Line up of Broadcasters for the 2009 Australian Open
January 12, 2009 by Julie Bonner
Filed under Tennis
The line-up of broadcasters for the 2009 Australian Open has been announced! Coverage of this exciting and huge tournament begins on The Tennis Channel, Monday, January 19th.
Australian Open On-Air Talent
Veteran sportscaster Bill Macatee will return to the Tennis Channel booth during this year’s Australian Open, along with Hall of Fame tennis-legend Martina Navratilova, primary analyst for all network Grand Slam coverage. Also returning is longtime Tennis Channel play-by-play commentator Leif Shiras, and analyst and features reporter Justin Gimelstob. New to the Australian Open team this year is former top-ranked doubles player Corina Morariu, who will handle sideline and interview duties, and appear in feature material.
“2009 could very well be the best tennis year ever,” said Navratilova. “Can Roger regain the No. 1 ranking? Not if Nadal has his say. Can Murray beat them all? Maybe. Will Djokovic wake up? I hope so. And the women! We have about eight bona fide contenders for the No. 1 ranking. So I am really looking forward to working with Bill Macatee and Tennis Channel again as the Australian Open will start giving us some answers.”
The Tennis Channel has a lot of great on air activities scheduled for us tennis fanatics. They will have comprehensive tournament telecasts, the return of the daily morning show Australian Open Today to U.S. viewers who are just getting a start on their daily activities, highlights, previously unseen matches, original features and more beginning each morning at 8 a.m. ET.
If you do not have The Tennis Channel, their website – http://www.tennischannel.com/ – will keep online viewers up to speed with everything that happens in Melbourne. They will offer live scoring, Australian Open Today features, best-match highlights and the network’s exclusive Racquet Bracket tournament prediction game, as well as a chance to win a trip to the 2010 tournament via its “Slammin’ Down Under” sweepstakes. There also will be blogs and columns from network regulars James LaRosa and Steve Flink.
Here are some schedules that you might be interested in for the two-week competition:
Tennis Channel’s Live and First-Run Australian Open Match Schedule
Date Time (ET) Event
Monday, Jan. 19 7 p.m.-9 p.m. First-Round Action
Tuesday, Jan. 20 7 p.m.-10 p.m. First-Round Action
Wednesday, Jan. 21 7 p.m.-11 p.m. Second-Round Action
Thursday, Jan. 22 7 p.m.-11 p.m. Second-Round Action
Friday, Jan. 23 9:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. Third-Round Action
Saturday, Jan. 24 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Third-Round Action
Sunday, Jan. 25 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Fourth-Round Action
Monday, Jan. 26 7 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Women’s Quarterfinals
Tuesday, Jan. 27 7 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Men & Women Singles Qtrs
Wednesday, Jan. 28 9 p.m.-11 p.m. Men’s Singles Quarterfinals
Thursday, Jan. 29 9 p.m.-3 a.m. Women’s Doubles Final
Friday, Jan. 30 11:30 p.m.-1 a.m. Men’s Doubles Final
Sunday, Jan. 31 12 a.m.-1:30 a.m. Mixed Doubles Final
Tennis Channel’s Australian Open Today Schedule
Australian Open Today airs Monday, Jan. 19-Friday, Jan. 30. The show generally runs from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. ET. Exceptions are (all times ET):
Saturday, Jan. 24 – 2 p.m.-7 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 25 – 8 a.m.-noon
Thursday, Jan. 29, and Friday, Jan 30 – 6 a.m.-2 p.m.
I am SO excited about the Australian Open and will bring you videos, highlights, scoring, pictures and everything I can! I am ready for some major tennis next week.
Source: Tennis Channel Press Release
Image Credit: Bauer Griffin
