For First Time, All of Wimbledon Available – and Only from ESPN; Fortnight Begins July 2

·         For First Time, Cameras on Every Court for “First Ball to Last Ball” Coverage

·         ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPN+ to Present More than 500 Matches, all on the ESPN App

·         140 Hours on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC

·         New ESPN+ Service to Offer Action throughout the Fortnight, as well as all Four Days of Qualifying Exclusively This Week

·         Weeklong Marathon of Great Matches on ESPN Classic; 8.5-Hour Replay of Epic Isner-Mahut on ESPN2 Late June 30 at Midnight

·         Gentlemen’s Storylines:  Will Rest Again Help Top Seed Federer?  Will Nadal’s Dominance on Clay Continue on Grass?  Or, Finally a New Champion?

·         Ladies’ Storylines:  An 8th for Serena?  Two Venus Rosewater Dishes in a Row for Muguruza?  Consecutive Major Titles for Top-Seeded Halep?

·         “Cross Court Coverage” Again on ESPN, ESPN2 for Second Monday-Wednesday

·         ESPN3 Multicam Returns for Semifinals, Championships plus Two Daily Press Conference Feeds

·         Doubles Championships:  Ladies’, Gentlemen’s Live on ESPN on July 14, Mixed on July 15

Fans will be able to experience every serve and slice as if they were patrons at The Championships, Wimbledon – minus the strawberries and cream, as for the first time every match from the 18 courts will be played in front of cameras and presented exclusively by ESPN for the fortnight from London beginning Monday, July 2.  The coverage – first ball to last ball – includes more than 500 matches from the All England Club’s pristine grass courts, all available for fans between ESPN3 and the new ESPN+ on the ESPN app, with 140 hours of action on TV.  The action will climax with the Ladies’ Championship and the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Doubles Championships on ESPN on Saturday, July 14, and the Gentlemen’s Championship on Sunday, July 15, followed by the Mixed Doubles Championship.

Starting today and through Thursday, June 28, all four days of qualifying will stream live exclusively on ESPN+, the new direct-to-consumer subscription service available within the ESPN App.  All-day action starts at 6 a.m. ET from one of the grass courts at the Bank of England Sports Centre in Roehampton, not far from Wimbledon and the All England Lawn Tennis Club.  This is the first professional tennis action on ESPN+.

Highlights:  All Day, Daily Coverage across TV, ESPN3 and ESPN+

• The first five weekdays, ESPN begins at 7 a.m. ET for daylong coverage (scheduled to end at 4:30 p.m. except 4 p.m. on Wednesday). The action gets started live at 6:30 a.m. streaming on ESPN3 and ESPN+.
• The ESPN App will be the all-in-one streaming home for Wimbledon, with ESPN and ESPN2 telecasts and the matches streaming on ESPN3 and ESPN+. Combined, the app will stream more than 500 matches totaling 1,500 hours from all 18 courts (Centre, Courts 1-12, 14-18.), plus AELTC’s daily The Wimbledon Channel and two all-day feeds with press conferences from the media centre at the All England Club. Offering will include coverage in Spanish every day.  Matches will also be available on demand afterwards.
• On Saturday, July 7, ESPN again begins at 7 a.m., but with the one-hour Breakfast at Wimbledon presented by Panera Bread before another day full of action.
• On the “middle Sunday,” July 8 – Wimbledon’s traditional day of rest – ABC will broadcast a three-hour review of the first week at 3 p.m. In addition, ABC will present encore presentations of the singles championships on the day they take place, July 14 and 15, at 3 p.m.
• “Cross Court Coverage” returns the first three days of the second week, with ESPN starting at 8 a.m. and focused on Centre Court all day while fans will enjoy a “grounds pass” with matches from No.1 Court and elsewhere on ESPN2 beginning at 7 a.m. on Monday, July 9, and at 8 a.m. on July 10 and 11.
• From Thursday, July 12, through the Championships, all the action is on ESPN, beginning each day with Breakfast at Wimbledon presented by Panera Bread (7 a.m. on July 12-13 leading into the semifinals, 8 a.m. on July 14-15, previewing the Championships).
• Saturday, July 14, will feature the Ladies’ Singles Championship along with the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Doubles Championship on ESPN with the Gentlemen’s Championship and Mixed Doubles Championship on Sunday. All other division championships will be available on ESPN+ within the ESPN App.
• As in the past, ESPN3 will offer a second screen experience for the semifinals and Championships.

About ESPN+

Launched in April, ESPN+ is the first-ever multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International division in partnership with ESPN.  Its lineup includes hundreds of MLB, NHL and MLS games, Top Rank boxing, Grand Slam tennis, PGA TOUR golf, college sports, international rugby, cricket, original shows and series, the full library of ESPN Films (including 30 for 30) and more. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year).  It is available within the newly redesigned ESPN App and through ESPN.com.  

The ESPN Tennis Team, the best in television, at Wimbledon:

• Darren Cahill, who once reached the US Open semifinals and the Australian Open doubles finals and went on to coach fellow Australian Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi, has worked for ESPN since 2007. Currently the coach of Simona Halep, the No. 1-ranked player in the world and recent French Open champion, he will serve as an analyst for men’s matches.
• Cliff Drysdale, who was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in July 2013, reached the US Open finals and is a two-time Wimbledon and French Open semifinalist. He has been with ESPN since its first tennis telecast in 1979.  Drysdale was a leader on the court – a top player for many years who was one of the first to use a two-hand backhand – and off the court, as the first president of the ATP.
• Chrissie Evert, a Hall of Famer who joined ESPN in 2011, her 18 Major titles include three at Wimbledon. She recorded the best career win-loss record in history, reached more Major singles finals than any man or woman (34), and reached the semis or better in 34 consecutive Majors (1971-83).  The AP Female Athlete of the Year four times, in 1976 she was the first woman to be the sole recipient of Sports Illustrated’s Sportswoman of the Year.
• Mary Joe Fernandez, an ESPN analyst since 2000, played in three Major singles finals and won two Majors in doubles, won a Gold Medal in doubles at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics and a Bronze in singles in 1992.  She was the coach of the United States’ Fed Cup team for eight years, stepping down in 2016, and coached the 2012 and ’16 U.S. women’s Olympic team.
• Mardy Fish, a former longtime pro who once was No. 7 in the world, is an analyst. The Minnesota native won six events on tour, an Olympic Silver Medal in 2004 and reached the quarterfinals of three Majors – Australia, French and Wimbledon.  He was the top-ranked American man in 2011 when he reached a career high of No. 7.  He retired after the 2015 US Open.
• Chris Fowler – who joined ESPN in 1986 and is the lead ESPN/ABC college football play caller, joined the ESPN tennis team in 2003 – will call matches. He hosted College GameDay on football Saturdays 1990-2014, and has hosted World Cup soccer, college basketball including the Final Four, the X Games and Triple Crown horse racing events.  Originally, he was the first host of Scholastic Sports America and later was a SportsCenter
• Brad Gilbert, whose flair and unique nicknames for players has enlivened ESPN’s tennis telecasts since 2004, parlayed his playing career – once reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open and at Wimbledon – into coaching Andre Agassi (six Major titles with Brad), Andy Roddick (US Open victory) and Andy Murray.
• Jason Goodall will serve as a studio and match analyst. A one-time standout among Juniors in Britain whose career was ended by injury at 21, he later coached ESPN’s Mary Joe Fernandez and Pam Shriver and the British Fed Cup team.
• John McEnroe won seven Major singles titles, including three at Wimbledon, during his storied career, which included 10 more Major crowns in doubles or mixed doubles. He also led the U.S. to four Davis Cup titles and won the NCAA’s while attending Stanford.  He has worked for ESPN since 2009.
• Patrick McEnroe, who has worked for ESPN since 1995, was a three-time singles All-American at Stanford – where the team won NCAA titles in 1986 and 1988 – and served as General Manager, USTA Elite Player Development from 2008 – 2015.  He won the 1992 French Open doubles title and reached the 1991 Australian Open semifinals in singles.  He served as the U.S. Davis Cup captain 2001-2010; in 2007 the team won its first championship since 1995.
• Chris McKendry returns as host, a role she has filled at all the Majors for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 1996 as a SportsCenter anchor, and later hosted the Little League World Series and X Games.  As of Spring 2016, she focuses on tennis.  She attended Drexel University on a tennis scholarship.
• Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’ coach since 2012, helped her to unprecedented success deep into her mid-30s – 10 Major titles, an Olympic Gold Medal and a stranglehold on the WTA No. 1 ranking. A longtime coach, including great results over seven years with Marcos Baghdatis, he will serve as an analyst.
• Tom Rinaldi will serve as a reporter and will call matches. Since 2003, his features and interviews have graced a wide variety of ESPN programs – including SportsCenter, Outside the Lines, E:60 and event telecasts such as Wimbledon, golf’s Majors, college football and more – winning numerous awards.
• Pam Shriver, who started working for ESPN in 1990, long before her Hall of Fame career ended, played in the US Open finals at age 16 (losing to Evert) and three times in the Wimbledon semifinals. She won 21 Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles (another in Mixed) including five at Wimbledon plus a Gold Medal in doubles at the 1988 Olympics.
• Rennae Stubbs, who enjoyed a long career in doubles – winning six Majors: four in women’s and two in mixed, representing Australia at four Olympic Games and for 17 years in Fed Cup, will be an analyst. She’s worked summer events for ESPN for many years, and for NBC at the Olympics and for Tennis Channel.

Surveying the Fields…leads to Questions

• Defending and eight-time champ Roger Federer is hoping his 2017 winning strategy works again: the 36-year-old again skipped the clay season to focus on Wimbledon.  Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal, now 32, looked stronger than ever with three clay championships including the French Open.  Those two have shared the last six Major titles…Can that continue?
• If not them, who? Until very recently, three-time champion Novak Djokovic has not been himself for two years.  Two-time winner Andy Murray didn’t play for nearly 12 months after Wimbledon 2017 because of a hip injury.  Those four hold every Wimbledon crown back to 2003.  In fact, the ATP “Big Four” have won 30 of the last 34 Majors and 48 of the last 53.
• It’s a very different scene on the Ladies’ side where the last seven Majors have seen seven different winners (four of whom were first-time Major champions): Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams, Jelena Ostapenko, Garbiñe Muguruza (Wimbledon), Sloane Stephens, Caroline Wozniacki and Simona Halep.  Can that continue?
• If there’s an 8th, will it be a new or familiar face celebrating at Centre Court? The field also includes Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova and two-time winner Petra Kvitova…and who can discount former champions Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams with five Venus Rosewater Dishes on her mantle, is still a top-10 player who reached the final a year ago?
• Americans to Watch: The top 15 men in the current rankings includes three Americans:  John Isner, 2017 Wimbledon semifinalist Sam Querrey and Jack Sock.  Among the ladies, in addition to recent French Open finalist Stephens and legend Venus Williams, Madison Keys was a semifinalist in Paris and CoCo Vandeweghe and her power game have twice reached the quarterfinals in London.

MORE TV & DIGITAL MEDIA, AT HOME AND ABROAD

ESPN.com will have previews, reviews, the latest news and videos and more:

• Courtcast: A multi-tool application with live events via ESPN’s syndicated streaming player, all-court scoring, match stats, poll questions, rolling Twitter feeds and scrolling bottom line
• Daily preview of the next day’s biggest matches.
• Social buzz: What’s happening around the grounds our fans need to know about.
• Global scene: A daily look at the storylines that are resonating in all of our regions.
• com will be on site, providing features and profiles.

ESPNDeportes.com will provide live scores and draws, in depth news and coverage of Latin American players, columns, blogs, live chats, video, highlights and news, including Wimbledon that will recap the day’s play. The site will also feature Slam Central, a special index page dedicated to all four Grand Slams. 

For the 11th year, ESPN will provide multi-screen coverage with commentary of five matches in addition to ESPN or ESPN2 network program through the second Monday of the Championships, on DirecTV.  Fans will also receive interviews, features, press conferences and studio analysis from the All England Club.  Sam Gore will host, joined in the studio by Rennae Stubbs, Mardy Fish and Chris Bowers.  Commentators for outer court matches will be provided by the BBC.  In addition to the video offerings, DirecTV viewers can access results, schedules, draws and other interactive features through the “Red Button” application on their remote. In total, ESPN will provide more than 350 hours of coverage through this unique application.

ESPN Classic is presenting a seven-day (plus one hour = 169 hours), non-stop marathon of memorable Wimbledon matches that started today, Monday, June 25, at 5 a.m.  The marathon concludes Monday, July 2 at 6 a.m., one hour before the 2018 Championships commence.  The matches are primarily championships and go back as far as the 1977 Gentlemen’s Championship (Bjorn Borg vs. Jimmy Connors).

In the late hours of Saturday, June 30, into Sunday, July 1, ESPN2 will look back at one of the most memorable matches in tennis history, the 2010 first-round duel of attrition between American John Isner and Nicholas Mahut.  Played over three days, the match lasted 11 hours and five with a final score of 6–4, 3–6, 6–7^(7–9), 7–6^(7–3), 70–68, the longest tennis match in history measured both by time and number of games. The final set alone was longer than the previous longest match.  The 8.5-hour telecast will begin late Saturday at midnight (9 p.m. PT).

ESPN International, the home of tennis’ Grand Slam events in Latin America and the Caribbean, will provide live Wimbledon coverage to more than 44 countries and 60 million homes via its television and digital platforms throughout the region.  ESPN’s Spanish language pan-regional networks will offer more than 140 hours of live tennis, focused on the top-ranked players in the world, while the regional networks will focus on players of local interest. In addition to the live coverage, ESPN will offer two daily encore presentations featuring the best matches of the day. ESPN’s Spanish-language commentator team will include tennis experts Luis Alfredo Alvarez and Eduardo Varela calling matches with analysts Javier Frana and Jose Luis Clerc, along with reporter Nicolas Pereira.  ESPN’s Caribbean networks will provide simulcast coverage and will broadcast over 120-hours of live Wimbledon content.

ESPN Play – ESPN International’s Spanish- and English-language broadband service in Latin America and the Caribbean – will offer 1,400-hours of live coverage from up to 15 courts simultaneously, covering every point from every camera court; ESPN Play will also offer qualifying matches for the first time, June 25-28, as well as the Wimbledon Surround three-screen service for the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Semifinals and Championships.

ESPN and Tennis

Tennis has been part of ESPN since its first week on the air, providing numerous memorable moments from around the world, but it has never been as important as today, with the unprecedented position of presenting three of the sport’s Major events from start to finish (Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open, with exclusivity at the latter two).

ESPN & WIMBLEDON 2018

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