2017 Australian Open Broadcast Schedule on ESPN

2017 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

(For these charts, all times are Eastern, and each day “begins” at 6 a.m. ET.

Therefore, the listing Mon., Jan. 23, at 3 a.m. ET is actually very late on Monday night.)

ESPN Tennis:  New #1’s Kerber, Murray Lead the Fields at First Major of 2017 – Australian Open

• Two Weeks Start Jan. 15 with 100+ Live Hours on TV plus Afternoon Encores of Overnight Action
• WatchESPN with 1,400 Hours – Every Singles, Doubles & Juniors Match – Live plus On Demand
• WTA:  Serena Williams Seeks Major Title #23; Great Opportunity for Someone New to Emerge
• ATP:  Two-Time Defending Champ Djokovic Seeks 7th Title while Federer, Nadal Return to Action

Newly minted top-ranked players Angelique Kerber and Andy Murray will lead the women and men’s fields at the Australian Open on ESPN TV and WatchESPN from start to finish beginning Sunday, Jan. 15.  Over the course of two weeks – culminating with the Women’s and Men’s Championships on January 28 and 29 – ESPN will present more than 100 hours of live television plus 1,400 on WatchESPN and the ESPN App which covers every singles, doubles and juniors match – more than 600 in total.

Last year at 28, Kerber surprised the tennis world to capture her first two Major titles – the Australian and US Opens – to end the year the No. 1 player in the world.  Murray – although a member of the ATP’s “Big Four” for many years – won Wimbledon to launch a terrific second half of the year which culminated with his First World Tour Final championship and his first No. 1 ranking.

Highlights

• ESPN2 will present daily, marathon, overnight telecasts from Melbourne (at 7 p.m. ET the first night, thereafter generally at 9 p.m.) through the women’s semifinals; later action airs on ESPN.
• More than 40 additional hours will be aired on ESPN2 during the afternoon recapping the action from the overnight telecasts.
• WatchESPN will offer 1,400 hours starting each day with the first match of each court at 7 p.m. ET (the first 13 days of play).  It will also present live the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles championships and the finals of the boys and girls divisions and of the legends and wheelchair competitions.

Tennis Channel and ESPN’s ongoing Grand Slam alliance includes the Australian Open and gives viewers near round-the-clock tournament enjoyment from Melbourne.  Each network utilizes its own commentators during its respective coverage and cross-promotes the combined ESPN-Tennis Channel television offerings.

DIGITAL MEDIA, AT HOME AND ABROAD; INTERNATIONAL TV; ESPN DEPORTES; ESPN CLASSIC  

ESPN.com will once again feature Courtcast, a cutting-edge application presented by IBM, featuring official IBM tournament and real-time statistics, Hawk-Eye technology, a rolling Twitter feed and interactive poll questions. Digital Serve video, Baseline Buzz and daily global reports and analysis from contributors .

Also, before  espnW will present an oral history of Serena Williams, by Alyssa Roenigk. She interviewed more than 20 people close to Williams including her mother Oracene, her sisters, coaches, competitors and sponsors. In addition, espnW will offer a slideshow of Serena’s 22 majors, and daily “You Make the Call” fan polls.

ESPN Social Platforms

@ESPNTennis, ESPN’s official tennis Twitter account, and ESPN Tennis’ official Facebook page will be posting additional, exclusive content including interviews, profiles and more behind-the-scenes looks of the Australian Open.

ESPN Interactive TV will present a six-screen mosaic on DIRECTV featuring the ESPN/Tennis Channel linear feed and five TV courts, during the first seven days of the tournament.  Allen Bestwick will serve as the studio host and is joined by announcers Chanda Rubin, Jeff Tarango, Leif Shiras, Elise Burgin, Doug Adler, Nick Lester, Christen Bartelt, Sam Gore, Mark Donaldson and Brian Webber.

ESPN Deportes will present extensive, live coverage of the tournament across multiple platforms.  ESPN Deportes+ — the Spanish-language broadband channel available via ESPNDeportes.com, WatchESPN and ESPN App – will present wall-to-wall coverage, streaming 140 live hours of all rounds, the quarterfinals and the women’s semifinals.  The men’s semis and both Championships will be televised live on ESPN Deportes.  Online, ESPNDeportes.com will also provide up-to-the-minute news and information including highlights, recaps, chats, and the daily web series “ESPiaNdo el Australian Open.”

ESPN Classic is airing memorable Australian Open matches much of this week, January 11 – 15.  Highlights:

• 2010 Women’s Final, Serena Williams vs. Justine Henin, Wed., Jan 11, noon (also Fri., Jan. 13, 9 p.m.)
• 1991 Men’s Final, Boris Becker vs. Ivan Lendl, Wed., Jan. 11, 7 p.m. (also Fri., Jan. 13, 11 p.m.)
• 1995 Men’s Quarterfinal, Pete Sampras vs. Jim Courier, Wed., Jan. 11, 9 p.m.
• 1995 Men’s Final, Andre Agassi vs. Pete Sampras, Wed., Jan 11, 11 p.m.
• 2001 Women’s Final, Jennifer Capriati vs. Martina Hingis, Thur., Jan. 12, 3 p.m.
• 2009 Men’s Final, Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer, Thur., Jan. 12, 5 p.m. (also Sat., Jan. 14, 7 p.m.)
• 2015 Women’s Final, Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova, Fri., Jan. 13, 1 a.m. (Jan. 12, 10 p.m. PT) (also Sun., Jan. 15, 6 a.m.)
• 2016 Women’s Final, Angelique Kerber vs. Serena Williams, Sun., Jan. 15, noon
• 2016 Men’s Final, Novak Djokovic vs. Andy Murray, Sun., Jan. 15, 2 p.m.

ESPN International will increase its television coverage to more than 140 hours of live HD action to tennis fans via its networks in Latin America and the Caribbean.  Showcasing the biggest names in tennis, broadcasts will air in three languages, including Spanish in Mexico, Central America & South America; Portuguese in Brazil; and English in the Caribbean.  ESPN+ Brazil will air over 80 hours of live complementary coverage throughout the early rounds, while ESPN Tres North and ESPN2 South will air over 20 hours of additional Spanish coverage. In addition, ESPN will also televise two one-hour recaps and a two-hour “Best Match of the Day” daily.   In Canada, TSN (English) and RDS (French) will again provide ESPN coverage on television and digital services, while in India, the SONY ESPN platform will carry live coverage.

ESPNtenis.com will have the following content:  A daily webisode called “ESPiaNdo el Australian Open”; an “applet” featuring real-time, point-by-point scoring of all matches; live scores, results and brackets; columns, chats and blogs by TV commentators and other writers; polls; the “Ask ESPN” feature, prompting users to send their comments/questions via the website; video clips with highlights of daily action and analysis; TV scheduling information, and photo galleries.

ESPN Play (Watch ESPN  in Brazil), ESPN’s broadband service in Latin America and the Caribbean will provide wall-to-wall coverage of the year’s first Grand Slam, streaming over 1,400 hours of live tennis coverage (a new high) from every available televised court, including the men’s & women’s quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. Live streaming action will be available throughout Latin America and the Caribbean in English, Spanish and Portuguese language.

Related Article:

2017 Australian Open Schedule on Tennis Channel; Mary Carillo Joins Coverage Team