Tennis Channel to cover 2009 U.S. Davis Cup Quarterfinal This Weekend
July 9, 2009
LOS ANGELES — Tennis Channel will provide exclusive coverage of the U.S. Davis Cup quarterfinal match up in Porec, Croatia, this weekend, with live and same-day, “Instant Encore” replays Friday through Sunday. The network will also telecast the International Tennis Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Newport, R.I., as tennis greats Monica Seles, Andres Gimeno, Donald L. Dell and Dr. Robert “Whirlwind” Johnson are honored this Saturday, July 11, at 7 p.m. ET.
Quarterfinal competition between the United States and Croatia will consist of two singles matches on Friday, July 10, at 10 a.m. ET, followed by the doubles match Saturday, July 11, at 9:30 a.m. ET. Tennis Channel’s coverage concludes with the remaining singles play Sunday, July 12, at 10 a.m. ET. Each of the five matches is worth one point, with the team that wins at least three points advancing to the yearlong tournament’s semifinal against the winner of Argentina and the Czech Republic, Sept. 18-20.
Leading the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2009 induction ceremony, which will be held during the final weekend of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, is nine-time Grand Slam singles champion and former World No. 1 Monica Seles. Also joining in on the induction festivities is 1972 French Open champion, Andres Gimeno, who has been elected in the Master Player category. Finally, Donald L. Dell, of sports marketing and professional sports management company Professional Services Inc. (ProServ), joins the late Dr. Robert “Whirlwind” Johnson, founder and director of the American Tennis Association (ATA) Junior Development Program, who helped pave the way for African-Americans in tennis, in the Contributor category.
Following this weekend’s coverage, Tennis Channel’s Web site, www.tennischannel.com, will offer the induction ceremony on demand and in its entirety for free.
Croatia hopes to uphold its unbeaten record of 2-0 against the U.S. team, defeating the Americans 4-1 during the 2003 Davis Cup first round in Zagreb, Croatia and again in the 2005 first round, winning 3-2 in Carson, Calif. The United States enters this weekend’s match after beating Switzerland 4-1 in Birmingham, Ala., and is bidding to reach the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. In 2007 the U.S. team won its 32nd Davis Cup title with a 4-1 win against Russia, whom it had not defeated since 1995.
Three-time Davis Cup team member and Davis Cup captain since 2000, Patrick McEnroe returns as the 2009 U.S. Davis Cup coach to America’s team. Mardy Fish, World No. 23, will replace Andy Roddick on the team, due to the latter’s right hip flexor, injured during his five-set loss in the singles final at Wimbledon Sunday. James Blake is ranked No. 17 and comes into this weekend’s match after an impressive run to the men’s doubles semifinals at Wimbledon with fellow Davis Cup teammate Mardy Fish before losing to defending champions Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić. On the doubles front, twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan continue to be the world’s most dominant pair, currently ranked No. 1, and winners of the 2009 Australian Open championships.
The Croatians enter this weekend’s match after defeating Chile 5-0 in Porec, Croatia, in the first round to reach the quarterfinals for the fifth time. After winning 3-2 in the 2005 final against Slovak Republic in Bratislava, Croatia became the 12th nation to win the Davis Cup and the first unseeded nation to ever win. The team is captained by Goran Prpic and features four of Croatia’s best-known tennis stars including Marin Cilic, Ivo Karlovic, Roko Karanusic and Lovro Zovko.
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, Olympus US Open Series, ATP Masters Series, top-tier Sony Ericsson WTA Tour championship competitions, Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, and Hyundai Hopman Cup. Tennis Channel is carried by eight of the top 10 MSOs and has a national footprint via DIRECTV and DISH Network.