@ESPNTennis & US Open: Men’s Championship – Federer-Djokovic XLII

·         First All-ESPN US Open to Climax with One of Tennis’ All-time Great Rivalries

·         Federer, Djokovic: 26 Major Titles Between Them, 464 Weeks at No. 1, 11 Titles this Year

·         Women’s Doubles Championship on ESPN3 Sunday at Noon – Hingis Goes for 5^th Major Title of 2015

The US Open Men’s Championship – Sunday, Sept. 13, at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN, preceded by a 30-minute preview show – will showcase one of the great rivalries in tennis history: the 42nd meeting between all-time greats and top two seeds No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Roger Federer.   With 26 Major titles between them – six in New York, including five in a row by Federer 2004-08 – it is also a rematch of this summer’s Wimbledon final, won by Djokovic. Federer exacted a bit of revenge last month with a straight-set win in Cincinnati. This year, the two have split four meetings, all being finals.

Djokovic:

• Is aiming for this third Major title of 2014, having taken the trophy at the Australian Open and Wimbledon; he lost the French Open final to Stan Wawrinka or would be seeking a true (calendar year) Grand Slam.
• He is appearing in a Major final for the 16^th time in the last 21 Majors (starting with the US Open in 2010.

Federer:

• Holds the most Major titles of any man in tennis history with 17, his last coming three years ago at Wimbledon.
• He is appearing in only his fifth Major final in the last 23 events, and is 1-3 in those appearances.
• This is his record 64^th consecutive Major tournament and his 27^th Major final; he reached 10 in a row from 2005 Wimbledon – 2007 US Open and 18 of 19 (through the 2010 Australian Open).

“Did You Know?” – Each has beaten the other at each of the four Majors.

The First All-ESPN US Open

• For a look from the inside of the new and expanded role for ESPN at the US Open and an evaluation of how the first of an 11-year agreement has succeeded, see this interview with Jamie Reynolds, vice president, production, from SportsVideoGroup.org: http://bit.ly/1KgBL8R
• Hear from commentator Chris Fowler and director Derek Mobley, two veterans of sports television’s biggest events including the tennis Majors, on their expectations and anticipation for their first US Open championships: http://es.pn/1KdhT1Q

Tale of the Tape:

In five-set matches, Djkovic leads 3-0:

• 2010 US Open Semifinal won by Djokovic 5–7, 6–1, 5–7, 6–2, 7–5
• 2011 US Open Semifinal won by Djokovic 6–7^(7–9), 4–6, 6–3, 6–2, 7–5
• 2014 Wimbledon Championship won by Djokovic 6–7 ^(7–9), 6–4, 7–6^(7–4), 5–7, 6–4

Other memorable Djokovic-Federer matches:

• 2007 US Open Championship won by Federer 7–6^(7–4), 7–6^(7–2), 6–4
• 2011 French Open Semifinal won by Federer 7–6^(7–5), 6–3, 3–6, 7–6^(7–5)
• 2012 Wimbledon Semifinal won by Federer 6–3, 3–6, 6–4, 6–3
• 2014 Indian Wells Championship won by Djokovic 3–6, 6–3, 7–6^(7–3)
• 2015 Indian Wells Championship won by Djokovic 6–3, 6–7^(5–7), 6–2

Earlier on Sunday at noon, ESPN3 will present live the women’s doubles championship – No. 4 Casey Dellacqua of Australia / Yaroslava Svedova of Kazakhstan vs. the top-seeded pair of Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Sania Mirza of India. Dellacqua and Svedova teamed earlier this year and made the finals of the French Open. Hingis – already a Hall of Famer for her injury-shortened singles career which amassed five Major single crowns – has 14 Major titles in doubles (10 in women’s and four in mixed). Four of the 14 came this year, including Women’s Doubles at Wimbledon with Mirza and the US Open Mixed Doubles with Leander Paes in a match Friday.

ESPN3’s offering of all televised courts – plus a feed in Spanish – is supplemented by the “US Open Chase Review Multicam” for matches on Ashe – an iso-cam on each player and the traditional TV production.

ESPN has televised the US Open since 2009. An 11-year agreement with the USTA for exclusivity starting in 2015 was announced in May 2013. A complete look at ESPN’s plans for the 2015 US Open including the daily schedule ( http://es.pn/1ECwZws ), a look at new technology ( http://es.pn/1MzW0yM ) and a conference call on programming and production plans (  http://es.pn/1PoHn0D ).

ESPN & the 2015 US Open

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