With the men’s championship on the line, CBS Sports will bid farewell to the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, ending a 47-year run with the American Grand Slam.
CBS began its journey with the dawn of the Open era in 1968, when amateur Arthur Ashe won the title, previously known as the U.S. National Championships, by topping The Netherlands’ Tom Okker in five sets on the grass at the West Side Tennis Center in Forest Hills, Queens. On Monday, Sept. 8, CBS will help crown a new king -- 2011 winner and four-time runner-up Novak Djokovic is seeded to meet five-time Open monarch and all-time Grand Slam lord Roger Federer in the final – on the court bearing Ashe’s name.
Outbid by ESPN on a new 11-year, $825 million rights deal that goes into effect in 2015, CBS will leave the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens and its hard courts for the last time, but not before sharing its memories and celebrating the tourney’s history.
On Sunday, Aug. 24 at 1:30 p.m., the broadcast network will air a half-hour special program, CBS Salutes The U.S. Open, looking back at the moments and champions that have highlighted its first 46 years of tourney coverage with a number of the announcers who have called the action. Bill Macatee hosts and will be joined byTony Trabert, John McEnroe, Mary Carillo, Virginia Wade and Dick Enberg.
Returning from his current gig calling San Diego Padres baseball games on FS San Diego, Enberg, who served as 12 years as CBS’s lead play-by-play man at the Open, will make one last match call – and no doubt utter an “Oh, my” or three -- on Sunday, Aug. 31, alongside his former boothmates McEnroe and Carillo. The legendary broadcaster also will be part of the network’s final weekend coverage, contributing an essay reliving some of the event’s most memorable moments. Moreover, CBS will present a vignette series throughout the tournament commemorating the great Open moments on its dial over the years. These shorts will also be available on CBSSports.com.
Per usual, CBS will join the Open over Labor Day weekend, with seven hours of daily coverage from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday Aug. 30, Sunday Aug. 31 and Monday Sept. 1, before closing shop with women’s and men’s semifinal and championship action (see schedule below).
Sister service CBS Sports Network will again feature Open coverage with three days of live Labor Day weekend action showcasing the most compelling third and fourth-round matches not shown during CBS’s live simultaneous broadcast. The cable network also presents live studio show, Today at the U.S. Open, from the National Tennis Center.
Additionally, CBS Sports’ full coverage of the tourney will be available on CBSSports.com through live streaming at cbssports.com/tennis/usopen. Highlights and video on demand content for the matches CBS Sports is broadcasting will be available both online and on mobile phones via the CBS Sports app for iOS and Android.
Before stepping onto the court next year and adding the Labor Day weekend action and the business end of the tourney, ESPN’s various platforms in their sixth year of presentations from Flushing Meadows will present 100 TV hours and 400 hours from up to seven courts on broadband portal ESPN3, beginning on Monday, Aug. 25
“We are proud of what we have brought to the U.S. Open for now a sixth year in the U.S. – serving fans with more television hours than ever, all TV courts on ESPN3, online coverage highlighted by Courtcast on ESPN.com, and the best tennis team in the business on both sides of the camera – and we look forward to an exciting event where so much is on the line for the game’s brightest stars,” said Jason Bernstein, ESPN senior director, programming and acquisitions. “We take seriously our role in documenting the sport’s year-long narrative, and while saluting the tremendous work CBS has done for 46 years we’re excited about what lies ahead for fans starting next year.”
For its part, Tennis Channel will air some 75 hours of live matches from the first day of play through the second Thursday, highlighted by primetime coverage on Saturday and Sunday on Labor Day weekend.
Also in its sixth year of event coverage, Tennis Channel will devote more than 260 hours over the 15-day competition, including almost 60 hours of encore matches, four hours of daily lead-in show Tennis Channel Live at the U.S. Open, and 130 hours of nightly U.S. Open Tonight and daily Breakfast at the Open.
Marking the Open’s open on Aug. 25, that Monday stands as a typical day for the independent network, which will come on the the air at 10:30 a.m. (ET) with the half-hour Tennis Channel Live at the U.S. Open from its set on the second level of Arthur Ashe Stadium. Live match coverage begins with the first ball of play at 11 a.m. and runs to 7 p.m. News and highlight show U.S. Open Tonight screens from 11 p.m.-2:30 a.m., followed by an immediate encore from 2:30 a.m.-6 a.m. From 6 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Breakfast at the Open will bring morning viewers up to speed on everything up to the start of that day's live coverage.
CBS Sports’ schedule of live US Open Tennis action:
Saturday, Aug. 30 11:00 AM-6:00 PM, ET (men’s and women’s third round singles)
Sunday, Aug. 31 11:00 AM-6:00 PM, ET (men’s third round/women’s fourth round)
Monday, Sept. 1 11:00 AM-6:00 PM, ET (men’s/women’s fourth round singles)
Friday, Sept. 5 12:30-6:00 PM, ET (mixed doubles championship/women’s semi-finals)
Saturday, Sept. 6 12:00 NOON-6:00 PM, ET (men’s semi-finals)
Sunday, Sept. 7 4:30 PM, ET (women’s singles championship)
Monday, Sept. 8 5:00 PM, ET (men’s singles championship)
CBS Sports Network’s schedule of live US Open Tennis action:
Saturday, Aug. 30 11:00 AM-12:00 NOON, ET; 3:30-6:00 PM, ET third round singles)
Sunday, Aug. 31 11:00 AM-6:00 PM, ET (men’s third round/women’s fourth round)
Monday, Sept. 1 11:00 AM-6:00 PM, ET (men’s/women’s fourth round singles)
ESPN / ESPN2 & US Open 2014
Tennis Channel's Live 2014 US Open Coverage Schedule
Date Time (ET) Event
Monday, Aug. 25 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. First Round
Tuesday, Aug. 26 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. First Round
Wednesday, Aug. 27 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. First Round, Second Round
Thursday, Aug. 28 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Second Round
Friday, Aug. 29 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Second Round, Third Round
Saturday, Aug. 30 7 p.m.-11 p.m. Third Round
Sunday, Aug. 31 7 p.m.-11 p.m. Third Round, Round of 16
Tuesday, Sept. 2 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Round of 16, Doubles
Wednesday, Sept. 3 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Doubles, Juniors
Thursday, Sept. 4 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Doubles, Juniors, Legends Exhibition
Tennis Channel's US Open Tonight, Breakfast at the Open Schedule
U.S. Open Tonight airs for 11 consecutive nights, from Monday, Aug. 25 to Thursday, Sept. 4. Its premiere will usually run from 11 p.m.-2:30 p.m. (ET) followed immediately by an encore from 2:30 a.m.-6 a.m. The exception will be Sunday, Aug. 31, when the show does not air until after midnight, from 12:30 a.m.-4 a.m. (early Monday, Sept. 1), followed by an encore edition from 4 a.m.-6 a.m. Breakfast at the Open also runs for 11 straight nights, from Tuesday, Aug. 26 to Friday, Sept. 5. The show airs from 6 a.m.-10:30 a.m. every morning except for August 30-31, September 1 and September 5, when it ends at 11 a.m.
