@ESPNTennis Updates – US Open Prep, US Open Series Concludes

@ESPNTennis & US Open:

• Singles Draw Live on ESPN3 Thursday
• Arthur Ashe Kids Day, SportsCenter at the US Open Sunday
• First All-ESPN US Open August 31 – September 13
• SportsCenter on the Road on Site for Opening Day

ESPN’s first-ever exclusive coverage of the US Open – including Serena Williams’ historic quest for a calendar year Grand Slam – begins Monday, Aug. 31. Leading to that, this week ESPN3 will present live the singles brackets draw Thursday, Aug. 27 at 11:30 a.m.  Also, ESPN2 will air a one-hour review of Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day presented by Hess on Sunday, Aug. 30, at 1 p.m., followed by SportsCenter at the US Open at 2 p.m. to preview the tournament. The day play begins, SportsCenter on the Road – the 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. edition – will be on site with co-hosts Chris McKendry and Jay Crawford.

ESPN’s new role at the US Open includes producing all 11 TV courts for the world feed, which has required key members of the ESPN Tennis Team from production and operations to be on site in New York since mid-July.   As background:

• Two posts from ESPNFrontRow.com on the set-up:   http://es.pn/1hpRKXvand http://es.pn/1Eegqfo
• A release on the technical innovations, and a conference call transcript with Scott Guglielmino from programming and Jamie Reynolds from production.
• The ESPN US Open commentator lineup.

@ESPNTennis & US Open Series: Final Tune-Ups before US Open — WTA in New Haven; ATP in Winston-Salem

The final week of the Emirates Airline US Open Series and the last tune-ups before the US Open – the WTA in New Haven for the Connecticut Open and the ATP in North Carolina for the Winston-Salem Open – will be on ESPN3 each day totaling 30+ hours from each, and ESPN2 adding semifinal action and both championships Saturday, Aug. 29, starting at 1 p.m.

Pam Shriver and Rennae Stubbs will be courtside for the WTA matches, where the field includes defending champ Petra Kvitova (also won in 2012), Caroline Wozniacki (won here 2008-11), Lucie Safarova and American Madison Keys. Sam Gore, Brad Gilbert and Jimmy Arias will call the ATP action with a field that includes Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Americans Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson and 17-year old Francis Tiafoe.

The US Open Series – seven hard-court events (three ATP, three WTA, one combined) across North America in five weeks – uses a points system to reward the men and women who finish in the top three for the USOS with a bonus based on their performance in the US Open. If the USOS winner also is the US Open champion, she and/or he receive a bonus of $1,000,000. Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have clinched the top two spots on the men’s side. No one has clinched a top-three finish among the women; Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Belinda Bencic – who are all taking the week off – lead the standings.

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