LOS ANGELES, Oct. 25, 2023 – American stars Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are returning to the most exclusive event in women’s tennis, the season-ending WTA Finals, live on Tennis Channel October 29-November 5. Held in Cancun, Mexico, this year, the annual championships feature the eight singles players and doubles teams that earned the most points on the tour in 2023. The first match takes place Sunday, Oct. 29, at 3:30 p.m. ET.
This year’s US Open singles champion, Gauff is ranked No. 3 in the world in singles and No. 4 in doubles. Pegula is also No. 4 in doubles with her partner Gauff, and No. 4 in singles. Both qualified for the event for the first time in 2022 and will play singles and pair with each other for doubles again this year.
A showcase of the year’s best performers, the WTA Finals divides the eight singles players into pools of four, with every woman playing one match each against the other members of her group. At the end of the week, both pools’ top-two players advance to the single-elimination semifinals and final. The tournament uses the same format for the year’s eight best doubles teams.
The arrangement guarantees matches between the year’s best, given its round-robin format. Any competition can easily feature combatants who squared off with one another at a major final or semifinal earlier in the season. The event often also features a larger prize than the year’s All Stars chasing the WTA Finals trophy: the chance for a year-end No. 1 ranking and place in the tennis history books.
Tennis Channel’s exclusive WTA Finals coverage will include more than 50 live hours and 30 hours of encore replays. Live play at the eight-day event gets underway at 3:30 p.m. ET every day except Sunday, Nov. 5, when the singles and doubles finals begin at 5:30 p.m. ET (complete schedule below). Before that, every day will feature four matches: two singles and two doubles. These will be held in round-robin format until Saturday, Nov. 4, which will feature two singles and two doubles semifinals, elimination matches to determine the finalists on November 5.
The WTA Finals will be part of Tennis Channel’s worldwide Center Court coverage, alongside live telecasts from the men’s Paris Masters tournament in France. Competition in Cancun that does not appear live on the network will be live on subscription service Tennis Channel Plus, with all WTA Finals matches available on demand following their completion.
Hall of Famer Lindsay Davenport (@LDavenport76) won the women’s year-end singles title in 1999 and doubles championships from 1996-1998. She returns as a Tennis Channel analyst during this year’s event. She will work in the booth with announcer and former player Chanda Rubin (@Chanda\Rubin). Rubin reached the WTA Finals in 2003 and is the 1996 Australian Open doubles champion. Recently retired CoCo Vandeweghe (@CocoVandey) will be one half of the network’s tournament-desk team, interviewing players and guests with award-winning Tennis Channel host Steve Weissman (@Steve\Weissman). During her playing days Vandeweghe was admired for her tenaciousness on the court while maintaining candor and humor with reporters and fans.
In addition to Gauff and Pegula, Americans Desirae Krawczyk and Nicole Melichar-Martinez are on doubles teams that qualified for this year’s WTA Finals. Krawczyk (World No. 11) won three doubles titles in 2023 and is a former doubles finalist at Roland Garros, commonly called the French Open. Melichar-Martinez’s (World No. 23) resume includes more than a dozen doubles championships, with doubles finals appearances at Wimbledon and the US Open.
Among this year’s notable contenders outside the United States are World No. 1 singles player Aryna Sabalenka – who battled Gauff in this year’s US Open singles championship – and World No. 2 Iga Swiatek, who has won the past two Roland Garros singles titles, two of four major trophies in her collection. Fan-favorite Ons Jabeur (World No. 7) is a three-time major singles finalist and the first Arab or African woman to reach a Grand Slam final in tennis’ Open Era.
Tennis Channel’s Live 2023 WTA Finals Coverage
Date Time (ET) Event
Sunday, Oct. 29 3:30 p.m. Singles, Doubles Round Robin
Monday, Oct. 30 3:30 p.m. Singles, Doubles Round Robin
Tuesday, Oct. 31 3:30 p.m. Singles, Doubles Round Robin
Wednesday, Nov. 1 3:30 p.m. Singles, Doubles Round Robin
Thursday, Nov. 2 3:30 p.m. Singles, Doubles Round Robin
Friday, Nov. 3` 3:30 p.m. Singles, Doubles Round Robin
Saturday, Nov. 4 3:30 p.m. Singles, Doubles Semifinals
Sunday, Nov. 5 4:30 p.m. Singles, Doubles Finals
Tennis Channel (www.tennischannel.com) which is owned by Sinclair Inc., is the only television-based multiplatform destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle. The network has the most concentrated single-sport coverage in television in one of the world’s most voluminous sports, with multiple men’s and women’s tournaments and singles, doubles and mixed competition throughout the year. Tennis Channel has rights at the four majors – US Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros (French Open) and Australian Open – and is the exclusive U.S. home of all men’s ATP World Tour and women’s WTA Tour competitions, Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, and Laver Cup. Direct-to-consumer streaming service Tennis Channel Plus is available to everyone in the United States and allows subscribers to select from another 4,500 live and on-demand matches and award-winning content from short-form to films throughout the tennis season. Tennis Channel International brings live competition and network content to markets in Europe and Asia via digital subscription and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels.Additional platform www.tennis.com is the largest digital outlet dedicated to the sport. Tennis Channel also manages a network of close to 20 podcasts.
About Sinclair, Inc.
Sinclair, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) is a diversified media company and a leading provider of local news and sports. The Company owns, operates and/or provides services to 185 television stations in 86 markets affiliated with all the major broadcast networks; owns Tennis Channel and multicast networks Comet, CHARGE!, TBD and The Nest; and owns and provides services to 21 regional sports network brands. Sinclair’s content is delivered via multiple platforms, including over-the-air, multi-channel video program distributors, and the nation’s largest streaming aggregator of local news content, NewsON. The Company regularly uses its website as a key source of Company information which can be accessed at www.sbgi.net.
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For further information:
Eric Abner, Tennis Channel, 310-314-9445, eabner@tennischannel.com, @TennisChannel