Tennis Channel’s coverage of the WTA Championships
October 15, 2014
LOS ANGELES — 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 (facebook.com/tennischannel)
Twitter (twitter.com/tennischannel)
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Tennis Channel’s 2014 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Schedule: (All matches are live unless otherwise indicated.)
Date, Time (ET), Event