Tennis Channel’s French Open Coverage Begins Sunday
September 21, 2020
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 21, 2020 – Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a French Open that should have happened in springtime will have an autumn feel instead. What has not changed is Tennis Channel’s all-day, all-night, three-week commitment to Roland Garros, the most prestigious clay-court event in tennis, which usually arrives as the sport’s second of four majors, but this year will be its third and final. Beginning Sunday, Sept. 27, at 5 a.m. ET, Tennis Channel’s 14th year of coverage of the 15-day main draw gets underway with matches from the first ball of play. The network will have live competition, highlights, updates and analysis from the famed grounds of Roland Garros for the next 14 days, through the end of the event on Sunday, Oct. 11, as the best players in the world put on a show that is usually penciled in for May.
In all, Tennis Channel will devote more than 330 hours to televised French Open tennis in 2020, including 120 live and another 210 during encore replays each evening. Typically, the network gets going with the start of play each morning at 5 a.m. ET, with live coverage through approximately 3 p.m. ET when matches conclude (complete schedule below). Tennis Channel will show encore matches from the end of each day’s play, through the late night and morning up to the start of the next day’s competition.
Tennis Channel’s live, main-draw television coverage runs from the first matches Sunday, Sept. 27, through the women’s doubles final on championship Sunday, Oct. 11. Along the way the network will show the men’s and women’s singles and doubles semifinals. Tennis Channel will show same-day encores of the men’s and women’s singles and doubles finals again in 2020.
Subscription streaming service Tennis Channel Plus will again provide viewers with even more French Open coverage, offering 14 courts during much of the event. Subscribers can choose which matches they want to watch live, or watch any of them later on demand. There will be approximately 540 main draw matches available on the service this year, roughly 1,350 hours of live coverage on Tennis Channel Plus.
This week, leading up to the main draw, Tennis Channel Plus is also offering live and on-demand coverage of the French Open qualifiers. Matches take place through Saturday, Sept. 26, and will be shown on television on delay following live coverage of other competition. All 168 qualifying matches across 12 courts will be shown live and on demand on the network’s streaming service, approximately 336 hours of tennis during a third week of Roland Garros action.
Tennis Channel is also partnering with parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group’s regional sports networks around the country to bring the tournament into even more households. Viewers will have the opportunity to see matches during the first nine days of the competition.
Former players Chanda Rubin, Paul Annacone, Mark Knowles and Nick Monroe will also be at the 2020 French Open for Tennis Channel. A Grand Slam champion, Rubin won the Australian Open doubles title in 1996. Annacone reached the French Open doubles quarterfinals in 1985 and has become an accomplished coach who guided two legends – Pete Sampras and Roger Federer – to major championships. Knowles won the French Open doubles crown in 2007, while Monroe reached the US Open doubles quarterfinals in 2017. This is Rubin and Annacone’s third and seventh trips to Roland Garros with Tennis Channel, respectively, and a first for both Knowles and Monroe.
This will be Ted Robinson’s 14th year of calling French Open matches on Tennis Channel. Fellow announcer Brett Haber is back for the ninth time while Steve Weissman will handle play by play for his fourth Roland Garros. All three have received numerous awards for their on-air work. Joining them are Alex Faust and Noah Eagle, who will announce matches in Paris for the first time with Tennis Channel. Faust and Eagle have a Los Angeles connection beyond Tennis Channel: Faust is the TV play-by-play announcer for the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings while Eagle does the same for radio broadcasts of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.
Author, Sports Illustrated executive editor and senior writer, and CBS’ 60 Minutes correspondent Jon Wertheim will make his ninth French Open trip for Tennis Channel. He will provide analysis, special reports and essays during the event.
Beyond Tennis Channel Plus, the network’s app is free to anyone anywhere and offers additional tennis content. Tennis Channel’s digital team will also engage with viewers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram during the 2020 French Open.