Barclays ATP World Tour Finals All Week on ESPN3, ESPN2
Djokovic will be No. 1 but Battles Federer and Murray for "Player of the Year" Honors
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray - each having won one Major event in 2012 -- will contend for unofficial "player of the year" honors at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals from London on ESPN3 and ESPN2 Monday, Nov. 5, to the championship Monday, Nov. 12.
Novak Djokovic, winner of the Australian Open and as of this coming Monday No. 1 in the world, is guaranteed to leave London as the year-end, top-ranked player. However, most observers would consider Federer or Murray - winners of Wimbledon and the US Open, respectively, with Murray also claiming the Olympic Gold Medal - the 2012 player of the year with a victory at this year-end, eight-player round robin.
ESPN3 will provide extensive live coverage all week from the O2 Arena starting Monday, Nov. 5, with a match at 8:45 a.m. ET and 2:45 p.m. each day through Saturday, Nov. 10 (afternoon match that day at 2:15 p.m.). ESPN2 will show the morning match on November 8 and 9 at 2 p.m. before joining ESPN3 for live coverage of the semifinals Sunday, Nov. 11, and the Championship on Monday, Nov. 12, at 3 p.m.
The top three players will be joined by David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Juan Martin Del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Janko Tipsarevic. Federer is the two-time defending champion and has taken the prestigious event six times overall. Djokovic won the crown in 2008. None of the others have ever won the event.
Cliff Drysdale and Patrick McEnroe will call all the action on ESPN2 - and the corresponding ESPN3 simulcast.
Date Time (ET) Match Network(s)
Mon, Nov 5 - Fri, Nov. 9 8:45 a.m.
2:45 p.m. Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Round Robin ESPN3
Thur, Nov. 8 - Fri, Nov 9 2 p.m. Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Round robin ESPN2 (tape delayed from 8:45 a.m.)
Sat, Nov 10 8:45 a.m.
2:15 p.m. Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Round Robin ESPN3
Sun, Nov 11 9 a.m. Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Semifinal #1 ESPN3 / ESPN2
2:30 p.m. Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Semifinal #2 ESPN3 / ESPN2
Mon, Nov 12 3 p.m. Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Championship ESPN3 / ESPN2
ESPN - All Four Slams, All In One Place
Tennis has been part of ESPN since its first week on the air and provided many memorable moments, but it has never been as important as today, with the US Open joining the lineup in 2009, giving ESPN all four Grand Slam events, something no other U.S. network has ever done, let alone in one year. ESPN has presented the Australian Open since 1984, the French Open since 2002 (plus 1986 - 1993), and Wimbledon since 2003, with exclusivity for live television with all other rights extended in a 12-year agreement starting this year.
ESPN debuted September 7, 1979, and the first tennis telecast was exactly one week later, September 14, a Davis Cup tie, Argentina at U.S. from Memphis with Cliff Drysdale on the call and John McEnroe playing.
ESPN3, now in 74 million homes, carries every major global tennis event on the men's and women's circuit, including all four Grand Slam tournaments, every ATP World Tour 500 and ATP Masters 1000 event and WTA Premier events featuring all the top-seeded players. Also, ESPN Classic shows great matches from the past and the sport receives extensive coverage on SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, Spanish-language ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. ESPN 3D aired its first tennis at Wimbledon in 2011.
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