WHERE TO WATCH TENNIS? TENNIS STREAMING IN 2018 EXPLAINED • 10SBALLS • OR IS IT?

Written by: Staff on 15th January 2018

WHERE TO WATCH TENNIS? TENNIS STREAMING IN 2018 EXPLAINED • 10SBALLS • OR IS IT?

epa04557756 Tennis balls ready for use during practice ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament, at Hisense Arena in Melbourne, Australia, 13 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/JOE CASTRO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

2018 Australian Open US TV Schedule:

Monday, Jan. 15: 1st round, 7 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPN2

Tuesday, Jan. 16: 1st round, 7 p.m. ET Monday on Tennis Channel, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Wednesday, Jan. 17: 2nd round, 7 p.m. ET Tuesday on Tennis Channel, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Thursday, Jan. 18: 2nd round, 7 p.m. ET Wednesday on Tennis Channel, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Friday, Jan. 19: 3rd round, 7 p.m. ET Thursday on Tennis Channel, 11 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Saturday, Jan. 20: 3rd round, 7 p.m. ET Friday on Tennis Channel, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Sunday, Jan. 21: Round of 16, 7 p.m. ET Saturday on Tennis Channel, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Monday, Jan. 22: Round of 16, 7 p.m. ET Sunday on Tennis Channel, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Tuesday, Jan. 23: Quarter-finals, 7 p.m. ET Monday on Tennis Channel, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Wednesday, Jan. 24: Quarter-finals, 7 p.m. ET Tuesday on Tennis Channel, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Thursday, Jan. 25: Semi-finals, 7 p.m. ET Wednesday on Tennis Channel, 10 p.m. ET, 3:30 a.m on ESPN2

Friday, Jan. 26: Semi-final, 11 p.m. ET Thursday on Tennis Channel, 3:30 a.m. ET on ESPN

Saturday, Jan. 27: Women’s singles final, 9 p.m. ET Friday on Tennis Channel, 3:30 a.m. ET on ESPN

Sunday, Jan. 28: Men’s singles final, 12 a.m. ET on Tennis Channel, 3:30 a.m. ET on ESPN

Where to watch tennis in 2018? It’s a complicated game…

By: Thomas Cluck

Tennis, one of the largest and most globally popular sports in the world, is also one of the hardest sports to watch throughout the world for much of the year. Unlike many major sports in the US with one or two TV partners and an online streaming platform for fans to access easily, tennis has made it well… complicated for its fans to find the sport they love.

Just between the ATP and WTA alone, there are six different television or online platforms carrying tennis in 2018. And while that may sound like you have a lot of options, it more means you have a lot of places to search for the tournament you’re watching and the tour you’re following.

For men’s tennis on the regular ATP World Tour, fans in the US can expect to see mostly all tournaments broadcast live on Tennis Channel or Tennis Channel Plus, the network’s pay-for streaming service, throughout the year. Additionally, the ATP and ATP Media have the official online streaming platform of men’s tennis through TennisTV, another pay-for streaming service with streams of nearly every singles match on each court at every men’s tour event throughout the year.

For women’s tennis on the day-to-day WTA tour, US fans must look even harder and dig even deeper into their wallets to access what is by far the largest women’s sport in the world. After the WTA moved their TV rights from Tennis Channel, a network largely accessible to any basic cable package, to beIN Sports, a much-smaller European sports network now in the US, women’s tennis has been increasingly off American TVs.

As Tennis Channel announcer Ted Robinson says, women’s tennis is “in the witness protection program,” a comic way to describe a major problem for a sports organization that was growing increasingly popular in the States over the last five years.

WTA fans in America can call up their cable companies and purchase an obsolete and expensive channel package to access beIN Sports, the TV broadcaster of all WTA events played outside the US, or subscribe to WTA TV, the tour’s new streaming platform serving as an alternative to their prior partnership with ATP Media and TennisTV.

Unfortunately for fans hoping to see women’s tennis live on actual television, beIN Sports often does not show matches live on TV, instead relegating them to their included online platform, beIN Sports Connect, which is one of the most difficult and non-user friendly platforms many fans will ever encounter. Another problem with beIN Sports, the channel only shows the main court in use at tournaments, so the majority of matches being played will go unwatched across the US.

While it may seem complicated to watch men’s and women’s tennis on the tour level, and it is, the Grand Slams fortunately are much easier to access for US fans. The Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open are all broadcast live on ESPN and WatchESPN, the sports network giant’s online platform, while the French Open is shown live on Tennis Channel throughout the fortnight.

While many sports fans will only ever watch the majors throughout the year, this increasing difficulty to find the sport’s day-to-day tour events where the majority of the action happens throughout the year is a worrisome problem for tennis.

No other major sport in America has to be found on six or seven different networks and streaming platforms and none of those sports’ fans have to shell out upwards of $500 just to watch the sport they love. And for tennis fans, they shouldn’t have to either.