TENNIS CHANNEL TO PROVIDE DAILY LIVE STUDIO SHOW,
2019 TOURNAMENT REPLAY FOLLOWING BNP PARIBAS OPEN CANCELATION
Hosts of Tennis Channel Live to Keep Track of Player Developments,
Discuss State of the Sport with Guests in Wake of Coronavirus’ Impact
Week Two will Bring Close to 60 Hours of Live Matches
from the Arizona Tennis Classic in Phoenix
LOS ANGELES, March 10, 2020 – Following the cancelation of this week’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., Tennis Channel will go forward with its plans for a live, daily studio show to provide updates, reactions and context in the ongoing story of the coronavirus outbreak’s impact on the sport. Tennis Channel Live will be based in the network’s Los Angeles studio and run from Wednesday, March 11, through Sunday, March 15, airing from 1 p.m.-2 p.m. ET. The program will anchor a start-to-finish replay of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open, as well as close to 60 hours of live matches at the ATP Challenger event in Phoenix.
Hosted by announcer Steve Weissman (@steve_weissman), Tennis Channel Live will include insight from Hall of Famers Tracy Austin (@thetracyaustin) and Lindsay Davenport (@LDavenport76), as well as major-championship winning coach Paul Annacone (@paul_annacone). With daily conversation about this unprecedented moment in the history of the event, the team will follow player developments and tennis-related social media activity, and share perspective from on-air and in-studio guests as this story unfolds.
Encores of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open will follow the same days and times as when they were first played. From last year’s initial match through championship Sunday, the contests include almost every one of the game’s brightest stars, among them Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Venus Williams, Rafael Nadal, Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic. The network will return periodically to the Los Angeles studio team throughout these programming blocks for live updates and commentary.
Tennis Channel is also expanding its planned telecast of Phoenix’s Arizona Tennis Classic during what would have been the second week of the BNP Paribas Open. Moving its production truck to the site of the ATP Challenger, the network will show seven days of live tennis beginning Monday, March 16, at 2 p.m. ET (complete schedule below). Coverage concludes with the singles and doubles finals Sunday, March 22, beginning at 4 p.m. ET. Tennis Channel’s Brett Haber (@BrettHaber) and Leif Shiras (@leifshiras) will announce the matches, with Austin, Davenport, Annacone and former player Prakash Amritraj (@PrakashAmritraj) offering commentary.
Tennis Channel’s Live Arizona Tennis Classic Coverage Schedule
Date Time (ET) Event
Monday, March 16 2 p.m.-9 p.m.; 9:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. Early Rounds
Tuesday, March 17 2 p.m.-9 p.m.; 9:30 p.m.-1 a.m. Early Rounds
Wednesday, March 18 2 p.m.-7:30 p.m.; 9:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. Early Rounds
Thursday, March 19 1 p.m.-7 p.m.; 7:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. Early Rounds
Friday, March 20 2 p.m.-6 p.m.; 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.;
11 p.m.-1 a.m. Quarterfinals
Saturday, March 21 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Semifinals
Sunday, March 22 4 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Singles and Doubles Finals
