Djokovic Goes for Calendar-Year Grand Slam  

130+ Hours on TV; ESPN+, ESPN3 to Present Every Match from all Courts  

Fans Return to New York’s Annual Late-Summer Party 

With stands again full of cheering crowds, ESPN’s exclusive coverage of the US Open will begin Monday, Aug. 30.  ESPN will present 130+ hours of live television with daily marathon telecasts, and all matches are available on the ESPN App between ESPN+ and ESPN3.  The event concludes with the Women’s and Men’s Championships, Saturday, Sept. 11, and Sunday the 12th, respectively. ESPN2 will also preview the tournament with the one-hour SportsCenter at the US Open at noon ET on Sunday, Aug. 29.   

The leading storyline leading into this year’s tournament is the attempt by Novak Djokovic for a calendar-year Grand Slam, having won this year’s Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon.  A win would also break the tie for the most career Major championships for men he shares at 20 with rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, both of whom are unable to play in the US Open because of injury.  

As host broadcaster, ESPN’s coverage of the US Open is its largest production of the year with programming provided to networks in virtually every corner of the globe.  Some 600 people will be on site at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to capture the action on all 16 courts, most with 12 or more hours of action per day.  

Highlights  

• From the start of the tournament to Wednesday, Sept. 8, ESPN’s coverage will start each day with the first ball across TV and the ESPN App, including ESPN+, generally at 11 a.m. and continuing 12 or more hours until play concludes.   
• ESPN will air the women’s semifinals Thursday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. and Women’s Championship Saturday, Sept. 11 at 4 p.m. The men’s semis will air Friday, Sept. 10 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., with the Men’s Championship on Sunday, Sept. 12 at 4 p.m., preceded by a one-hour preview show before the Men’s Championship at 3 p.m.
• ESPN+ will present live hundreds of exclusive matches, including singles, doubles, juniors and wheelchair action with multiple court feeds each day.  In addition, it’s video-on-demand offering houses 50 of the greatest US Open matches. 
• The ESPN App will once again add an additional feed – “US Open Multicam” – for the semifinals and finals.  The offering will feature three boxes on the screen, the primary TV view, plus two more, each focusing on one player. 
• ESPN Deportes will carry 75 hours of TV coverage with more on the ESPN App and ESPN+, including semifinals, both singles championships and a 30-minute preview show before the men’s final. 
• ESPN2 will televise two doubles championships: Men’s on Friday, Sept. 10, at noon, and the Women’s on Sunday, Sept. 12, at 1 p.m. ESPN3 will carry the Mixed Doubles championship on Saturday, Sept. 11, at noon.  

The ESPN Tennis Team   

MORE TV & DIGITAL MEDIA, AT HOME AND ABROAD 

ESPN.com will have extensive previews, reviews, analysis, the latest news, polls, videos and more.  

Multi-screen coverage on DirecTV: During ESPN’s telecast through Saturday, Sept. 5, DirecTV will provide a multi-screen mosaic with the ESPN program and matches with commentary from five other courts. On Sunday, Sept. 6, it will be a four-screen mosaic.  Sam Gore will host with Luke Jensen, joined by other ESPN tennis experts.  The offering  includes press conferences, interviews and features during court changeovers and between matches, and interactive social media options, real-time scoring and draws.  

ESPN and its affiliated networks around the globe will offer extensive high-definition US Open coverage throughout the Caribbean, Oceania and Latin America including Brazil via its numerous regional media platforms.   

• ESPN Caribbean and ESPN in the Pacific Rim will present first-ball-to-last-ball coverage in English totaling more than 130 live hours. Additionally, matches with Australian players or others who resonate in the region will be aired on the ESPN2 network in Australia.   
• In Spanish-speaking Latin America, ESPN air more than 180 hours of live action, as well as a preview show leading into the men’s final.  Veterans Luis Alfredo Alvarez and Eduardo Varela will provide the Spanish play-by-play alongside analysts Jose Luis Clerc and Daniel Orsanic, both former US Open competitors.  Coverage will be enhanced from the site with host Carolina Guillen and reporter Pilar Perez conducting interviews and producing features for SportsCenter and other studio shows.  Also, current Puerto Rican tennis pro Monica Puig will join the commentary booth at selected matches. 
• In Brazil, ESPN will televise more than 140 live hours along with daily PelasQuadras tennis studio show. 
• Online, Latin America’s broadband service, ESPN Play (WatchESPN in Brazil) will offer every match via live streaming across all 16 courts. 
• Star – a direct-to-consumer streaming platform set to launch in Latin America on Tuesday, August 31 – will feature US Open coverage as one of the first premier events available on the service. 
• In Canada, TSN and RDS will deliver hundreds of hours of live coverage across the nation’s leading sports networks, with TSN’s Mark Roe hosting from New York.  Subscribers to TSN, RDS, TSN Direct, and RDS Direct will also have access to extra live streaming content on TSN.ca, RDS.ca, and the networks’ respective apps. 

ESPN & the 2021 US Open  

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