ESPN Serves Up WTA Tour Online

ESPN360.com and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Thursday announced a new partnership agreement to stream live video coverage of more than 70 matches from 11 women’s professional tennis events over the next six months.

Live online coverage begins Thursday with matches from The Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin and will conclude with the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha.

ESPN officials said all matches will also be available for on-demand replay for at least 48 hours after their completion.

“ESPN360.com exists to serve the passions of sports fans, and there are few groups of fans as passionate as the tennis community,” Damon Phillips, vice president, ESPN360.com said in a statement. “Adding such a robust schedule of events that feature the world’s top women’s tennis players will deliver a huge value to millions of tennis fans, as well as to ESPN360.com affiliates.”

ESPN360.com’s schedule of Sony Ericsson WTA Tour coverage also includes the following events: Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, Italy; International Women’s Open in Eastbourne, UK; Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada; Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan; China Open in Beijing, China; Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany; Kremlin Cup in Moscow, Russia; Zurich Open in Zurich, Switzerland; Generali Ladies Linz in Linz, Austria; and Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar.