LOS ANGELES, Nov. 3, 2022 –Tennis Channel will provide complete live coverage of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals November 8-13, as stars Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula lead the United States’ quest for a record-extending 19th championship. The network will also show the brightest young stars in men’s tennis during the week, at the Next Gen ATP Finals November 8-12. Billie Jean King Cup Finals matches will appear on Tennis Channel, streaming service Tennis Channel Plus and free advertising-supported TV channel T2 on Samsung TV Plus. Next Gen ATP Finals telecasts will air on Tennis Channel and Tennis Channel Plus.
The Billie Jean King Cup Finals complete the yearlong annual tournament to determine the best country in women’s tennis. Twelve nations will battle in Glasgow, Scotland, in a round-robin format followed by single-elimination semifinals and final. Tennis Channel will provide 40 live hours and more than 20 hours of encore replays during this year’s competition, with live matches every day of the five-day event. A typical day’s coverage gets underway with the early session at 5 a.m. ET, followed by the second session at 11 a.m. ET. The championship is set for Sunday, Nov. 13, at 11 a.m. ET.
The United States is guaranteed two round-robin matches. The Americans will play Poland Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 11 a.m. ET; and the Czech Republic Friday, Nov. 11, at 11:30 a.m. ET. Should the U.S. team finish first among the three countries in its pool it will advance to the semifinal round Saturday, Nov. 12.
Tennis Channel will show more than 25 live hours of the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, live from Milan, and another 20 hours of encores. The event, which pits the eight top-ranked men’s tennis players ages 21 and younger, also follows a round-robin format with two groups of four. Matches begin with an afternoon session each day at 9 a.m. ET, followed by an evening session at 2:30 p.m. ET Two members of each group advance to the single-elimination semifinals, planned for Friday, Nov. 11, at 2 p.m. ET. The final will take place Saturday, Nov. 12, at 4 p.m. ET.
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Hall of Famer Tracy Austin (@thetracyaustin) will provide commentary during Tennis Channel’s coverage of both tournaments. No stranger to competing for the United States during her playing career, she helped win three consecutive Billie Jean King Cups (then known as Fed Cup) from 1978-1980. Former player Jimmy Arias (@ariastennis) who ranked No. 5 in singles and competed for the United States in the men’s Davis Cup competition in 1984, 1986 and 1987, also will serve as a network analyst for both events. Emmy Award-winning announcer Brett Haber (@BrettHaber) will handle play-by-play duties for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals and Next Gen ATP Finals, as will former player Mark Knowles (@Knowlzee10s). Knowles played Davis Cup for the Bahamas 14 times, in 1989, 1992-2003 and 2008. Former No. 1-ranked British player Samantha Smith will join Tennis Channel for the first time, offering commentary with Austin during Billie Jean King Cup coverage November 10 and 11.
The United States has appeared in 30 Billie Jean King Cup Finals and collected 18 championships, both records. The team is captained by Kathy Rinaldi, who in 2017 guided the Americans to their first cup title in 17 years. She had led the squad since 2016.
This is Gauff’s first Billie Jean King Cup tournament, in a year when she’s achieved a career-high of No. 4 in singles and reached her first major final at the French Open this spring. Jessica Pegula has also had a season to remember as one of the most consistent players on the tour, reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, French Open and US Open and finishing at No. 3 in singles. This is her second time at the event, having competed for the United States in 2019.
Both Gauff and Pegula earned their way into the exclusive season-ending WTA Finals in Ft. Worth, Tex., live on Tennis Channel this week.
Madison Keys suited up for the Billie Jean King Cup in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019, and is a 2017 US Open finalist. She is currently ranked No. 11 in singles. Teammate Danielle Collins is No. 14 in singles and will play for the United States for the third time, following her participation in the 2019 and 2021 campaigns. Taylor Townsend reached the US Open double final this year and rounds out the national team. She has played in this event once before, in 2015.
The United States will join a field that includes: Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, the Czech Republic, Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland.
The Next Gen ATP Finals have become a proving ground for future men’s tennis stars. Eight of the top-10 singles players in the rankings today are event alumni, including current World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, who won the 2021 Next Gen ATP Finals title. This year 21-year-old American Brandon Nakashima, currently ranked No. 50 in singles, will compete in the event for the second time. He reached the semifinals last year, where he lost a hard-fought five-set match to conclude a solid tournament run.
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Tennis Channel will head into next weekend with live coverage of the inaugural All America Cup in San Antonio November 11-13. The five-session event will pit two teams of five American men’s tennis players against each other, each captained by one of twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan, widely considered the greatest men’s doubles team of all time. Split into east and west based on their birthplaces, the teams are as follows: East – Captain Bob Bryan, Frances Tiafoe, John Isner, Jack Sock, Denis Kudla and J.J. Wolf; West – Captain Mike Bryan, Taylor Fritz, Marcos Giron, Jenson Brooksby, Mackenzie McDonald and Steve Johnson.
Day sessions on November 11 and 12 will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET, followed by night sessions at 8 p.m. ET. The final session on November 13 will start at 4 p.m.
Tennis Channel (www.tennischannel.com) which is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, 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, Laver Cup and Billie Jean King 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 platforms Tennis Magazine and www.tennis.com are the largest print and digital outlets dedicated to the sport. Tennis Channel also manages a network of close to 20 podcasts.
About Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. 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; owns multiple national networks including Tennis Channel and Stadium; has TV stations affiliated with all the major broadcast networks and owns and/or operates 21 regional sports network brands. Sinclair’s content is delivered via multiple platforms, including over-the-air, multi-channel video program distributors, and digital and streaming platforms NewsON and STIRR. The Company regularly uses its website as a key source of Company information which can be accessed atwww.sbgi.net.
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Eric Abner, Tennis Channel, 310-314-9445, eabner@tennischannel.com, @TennisChannelPR