, even though she’s had a odd run up to the French. In years past, the run up the Grand Slam really had nothing to do with how she did at that Grand Slam.
So you still have to go with the world’s number one Novak and Serena.

Q. Can you tell me what you miss from the era that you played tennis, what you miss on the tennis scene now?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: It’s just a different time. You get the pluses and minuses. I do miss more of the clash of styles.
There was more variety in styles with the typical baseliner and the all court players and then the more of the serve and volleyers, attacking players. It’s now a more homogenous look, but at the same time on the women’s side particularly I see more variety than they’ve had five years ago, 10 years ago. The guys have been there for a while.
But the women, I think, were more homogenous in that, for example, I keep going back to the final between Kuznetsova and Dementieva in the 2004 U.S. Open final. And I think there was one volley, one drop shot and three slices the whole match.
And now, you know, you get that in one rally. So you have a lot more variety with the actual play, which makes it more fun. I think the spectators are in for better treats nowadays with more variety.
People still play similarly but there’s more variety within that.

Q. Still play similarly to when you were playing
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: No, no, they play similar to each other. They play similar style. More of a I mean, there are two basic styles. Ones that really try to play big babe tennis, as Mary Carillo calls it, and then there are the counter puncher’s. But within the big babe tennis you see a lot more people using slices and coming into the net, putting the volley away. And same with the counter punchers, now they just don’t play defense, if they can get on offense they will do so.
And again a lot more slices, a lot more drop shots. You see Maria Sharapova, she’s hitting drop hands from the backhand and the forehand. She never hit a drop shot 10 years ago, now she uses it very well.

Q. She hits them from the baseline.
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Drop shots are usually hit from the baseline. But she’s usually in an offensive position so she plays them at the right time. And she’s hitting between volley. You won’t see chip and charge, but you will see her, as soon as she hits a deep, good ball, she’ll move in to see if she can knock off the next ball in the air, but she’ll hit swinging volleys rather than punch volleys that we used to hit. But still hitting volleys.

Q. Were you asked about Maria Sharapova in general and what you think her chances are coming in?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Well, obviously great. And they’re always improved when she well, with Maria, obviously it’s a case whether she has to play Serena Williams or not because she hasn’t beat her in 10 years. But she’s been the best clay court player the last three years, except she hadn’t been able to beat Serena, but she’s beaten everybody else and has the most consistent record on clay than everybody. So she has to be one of the favorites. But it always comes with a caveat what happens if she plays Serena? Serena particularly now is kind of an unknown because of the run up that she’s had, not really finishing tournaments or didn’t finish two and one she lost in the semis. So it’s hard to tell.
But Serena always comes out playing her best tennis in the slams. So, yeah, absolutely Maria has to be one of the favorites. She must be pretty well after Rome, kept playing better and better tennis. Although, also the matches were pretty close, particularly the semifinal in Rome. Could have gone either way.

Q. What is it with her and Serena, do you think how much of it is mental and how much of it is just her game, and what do you think she would have to do to finally overcome Serena if they were to meet at the end there?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: She would have to serve extremely well, because that’s what Serena always has on, all things being equal, which they’re not; but Serena serves, wins so many more points off her serve, whereas with Maria the serve has been more of a it’s either neutral or it can even be a negative for her starting the points against Serena.
So she needs to serve really well. But she has been serving better in Rome, particularly she was hitting her second serve in the high 90s, her second serve was coming in.
So she was getting on the offense with her second serve, never mind the first serve. But Serena does everything a little bit better than Maria or some things a lot better, the serving is a lot better.
And the ground stroke she can now sustain a rally, 10 shots, 20 shots, and then go for the when she goes for the jugular she hits it just a little bit harder than Maria.
And Maria’s foot speed hurts her against Serena. She’s gotten so much better. She’s quick enough against most players. But she can’t defend as well. Serena defends better than Maria if she has to. And her foot speed is better around the court. And that hurts Maria. She needs to be on offense. But with Serena she has a hard time getting on offense because Serena tees off so early in the rally, whether the serve or return of serve.
And also Serena, clearly, plays her best Sundays against Maria Sharapova. She totally rises to the occasion where she might be a bit listless against other opponents or maybe give them a set, maybe not the match, but give them a set. With Maria, she doesn’t give away points, never mind sets. She’s always fired up. You can see how badly both of them want it.

Q. In following up on that, that rivalry seems to really be one, we always talk about how the game, whether it’s men or women, that rivalries is such a big deal in tennis. And this Serena/Maria one is one that still carries after so many years. Would you agree it’s one of the best rivalries in women’s tennis?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: It’s amazing that it carries because it’s so one sided. But it’s the personality of the two players involved that makes it so compelling, no matter what the result.
So it’s great for tennis. I mean, tennis is such a one on one battle that the rivalries are an essential part of that.
You want to identify with the people. You want to identify with the personalities. You want to identify with their game, and the only way to do that is if there’s a rivalry going on.
I mean, people love Rafa Nadal and they love Roger Federer, but they always fall into one camp more than the other, and will cheer for their player against the other, no matter what.
So it’s funny. And obviously you have that with Williams and Sharapova for different reasons. It’s just been a one sided result for the most part.
What is the lifetime, is it like 17 2 or something?

Q. I’d have to look it up, but that sounds close. It’s not close at all, yeah.
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: I mean, it’s been 10 years, but it hasn’t been that much matches. I think 15 matches in a row. I think I don’t have the numbers in front of me. But it’s over a long period of time.
I beat Chris Evert at one point 13 times in a row, but it was like in a two , two and a half year period. It didn’t seem that insurmountable. It just came in a closer chunk of time. It think it’s more difficult for Maria to deal with it because it’s been over such a long length of time.

Q. She’s probably thinking: Sheesh, I was so young the last time I beat her.
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Yeah.

Q. Could you just maybe pick a couple of dark horses on the men’s and the women’s side and kind of like skim off the top, the Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, on the other side, Sharapova and Williams, could you just pick out a few players who you think have a chance to
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: To win the whole thing? That’s a tall order. There’s a lot of players that can beat anybody on a given day. But to go all the way? I guess on the men’s side, Murray. Maybe not that dark, because he’s, what, 3 or 4 in the world.
And maybe Berdych also. He’s been playing some good ball but seems to falter still against the top guys. But he certainly looks fit and very focused and on a given day can compete against anybody.
And for just upsets, Kyrgios. Kyrgios, with that serve, can give anybody fits. I’m pretty sure the top players don’t really want to see him too close to them in the draw because he’s a flashy and can be an extremely dominating player the way he plays.
But this is clay, so hopefully it shouldn’t happen. But never know with him.
And on the women’s side, again dark horse, Halep can’t be a dark horse, she was in the finals last year. But she hasn’t broken through yet. So dark horse would be anybody to me that hasn’t won a Grand Slam.

Q. I’m sorry?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: To me, a dark horse would be anybody that hasn’t won a Grand Slam, because then you haven’t done it yet, so we’re not really sure whether it’s going to happen or not.
So Halep would be in that category, certainly, but she’s 3 in the world. So, again, it’s hard to imagine somebody outside of top 10 going all the way on either women or men. They would just have to beat too many quality players.
I mean, there could be an opening in the draw where people kind of somehow scrape their way to the semis. But that’s hard to predict. It’s easier to predict a little bit once the draw comes out.
But it’s been such an up and down lead up to the tournament on the women’s side with Serena not finishing a tournament the last three she played, lost in the semis and defaulted the other two, correct?
And then you have Petra Kvitova winning in Madrid, playing amazing tennis, and then losing to Suárez Navarro easily. Suárez Navarro given that she can beat anybody, but I don’t think she has the firepower to go all the way, but you could see her in the finals as well.
And then there’s a player like Caroline Garcia on a given day can beat anybody. What’s the Pliskova, another Czech, who has got a big game. Perhaps not so suited for clay but grew up on the stuff.
She can hang with anybody. So it’s hard to tell but you still have to go with the favorites. Serena and Novak, obviously.

Q. You were running off some names on the women’s side as possibilities. But one of them isn’t Sloane Stephens. Do you think she’s taken a step or two back from where she was about a year and a half ago?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: I think she’s moving back the right direction now. It seems to me since she’s been working with Nick God, I have a blank now the lefty. Nick Saviano. Complete blank. I see his face.
Since she’s been working back with Nick she’s been playing better tennis. I think she’s feeling more the urgency of not taking her time developing but, rather, making it happen quicker rather than slower.
So, yeah, she doesn’t have the cache and the promise maybe she held two or three years ago, but I think it’s still there if she just believes in it. On clay, her game does not transfer well on clay with her big forehand and a good serve.
It’s better suited for hard courts or grass. And also I’m not sure how well she moves on the clay. She’s such an amazing mover that on the clay she gets a little hampered because she can’t really push off that fast. I think, again, she’s better on grass or a hard court. But certainly looks like to me that she’s going in the right direction again, which is good to see.

Q. Can you talk about the French Open and kind of what you love about that tournament in comparison to the other majors and other tournaments and what you think makes that event special in your eyes?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: The intimacy of it all. You can really get close to the players there, and it’s a smaller venue. So there’s a lot more going on within any area and you just feel, I think, the fans more there because when the Philippe Chatrier Court opens up and match finishes, everybody spills out and it gets pretty crowded.
And, of course, the red clay. It’s the only big tournament, well, the only slam that’s on red clay. And just the color makes you smile, you know.
So it’s one of a kind. And you’re in Paris. I mean, how tough can it be?

Q. One off beat question. Does that red clay come out in the laundry, like from your socks and or are all the outfits
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Anytime the players fall on the ground, we say, oops, there went that skirt; there went that shirt. Socks, you throw out, because when you sweat and you get the clay on it, it’s goodbye.

Q. So when that tournament’s over, everything just goes in the garbage?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Yep.

Q. And the shoes, too?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: Well, the shoes, you go on the grass. So, yes, they get pretty I mean, you may save them for other clay court tournaments. But most of the time the players, the shoes last a couple of days. That’s it.
I used to go through two pairs of shoes a week. I think the guys change them every match. And now maybe the women do, too. Depends on the kind of shoe. But they’re gone after a week, for sure. So definitely don’t save those.

Q. Wondered if there was some great laundry detergent that got that clay out?
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: If it’s there, I don’t know it.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

Tennis Channel Expands French Open Coverage with Two New Shows

May 18, 2015 By admin

TENNIS CHANNEL ADDS TWO NEW SHOWS TO ITS FRENCH OPEN LINEUP AS A PART OF ITS NINTH YEAR OF COVERAGE

Preview Shows Racquet Bracket: French Open and Tennis Channel Live at the French Open Feature Hall of Famers Tracy Austin and Lindsay Davenport, Amongst Others, in Lead up to the World’s Most Prestigious Clay Court Tournament

Network Dedicates More Than 260 Total Hours to the French Open, with 85-Plus Live or First-Run Match Hours and Nearly 40 First-Run Hours of Nightly French Open Tonight

Tennis Channel French Open On-Air Team to Include: Courier, Navratilova, Austin, Davenport, Macatee, Carillo, Gimelstob, Annacone, Wertheim, Adams, Haber, Eagle, Knowles, Robinson, Shiras and Weissman

LOS ANGELES, May 18, 2015 -In its ninth year of French Open coverage, Tennis Channel is launching two new preview shows that dive into the many variables of match ups and outcomes that could happen at the Paris-based major this year. The network will dedicate more than 13 total hours to Racquet Bracket: French Open and Tennis Channel Live at the French Open, premiering Friday, May 22, 8 p.m. ET and Saturday, May 23, 12 p.m. ET, respectively. Starting on Opening Day Sunday, May 24, through the men’s semifinals Friday, June 5, Tennis Channel will take viewers through 12 days of live coverage at the 2015 French Open, followed by same-day encore matches during the championship weekend. During the two-week event in the City of Light, the network will deliver more than 260 total hours of day-to-night coverage of the tournament, with more than 85 hours of live or first-run matches, nearly 45 hours of encore replays, and 122 hours of three-hour nightly primetime show French Open Tonight (37-and-a-half first-run) hosted by Bill Macatee.

“Tennis Channel has consistently added to its French Open coverage both on-air and digitally over the years,” said Jeremy Langer, vice president of programming, Tennis Channel. “We are continuing this with Racquet Bracket: French Open and Tennis Channel Live at the French Open, both of which will provide excellent context for viewers as we go into the tournament.”

Hall of Famer Tracy Austin (@thetracyaustin), 2007 French Open doubles champion Mark Knowles (@knowlzee10s) and award-winning sportscaster Steve Weissman (@Steve_Weissman) begin the network’s coverage, on the eve of the tournament, as hosts of the new one-hour French Open-draw show Racquet Bracket: French Open. The show breaks down the French Open draw, analyzing possible match ups that could take place in each round. Additionally, the show serves as an added boon for fans who partake in the network’s free annual online “Racquet Bracket” French Open prediction game.

Former World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport (@LDavenport76) along with 1998 French Open mixed doubles champion Justin Gimelstob (@justingimelstob) and renowned commentators Brett Haber (@BrettHaber) and Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) will host the network’s new Tennis Channel Live at the French Open, a one-hour preview show, which takes place from the Tennis Channel set on tournament grounds in Paris. They will take the audience through the pageantry and prestige of the French Open as tennis’ top talent prepare to make history in one of the oldest stadiums in the sport – Stade Roland Garros.

“Tennis Channel has done a terrific job expanding the amount of tennis on TV. It is great to be part of the effort to bring not just more matches to fans, but to also broaden the dialogue surrounding them,” said Austin.

The network’s usual daily schedule at the French Open is made up of nine-hour match blocks, which begin at 10 a.m. ET. Within each block, live coverage goes from 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. ET most days, with encore replays from 3:30 p.m.-7 p.m. ET. Directly following is the nightly recap show French Open Tonight at 7 p.m. ET. After its initial run, the show then re-airs throughout the evening until the following morning. A complete schedule is available below.

French Open Tonight typically premieres from 7 p.m.-10 p.m. ET. It then airs two more times until 4 a.m. ET. Bill Macatee (@Bmacatee) – one of America’s most respected sportscasters – has hosted every season of the show, now in its ninth year. The program provides a nightly discussion of that day’s tournament action, and viewers can see interviews with top players, the day’s best highlights, feature pieces, and full-set and game replays when needed. Macatee talks with many guests on the show, from players fresh from the court to top coaches and tennis officials, as well as Hall of Famers, celebrities, reporters, network analysts and more. Macatee’s conversational approach sets players at ease while making viewers feel as if they are sitting beside him on the elevated Tennis Channel set overlooking the tournament’s historic Musketeer Plaza.

Following early morning encore editions of French Open Tonight, the network will air daily highlights, from 4 a.m.-5 a.m. ET, produced by the French Open’s governing body, the French Tennis Federation. Directly following the highlights, ESPN2 begins its coverage at the start of each day’s play at 5 a.m. ET. As they have done since 2007, Tennis Channel and ESPN2 are offering viewers virtually non-stop, 24-hour coverage of the French Open. Tennis Channel produces all telecasts for both networks, with each cross-promoting the other’s telecast.

The week prior to the start of the French Open, Tennis Channel has a full slate of programming geared toward the tournament. In addition to the two new preview shows, viewers will be able to watch some of the best classic matches from recent French Open history. Starting May 19 through May 21, Tennis Channel will unveil a new classic match each day, ending with last year’s men’s final battle between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic on May 23. Other matches include: Rafael Nadal versus Roger Federer (2005 semifinal); Serena Williams versus Maria Sharapova (2013 final); and Garbine Muguruza versus Serena Williams (2014 second round).

On-Air Talent

Tennis Channel’s on-air talent for the French Open, in addition to French Open Tonight host Macatee and Racquet Bracket: French Open‘s Austin, Knowles and Weissman, includes lead women’s analyst, Hall of Famer and two-time French Open champion Martina Navratilova (@Martina). Navratilova, who has won more singles titles than anyone who has ever played professional tennis, and Macatee have appeared together on air for every Tennis Channel Grand Slam telecast. They started their dynamic relationship with the 2007 French Open.

Joining Macatee and Navratilova are fellow Hall of Famers and former World No. 1s Lindsay Davenport, a host of Tennis Channel Live at the French Open, and Jim Courier, a two-time French Open winner. This will be Davenport’s sixth and Courier’s second French Open as analysts for Tennis Channel. Also contributing to hosting as well as on-air duties is Mary Carillo, who will be serving as a live desk host, analyst and reporter in her fifth French Open as a part of the Tennis Channel team. Carillo has forged a path from professional tennis – a mixed doubles French Open champion in 1977 – to becoming one of television’s most revered journalists.

Adding to the talent in the broadcasting booth is Tennis Channel Live at the French Open host Justin Gimelstob and USTA President Katrina Adams (@katadams68) in their ninth and eighth years with Tennis Channel at the French Open. Adams, who won 21 doubles titles on the WTA tour, is the first former professional player to ascend to the top position. Coming to the City of Light for his second year at the French Open with the network is the much storied Paul Annacone (@paul_annacone). Known for his masterful coaching of Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and American star Sloane Stephens, Annacone will continue to add his expertise to the Tennis Channel booth.

Tennis Channel’s award-winning commentators will continue to bring their talent and know-how to Paris for the network. They include Ted Robinson (@tedjrobinson) in his ninth French Open for Tennis Channel, Ian Eagle (ninth), and former player and longtime tennis broadcaster Leif Shiras (@LShirock; eighth).

The Tennis Channel on-air team also includes Tennis Channel Live at the French Open hosts Brett Haber and Jon Wertheim. This is award-winning announcer Haber and Sports Illustrated executive editor and senior writer Wertheim’s fourth French Open with the network. Haber will serve as a commentator and announcer while Wertheim will again handle special reports as well as offer commentary for Tennis Channel.

Broadband and Digital Coverage

Tennis Channel’s Tennis Channel Everywhere app is free to all Apple and Android users regardless of whether they subscribe to Tennis Channel, and it contains daily updates, online video highlights, Court Report news updates and player Bag Check and instruction clips for no additional charge. However, most of those viewers who subscribe to the network through a cable provider can watch the channel live whenever and wherever they want, through a TV Everywhere function, also at no extra cost.

Tennis Channel Plus, the network’s groundbreaking digital subscription service launched at last year’s tournament, will have a continuous live feed of multi-court coverage, with up to five courts available to stream the first five days of the tournament, and then three courts the next three days.

Tennis Channel Plus’ more than 360 hours of live coverage includes late-round matches like the women’s singles semifinals.

Again in 2015, veteran tennis reporters Steve Flink and Joel Drucker (@joeldrucker) will be covering all the action on Paris’ clay courts and filing columns directly to Tennis Channel’s website, www.tennischannel.com. Besides up-to-the-minute news and detailed analysis from Drucker and Flink, fans will also have access to interactive tournament draws, real-time scoring, photos, daily highlights, interviews, features and segments from French Open Tonight through the Tennis Channel website.

For additional content, Tennis Channel’s social media platforms will offer a multi-platform experience for fans looking to stay engaged across the entirety of the tournament. To connect with Tennis Channel, visit: Facebook (www.facebook.com/tennischannel), Twitter (www.twitter.com/tennischannel), YouTube (www.youtube.com/tennischannel), Instagram (http://instagram.com/tennischannel) and Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/tennischannel).

Tennis Channel’s Live 2015 French Open Match Schedule

(Men’s/Women’s Singles Unless Otherwise Specified)

Date Time (ET) Event

Sunday, May 24 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. First-Round Action

Monday, May 25 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. First-Round Action

Tuesday, May 26 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. First-Round Action

Wednesday, May 27 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Second-Round Action

Thursday, May 28 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Second-Round Action

Friday, May 29 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Third-Round Action

Saturday, May 30 5 a.m.-Noon Third-Round Action

Sunday, May 31 5 a.m.-1 p.m. Round-of-16 Action

Monday, June 1 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Round-of-16 Action

Tuesday, June 2 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Quarterfinals

Thursday, June 4 6 a.m.-9 a.m. Mixed-Doubles Final

Thursday, June 4 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Women’s Semifinals (Tennis Channel Plus)

Friday, June 5 7 a.m.-11 a.m. Men’s Semifinal

This year, French Open encore match coverage on Tennis Channel will include same-day replays of the men’s and women’s singles quarterfinals, semifinals and finals as well as the men’s and women’s doubles finals, as follows (ET):

Wednesday, June 3 – 1 p.m.-7 p.m.: men’s and women’s singles quarterfinals

Thursday, June 4 – 2 p.m.-7 p.m.: women’s semifinals

Friday, June 5 – 5 p.m.-12 a.m.: men’s semifinals

Saturday, June 6 – 9 p.m.-11 p.m.: women’s final; 11 p.m.-12:30 a.m.: men’s doubles final

Sunday, June 7 – 9 p.m.-12 a.m.: men’s final; 12 a.m.-1:30 a.m.: women’s doubles final

(Additional encores will air subsequent days of the tournament and during the week of June 8.)

Tennis Channel’s French Open Tonight Schedule (ET)

French Open Tonight will premiere from Sunday, May 24 through Friday, May 29, 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Immediately following each premiere are back-to-back replays from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. and 1 a.m.-4 a.m. During the first weekend of the tournament, French Open Tonight will debut from 3 p.m.-6 p.m. and will re-air three consecutive times, 6 p.m. -9 p.m.; 9 p.m.-12 a.m.; 12 a.m.-3 a.m. on Saturday, May 30, and on Sunday, May 31.

For the second week of the tournament, French Open Tonight will premiere Monday, June 1, from 7 p.m.-10 p.m. followed by three encores, 10 p.m.-1 a.m.; 1 a.m.-3:30 a.m.; 4:30 a.m.-7:30 a.m. On Tuesday, June 2, the show will debut from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. followed by four encores from 8 p.m.-11 p.m.; 11 p.m.-2 a.m.; 2 a.m.-4:30 a.m.; 4:30-7:30 a.m. On Wednesday, June 3, French Open Tonight will premiere from 7 p.m.-10 p.m. followed by two encores from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. and 1 a.m.-4 a.m. The final French Open Tonight will debut Thursday, June 4, and will consist of a four-and-a-half hour special edition from 7 p.m.-11:30 p.m. and will run again once, from 11:30 p.m.-4 a.m.

Tennis Channel (www.tennischannel.com) is the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle. A hybrid of comprehensive sports, health, fitness, pop culture, entertainment, lifestyle and travel programming, the network is home to every aspect of the wide-ranging, worldwide tennis community. It also has the most concentrated single-sport coverage in television, with telecast rights to the US Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros (French Open), Australian Open, Emirates Airline US Open Series, ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, top-tier WTA competitions, Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, and Hopman Cup. Tennis Channel is carried by nine of the top 10 video providers.

# # #

European Clay Court Season On Tennis Channel Begins April 13

April 13, 2015 By admin

TENNIS CHANNEL HAS WEEK-AFTER-WEEK COVERAGE OF EUROPEAN CLAY COURT SEASON IN LEAD UP TO FRENCH OPEN

Champions Williams, Federer, Sharapova, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray

and Others Regularly Battle for Championships on Network Air in Spring Season

Tennis Channel Will Devote More Than 700 Total On-Air Hours to

Clay Court Season Tournaments

LOS ANGELES, April 9, 2015 – Tennis Channel has comprehensive week-after-week coverage heading into the spring clay court season, again in 2015, as the biggest stars take to one of the most challenging surfaces in tennis in the weeks before the French Open. The network will deliver more than 700 total hours to European clay court events in April and May, with more than 240 live coverage hours across 12 men’s ATP and women’s WTA competitions. Telecasts feature daylong blocks of live matches at numerous events, with live quarterfinal, semifinal and final coverage at all tournaments.

Tournaments covered on the network this spring season include the Katowice Open (Katowice, Poland – WTA); Monte Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte Carlo, Monaco – ATP); Barcelona Open (Barcelona, Spain – ATP); BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy (Bucharest, Romania – ATP); Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart, Germany – WTA); BMW Open by FWU AG (Munich – ATP); Millenium Estoril Open (Estoril, Portugal – ATP); Mutua Madrid Open (Madrid – ATP/WTA); Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Rome – ATP/WTA); Geneva Open (Geneva – ATP); Open de Nice Cote d’Azur (Nice, France – ATP); Nürnberger VersicherungsCup (Nurnberg, Germany – WTA).

In addition to comprehensive tournament coverage, Tennis Channel’s new digital subscription service, Tennis Channel Plus, will also have live coverage at the events in Katowice, Poland; Bucharest, Romania; Stuttgart, Germany; Munich; Estoril, Portugal; Madrid; Rome; Geneva; Nice, France; and Nurnberg, Germany.

The European clay court season on Tennis Channel is more than just an exhaustive tennis schedule. It is a period when the game’s elite routinely meet in championship matches as international tennis stars like sisters Serena and Venus Williams, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and others battle numerous times across multiple events. Grand Slam-caliber finals from tournaments last year included: Roger Federer versus Stan Wawrinka (Monte Carlo); Ana Ivanovic versus Maria Sharapova (Stuttgart); Rafael Nadal versus Kei Nishikori and Simona Halep versus Maria Sharapova (Madrid); Rafael Nadal versus Novak Djokovic and Sara Errani versus Serena Williams (Rome).

This year should be no different as players strive to get in as much clay court experience as possible before the French Open begins May 25.

Following Tennis Channel Plus’ live coverage of the Katowice Open this week, the action gets underway with the men’s Monte Carlo Rolex Masters. It takes place at one of the most beautiful and historic venues on the tennis circuit and begins Monday, April 13, live on the network’s air. Tennis Channel brings viewers nearly 50 live hours and more than 70 week-of encore hours from the week-long tournament. Eight out of the top 10-ranked singles players are scheduled to play at the event, including World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal – the biggest stars in men’s tennis.

Tennis Channel’s free Tennis Channel Everywhere app allows most network subscribers to watch the channel live whenever and wherever they want. Additionally, new to the European clay court season this year is Tennis Channel Plus, the network’s 10-month-old digital subscription service. Tennis Channel Plus offers more than 90 clay court matches to viewers this spring that are not available on television. For more information about Tennis Channel Plus, visit: http://www.tennischanneleverywhere.com/channel/tennis-channel-plus.

There have never been more opportunities for tennis fans to tune in to the network during the spring clay court season. Tennis Channel’s complete schedule of spring ATP and WTA tournaments can be found online at www.tennischannel.com/schedule. For more content and to connect with the network, visit Tennis Channel’s social media platforms: Facebook (www.facebook.com/tennischannel), Twitter (www.twitter.com/tennischannel), YouTube (www.youtube.com/tennischannel), Instagram (http://instagram.com/tennischannel), and Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/tennischannel).

Tennis Channel (www.tennischannel.com) is the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle. A hybrid of comprehensive sports, health, fitness, pop culture, entertainment, lifestyle and travel programming, the network is home to every aspect of the wide-ranging, worldwide tennis community. It also has the most concentrated single-sport coverage in television, with telecast rights to the US Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros (French Open), Australian Open, Emirates Airline US Open Series, ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, top-tier WTA competitions, Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, and Hyundai Hopman Cup. Tennis Channel is carried by nine of the top 10 video providers.

# # #

Tennis Channel Adds Live, Tournament-Based Lead-In Show To Australian Open Coverage

January 14, 2015 By admin

Hourlong Live at the Australian Open will Begin Each Morning’s Action

Down Under During Primetime Back Home in the United States

Close to 200 Total Hours on Tap as Courier, Navratilova, Davenport, Macatee,

Gimelstob, Haber and Wertheim Head back to Network Booth in Melbourne

Mary Carillo to Host Australian Open Preview Friday, January 16,

with former American Players Leif Shiras, James Blake and Corina Morariu

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 12, 2015 – In its eighth year of Australian Open coverage, Tennis Channel will unveil a live, hourlong, daily introductory show from the Melbourne tournament grounds similar to lead-in programs it uses at the US Open and other events throughout the year. Hosted by Emmy Award winner Brett Haber (@BrettHaber), Hall of Famers Jim Courier and Martina Navratilova (@Martina), and Sports Illustrated‘s Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim), Live at the Australian Open will air most nights from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. ET, immediately preceding the start of the day’s play Down Under. Tennis Channel will have 11 consecutive days and 40 hours of live coverage at this year’s Australian Open. With encore replays, highlights, a special preview and the new Live at the Australian Open, the network will devote close to 200 hours to the two-week major, one of the most prestigious events in the sport.

Tennis Channel’s Live at the Australian Open will debut Sunday, Jan. 18, at 6 p.m. ET, the first night of the tournament. Each evening (in the United States – morning in Australia) the program will recap the previous day’s play and look ahead to the coming day’s action. Along the way, Haber and others will meet with guests, break down the biggest stories of the tournament, and showcase special segments and reports. The show’s nightly 6 p.m.-7 p.m. time slot will hold through the following Wednesday, Jan. 28, before the final edition runs from 10 p.m.-11 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 29 – 12 new programming hours in all.

“No one tells the ongoing story of this sport like Tennis Channel, and shows like Live at the Australian Open give fans a place to turn each night for everything that matters before play begins,” said Bob Whyley, senior vice president and executive producer, Tennis Channel. “We’re excited to offer the nightly perspective of all-time greats like Jim Courier and Martina Navratilova with students of the game like Brett Haber and Jon Wertheim as the tournament progresses.”

The network’s live Australian Open match coverage begins Monday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. ET, the first of 10 days of primetime match play beginning at that time (complete schedule follows). In addition to first-through-quarterfinal-round singles coverage, the channel will carry the men’s and women’s doubles finals live, as well as the mixed-doubles final. Tennis Channel will also offer same-day encore coverage of the men’s and women’s singles semifinals and finals. Since 2008, when it first began covering the Australian Open, the network has aired all five tournament finals: men’s and women’s singles and doubles, and mixed doubles.

Tennis Channel’s Australian Open Today daylong block of encore-match and highlight programming also will return in 2015. Beginning Monday, Jan. 19, from 7 a.m.-6 p.m., the show will run 10 days in a row, with varied start times throughout the following week-and-a-half. The network plans more than 80 hours of Australian Open Today in 2015.

Friday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m. ET, Mary Carillo will host an hourlong Tennis Channel Australian Open preview from the network’s Los Angeles headquarters. Carillo, lauded for the biting humor and sharp wit she interlaces with poignant features that personalize the athletes she covers, is a mainstay of NBC Sports’ coverage of the Olympic Games and HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumble, and has been a regular on Tennis Channel since 2011. She and former American players Leif Shiras (@LShirock), Corina Morariu and James Blake will break down this year’s Australian Open tournament draw, offer predictions and take a look at the action set to take place Down Under in the weeks ahead.

Following its Friday premiere, the preview show will re-air throughout the weekend lead-up to the event.

Tennis Channel’s and ESPN’s ongoing Grand Slam alliance includes the Australian Open and gives viewers near round-the-clock tournament enjoyment from Melbourne. ESPN produces the Australian Open for both networks, with each utilizing its own commentators and cross-promoting their combined television offerings.

Australian Open On-Air Talent

Navratilova has been part of Tennis Channel’s on-air team in Melbourne since the network’s first year of tournament coverage in 2008. A 59-time major champion and holder of more professional tennis titles than anyone in the history of the sport, Navratilova won 12 Australian Open singles, doubles and mixed-doubles championships during her career, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest athletes of all time. She will be joined by fellow analysts and Hall of Fame members Courier and Lindsay Davenport (@LDavenport76), both of whom have raised Australian Open singles championship trophies: Courier with back-to-back titles in 1992-1993 and Davenport in 2000. Courier will appear daily on Live at the Australian Open, while Davenport will add commentary throughout the network’s two-week coverage.

Justin Gimelstob (@justingimelstob) is also part of Tennis Channel’s Australian Open team for the eighth consecutive year. One of the most insightful, connected young analysts in televised tennis today, he won the tournament’s 1998 mixed-doubles championship with partner Venus Williams and remains active in the sport as an ATP board representative.

Tennis Channel “Coaches College”

This year Navratilova, Davenport and Gimelstob have taken on active duty as players’ coaches, lending their evaluation and strategic outlook to guide 2012 Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska (Navratilova), rising-star Madison Keys (Davenport) and top-ranked American men’s player John Isner (Gimelstob), respectively. Together with Courier, who has been Captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team since 2011 (for which he also coaches Isner and other American stars), these four Grand Slam winners make up an in-house “Coaches College” of analysts for Tennis Channel in Australia and beyond in 2015. Network viewers will have the advantage of observations that come from the same wellspring of expertise and information that their players draw upon, in real time, as the tournament unfolds.

In all, former players on Tennis Channel’s Melbourne team have won 16 Australian Open championships and 71 major titles combined.

Announcer Bill Macatee (@BMacatee), one of the most respected broadcasters in sports today, anchors the network’s coverage in Melbourne again in 2015. Along with Navratilova and Gimelstob, Macatee has been a part of every Tennis Channel telecast of the Australian Open and the sport’s three other majors. Haber, on top of his Live at the Australian Open role, will also handle play-by-play duties throughout the competition. Reporter and author Wertheim has been part of Tennis Channel’s Australian Open team since 2012, and continues to be one of the most read, most trusted tennis writers in America today. His Sports Illustrated columns are required reading for tennis fans (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/writers/jon_wertheim/archive/) and his special features, news updates and round-table commentary have become Tennis Channel standards during coverage of the four majors.

Digital Coverage

Since its coverage of last year’s Australian Open, Tennis Channel has introduced a new digital subscription service – Tennis Channel Plus – that allows fans to access even more content than the network is capable of fitting on air. Available on the free Tennis Channel Everywhere app to all Apple and Android users, regardless of whether or not they subscribe to Tennis Channel, the service will supplement the network’s televised Australian Open coverage this year with daily highlights, interviews and other segments from Australian Open Today. Tennis Channel Plus also provides access to archived matches from other major events like Wimbledon and the French Open, as well as thousands of hours of on-demand programming.

Beyond Tennis Channel Plus, most viewers who get Tennis Channel at home are able to take the Australian Open with them live on their mobile devices through the Tennis Channel Everywhere app at no additional cost. Simple subscription authentication with select distribution partners enables the app’s TV Everywhere function, and lets fans tune into the network’s round-the-clock coverage from Melbourne throughout the workday back in the United States.

Tennis Channel’s website, www.tennischannel.com, will continue to offer its usual Down Under slate of Australian Open Today segments,video highlights, interviews, real-time scoring, an interactive draw and the network’s Racquet Bracket tournament prediction game. Visitors can enter the channel’s 2016 Australian Open sweepstakes, or browse special Australian Open columns from reporters Steve Flink and Joel Drucker (@joeldrucker). The channel’s social media activities on Facebook (www.facebook.com/tennischannel), Twitter (www.twitter.com/tennischannel), YouTube (www.youtube.com/tennischannel), Instagram (http://instagram.com/tennischannel) and Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/tennischannel) will also be devoted to the first tennis major of 2015 for much of this month.

Tennis Channel’s Live Australian Open Coverage (all times ET)

Date Time Event

Sunday, Jan. 18 6 p.m.-7 p.m. Pre-Tournament Welcome

Monday, Jan. 19 6 p.m.-9 p.m. First Round

Tuesday, Jan. 20 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Second Round

Wednesday, Jan. 21 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Second Round

Thursday, Jan. 22 6 p.m.-11 p.m. Third Round

Friday, Jan. 23 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Third Round

Saturday, Jan. 24 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Round of 16

Sunday, Jan. 25 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Round of 16

Monday, Jan. 26 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Men’s and Women’s Quarterfinals

Tuesday, Jan. 27 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Men’s and Women’s Quarterfinals

Wednesday, Jan. 28 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. TBA

Thursday, Jan. 29 10 p.m.-3:30 a.m. Mixed Doubles Semifinal

and Women’s Doubles Final

Saturday, Jan. 31 5:30 a.m.-8 a.m. Men’s Doubles Final

Sunday, Feb. 1 12 a.m.-2 a.m. Mixed Doubles Final

Tennis Channel’s Australian Open Today Schedule (all times ET)

Tennis Channels’ Australian Open Today includes encore match coverage, highlights, interviews and a general review of the Down Under activity that took place while America was sleeping the previous night. The show will run daily from Monday, Jan. 19, through Wednesday, Jan. 28 – 10 days in all – before the network replaces it with encore semifinal and final coverage as the tournament winds down.

On that first Monday, Australian Open Today will run from 7 a.m.-12:30 p.m., and be immediately followed by an encore replay from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. The next four days, Tuesday, Jan. 20, through Friday, Jan. 23, the show will air from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. On Saturday, Jan. 24, it will be on Tennis Channel from 12 p.m.-6 p.m.

During the second week of the Australian Open, Australian Open Today runs from 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24, and 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26. On Tuesday, Jan. 27, and Wednesday, Jan. 28, the show will air from 6 a.m.-3 p.m.

Novak Djokovic Named “Player Of The Year” By USA Today Sports And Tennis Channel

December 12, 2014 By admin

USA TODAY SPORTS AND TENNIS CHANNEL NAME NOVAK DJOKOVIC “PLAYER OF THE YEAR”

Wimbledon Final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer Named “Match of the Year”

Judging Panel Consists of Tennis Channel Analysts and Hall of Famers Martina Navratilova and Jim Courier, as well as USA TODAY Sports Tennis Reporter Doug Robson

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 10 – USA TODAY Sports and Tennis Channel partnered to determine the best player and match of the 2014 men’s and women’s seasons. Novak Djokovic was voted “Player of the Year” and his Wimbledon five-set final battle against Roger Federer earned the title “Match of the Year.”

A panel of experts from USA TODAY Sports and Tennis Channel formed the committee that decided the winning player and match. The judges on the determining board were Hall of Famers and Tennis Channel analysts Martina Navratilova and Jim Courier, and USA TODAY Sports’ tennis writer Doug Robson. Judges were asked to consider their top three players and matches of 2014 before determining the year’s winners.

“Novak gets the nod for player of the year by winning Wimbledon and then finishing the year No. 1 buoyed by a dominant performance in the fall season,” said Courier, former World No. 1. “He was incredibly consistent, posting a 61-8 record on the year and winning seven titles.”

The Wimbledon final, which was unanimously approved by the judges for “Match of the Year,” was “played at a sky-high level from start to finish,” said Robson. “It saved Djokovic’s season. Had Federer won the final set, he likely would have finished the year at No. 1 instead of the Serb.”

Other players and matches in close contention for the top spot were World No. 1 Serena Williams for “Player of the Year” as well as her battles against World No. 3 Simona Halep in the women’s WTA Finals for “Match of the Year.” “What a turnaround!” said Navratilova, one of the most winningest players in tennis history, in reaction to Williams’ comeback triumph against Halep in the championship match of the WTA Finals.

In honor of the year’s best performances, Tennis Channel is rewinding the triumphs of Djokovic’s season, including his climb to the top at Wimbledon. Tune in to Tennis Channel’s “Serving up the Holidays” programming Dec. 10-12 from 7 a.m.-11 a.m. ET to see the network review the highlights from Wimbledon and 7 a.m. ET on Dec. 25 to take a look back at Djokovic’s championship-earning season. The network has same-day encore presentations of these “Serving up the Holidays” specials beginning at 1 p.m. ET. For more information on Tennis Channel’s Dec. programming, visit www.tennischannel.com/schedule.

Tennis Channel Has Wall-To-Wall Coverage Of The WTA Championships

October 17, 2014 By admin

TENNIS CHANNEL’S WALL-TO-WALL COVERAGE OF THE WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS TO FEATURE SERENA WILLIAMS, MARIA SHARAPOVA AND OTHER STARS OF 2014

The Network has Comprehensive Coverage of the Women’s Six-Day BNP Paribas WTA Finals in Singapore, with Close to 35 Total Hours

World No. 1 and Two-Time Defending US Open Champion Serena Williams Leads the Women’s Top-Eight in Season Points

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 15, 2014 – The season-ending BNP Paribas WTA Finals in Singapore will air live on Tennis Channel October 20-26 and crown the 2014 women’s tennis champion. The network is devoting over 25 live and first-run hours, with close to 35 overall hours of daylong coverage to the year-end tournament. The best-eight singles players and the top-eight doubles teams of 2014 will compete for this season’s titles in an exciting week of round-robin and single-elimination matches.

During the six-day event, Tennis Channel will air all singles round-robin and semi-finals matches live, with same-day encore singles championship coverage on Oct. 26. In addition, the network has live coverage of the doubles quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, which air on Oct. 25. Telecasts will run throughout the day most days of the week. For a complete schedule, visit www.tennischannel.com/schedule. Tennis Channel analysts Mary Carillo and Hall of Famer Tracy Austin (@thetracyaustin), the 1980 WTA finals singles champion, will call the matches during the tournament. Joining them will be Rennae Stubbs (@rennaestubbs), who won the 2001 doubles title, and Hall of Famer Lindsay Davenport (@LDavenport76), who won three consecutive year-end doubles crowns from 1996-1998 and the singles title in 1999.

The eight singles players and the eight doubles teams who racked up the most points during the 2014 calendar year are the only ones eligible for the annual women’s final championships in Singapore. Each year, the tournament separates the singles players into two groups of four for round-robin play. Every singles player is guaranteed a minimum of three matches during the week versus the other players in her group. The top two in each group moves on to the semifinals in a high-stakes knockout stage before the final match. The doubles teams play in a single-elimination format throughout the tournament.

Williams is in pursuit of her fifth WTA championship title, however her presence at the year-end finals is in doubt. Currently sidelined with a left knee injury, if Williams does recover in time she joins the field with: 2014 French Open winner Maria Sharapova, 2014 Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova as well as a barrage of other talents, including: Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Agnieszka Radwanska, Eugenie Bouchard and Simona Halep. Should Williams not be able to compete, Angelique Kerber ranks No. 9 in the women’s rankings and is the first alternate for the finals lineup.

The 2014 doubles draw includes: Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci; Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-Wei; Cara Black and Sania Mirza; Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina; Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears; Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik; Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro; and Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova.

There have never been more opportunities for tennis fans to follow the women’s championships. Tennis Channel’s free Tennis Channel Everywhere app allows most network subscribers to watch the channel live whenever and wherever they want. To learn more visit www.tennischanneleverywhere.com. For additional information during the tournament, go to www.tennischannel.com. To connect with Tennis Channel during the BNP Paribas WTA Finals and for more content, visit the network’s social media platforms:

Facebook (www.facebook.com/tennischannel)
Twitter (www.twitter.com/tennischannel)
YouTube (www.youtube.com/tennischannel)
Instagram (http://instagram.com/tennischannel)
Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/tennischannel)

Tennis Channel’s 2014 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Schedule: (All matches are live unless otherwise indicated.)

Date Time (ET) Event

Monday, Oct. 20	7:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.	Singles Round-Robin Matches
Tuesday, Oct. 21	7:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.	Singles Round-Robin Matches
Wednesday, Oct. 22	1:30 a.m. – 3 a.m.; 4 a.m. -6 a.m.; 7:30 a.m. -11 a.m.	Doubles Quarterfinals and Singles Round-Robin Matches
Thursday, Oct. 23	1:30 a.m.-5:30 a.m. 7:30 a.m.-11 a.m.	Singles Round-Robin Matches and Doubles Quarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 24	1:30 a.m. -5:30 a.m. 7:30 a.m.- 11 a.m.	Singles Round-Robin Matches and Doubles Quarterfinals
Saturday, Oct. 25	12 a.m. -1:30 a.m.; 2:30 a.m.-4:30 a.m.; 6 a.m. -8 a.m.	Doubles Semifinals and Singles Semifinals
Sunday, Oct. 26	4 a.m. – 5:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.	Doubles Finals and Singles Finals (Tape Delay)

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Tennis Channel Has The Fall ATP and WTA Tennis Seasons Covered

October 14, 2014 By admin

TENNIS CHANNEL HAS WEEK-AFTER-WEEK COVERAGE IN LEAD UP TO MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

Stars Williams, Murray, Nadal, Djokovic, Sharapova, Federer and Others Race Toward Season Finals

Tennis Channel Will Devote More Than 250 Total Hours to Tournament Coverage as Season Wraps

LOS ANGELES, October 9, 2014 – Tennis Channel has the action covered this fall as players jockey for position in the lead up to the men’s (ATP) and women’s (WTA) season finals. The network will offer more than 250 total hours of comprehensive coverage in Asia and Europe as the season ends with the men’s and women’s championships.

Tennis stars are furiously racking up points in the attempt to qualify for the year-end championships. Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have earned their spots at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November. Five places remain open and will be determined over the course of this month. The qualifiers for the women’s event in late October are set and include: Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Agnieszka Radwanska, Eugenie Bouchard, Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova.

Tournaments covered on Tennis Channel as the season winds down will include the Shanghai Rolex Masters (Shanghai – ATP); Generali Ladies Linz (Linz, Austria – WTA); Japan Women’s Open Tennis (Osaka, Japan – WTA); Tianjin Open (Tianjin, China – WTA); Kremlin Cup by Bank of Moscow (Moscow – ATP/WTA); If Stockholm Open (Stockholm – ATP); BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open (Luxembourg – WTA); Swiss Indoors Basel (Basel, Switzerland); Valencia Open 500 (Valencia, Spain – ATP); BNP Paribas WTA Finals (Singapore – WTA); BNP Paribas Masters (Paris – ATP); Garanti Koza WTA Tournament of Champions (Sofia, Bulgaria – WTA); and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (London – ATP).

Tennis Channel’s complete schedule of fall ATP and WTA tournaments can be found online at www.tennischannel.com/schedule. There have never been more opportunities for tennis fans to follow the runup to the men’s and women’s championships.

Tennis Channel’s free Tennis Channel Everywhere app allows most network subscribers to watch the channel live whenever and wherever they want. Additionally, Tennis Channel’s Tennis Channel Plus digital subscription service offers year-end matches that are not available on television. For information visit www.tennischanneleverywhere.com/.

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