LOS ANGELES, July 18, 2023 – Tennis Channel’s post-Wimbledon summer begins with a Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (July 22), Hopman Cup international mixed-doubles tournament (July 19-23) and the return of professional tennis to Los Angeles through the rapid-fire Ultimate Tennis Showdown (July 21-23) – and that is just week one. The network, its second channel T2 and streaming service Tennis Channel Plus will be the exclusive media home of these events and the eight-city, six-week North American season that leads to the US Open at the end of August. Coverage gets underway with the Infosys Hall of Fame Open in Newport, R.I., this week (series calendar, schedule information below).
The International Tennis Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place Saturday, July 22, at 6 p.m. ET, live on Tennis Channel. At 5 p.m. ET, host Steve Weissman (@SteveWeissman), Hall of Famer Pam Shriver (@PHShriver) and network worldwide-reporter Prakash Amritraj (@PrakishAmritraj) will discuss the inductees onTennis Channel Live_. Longtime Tennis Channel announcer and host Brett Haber (@BrettHaber) will again be the master of ceremonies, a role he has held since 2014, as Esther Vergeer and Rick Draney become the sixth and seventh wheelchair tennis inductees. Vergeer is one of the most decorated athletes in Dutch history and topped the singles world rankings from October 2000 to January 2013. American Draney was a three-time International Tennis Federation year-end Word No. 1 and a pioneer in the growth of the sport.
This week also marks the return of the Hopman Cup, the mixed-doubles competition between teams representing their countries. The event, held annually from 1989-2019, will be in Nice, France, July 19-23. T2 will have daily live telecasts beginning at 10 a.m. ET throughout the five-day competition. This year’s tournament includes teams from Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Spain and Switzerland, and features stars like men’s World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and World No. 8 doubles player Elise Mertens of Belgium.
The North American events between now and the US Open are the Infosys Hall of Fame Open (Newport), Atlanta Open (Atlanta), Mubadala Citi DC Open(Washington), National
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Bank Open presented by Rogers (Montreal/Toronto), Western & Southern Open (Cincinnati), Tennis in the Land(Cleveland) and Winston-Salem Open(Winston-Salem, N.C.). Men’s events are in Newport, Atlanta, Toronto and Winston-Salem, with women’s tournaments in Montreal and Cleveland. Washington and Cincinnati are combined men’s and women’s competitions.
Tennis Channel will devote close to 700 total hours to these seven events, with 335 live and another 350 of encore matches. Live coverage of all tournaments will take place on T2 and Tennis Channel Plus as well, with the streaming service making matches available on demand following their conclusion.
Tennis Channel’s 2023 North American Season Television Coverage*
Tournament City Dates Live/Encore Hours
Newport (ATP) Monday, July 17-Sunday, July 23 More than 35/30
Atlanta (ATP) Monday, July 24-Sunday, July 30 More than 40/25
Washington (ATP/WTA) Monday, July 31-Sunday, Aug. 6 More than 65/35
Toronto (ATP)/
Montreal (WTA) Monday, Aug. 7-Sunday, Aug. 13 More than 65/90
Cincinnati (ATP/WTA) Sunday, Aug. 13-Sunday, Aug. 20 More than 70/80
Winston-Salem (ATP) Sunday, Aug. 20-Saturday, Aug. 26 More than 30/45
Cleveland (WTA) Sunday, Aug. 20-Saturday, Aug. 26 More than 30/45
*(These tournaments are part of Tennis Channel’sCenter Court_ coverage, with simultaneous matches televised from around the world. Complete, daily schedules can be found at www.tennischannel.com/schedule.)_
This week also sees the return of a pro-level tennis tour to Los Angeles in the form of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown July 21-23. Launched in 2020, the series pits top-level players against each other in fast-paced competitions with innovative rules designed to attract younger fans. The series is the brainchild of Serena Williams’ longtime coach Patrick Mouratoglou, and limits matches to four eight-minute quarters with Sudden Death tiebreakers to keep the pace moving. Players are encouraged to express themselves on court in a way not usually seen in traditional tennis. Among the stars participating this week are Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Gael Monfils, in what is the UTS’ first stop outside of Europe and the first tennis event of this caliber since an ATP event in 2012.
Matches will air live on T2 every day beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
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
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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 Plusis 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 Internationalbrings live competition and network content to markets in Europe and Asia via digital subscription and free ad-supported streamingTV (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! and TBD; 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 atwww.sbgi.net.
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For further information:
Eric Abner, Tennis Channel, 310-314-9445, eabner@tennischannel.com, @TennisChannelPR