French Open on ESPN2 & ESPN360.com Starts Sunday, May 25

Two Weeks of Action Highlighted by Women’s Semifinals Live June 5 and 250+ Live Hours on ESPN360.com

May 19, 2008 -- Tennis’ second Grand Slam of the year – Roland Garros, the 2008 French Open presented by Aviva – will begin on ESPN2 – the Grand Slam Network – on Sunday, May 25, and the network will present more than 51 hours from Paris, culminating with the women’s semifinals live Thursday, June 5. ESPN networks have televised the French Open 1986 – 1993 and since 2002. In addition, ESPN360.com will have more than 250 live hours of coverage, also starting on Sunday, May 25.

After the opening day, ESPN2’s schedule will continue with extensive coverage Tuesday, May 27 – Friday, May 30, and will resume the next week, Monday, June 2 through June 5. Coverage will generally begin at noon ET – directly following Tennis Channel’s morning programming – and will continue until 6:30 p.m. (See schedule below.) In addition, ESPN Deportes, the Spanish-language U.S. sports network, will mirror ESPN2’s schedule with 51 hours of coverage.

Dick Enberg will call his 22nd French Open, along with Cliff Drysdale and analysts Darren Cahill, Mary Carillo, Mary Joe Fernandez, Luke Jensen, Patrick McEnroe and Pam Shriver. Chris Fowler will serve as on-site host and legendary tennis columnist Bud Collins will make his French Open debut for ESPN2.

ESPN & Tennis

Tennis has been part of ESPN since its first week on the air, but it has never been as important as today, with three of the four Grand Slams and the US Open arriving in 2009, truly making ESPN2 the Grand Slam Network (no other U.S. television network has previously televised all four events).

ESPN360.com: 250+ Hours of Live Online Coverage

ESPN360.com will deliver more than 250 hours of live online coverage from the three primary courts at Roland Garros on the days ESPN2 is televising -- Sunday, May 25, plus Tuesday, May 27 – Friday, May 30 and Monday, June 2 – Thursday, June 5. Live action will include matches not televised on ESPN2, as well as the ESPN2’s coverage, either live or later the same day.

ESPN360.com is ESPN's signature 24/7 broadband sports network, delivering more than 2,500 live, global sports events a year. The service is available at no additional charge to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection from an affiliated service provider, and is currently available in nearly 23 million homes nationwide. It has nearly tripled its distribution since November 2006, and is available via more than 20 Internet service providers around the country including AT&T, Verizon, RCN, Insight, Frontier, Cavalier, Charter, Mediacom, Conway, Grande Communications and many more. Additionally, it is available at no cost to approximately 18 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via on-campus educational and military networks (those with a “.edu” and “.mil” domains). For more information about ESPN360.com, which Internet services currently deliver it and how to get it, go to espn360.com.

2008 French Open Presented by Aviva on ESPN2

Date                            Time (ET)                          Event                                                                    

Sun., May 25                Noon – 5 p.m.                     Early Round Action                    Same-day
Tue., May 27                Noon – 6:30 p.m.                Early Round Action                    Live
Wed., May 28               Noon – 6:30 p.m.                Early Round Action                    Live
Thur., May 29               Noon – 6:30 p.m.                Early Round Action                    Live
Fri., May 30                  3 – 6:30 p.m.                      Early Round Action                      Live
Mon, June 2                 Noon – 6:30 p.m.                Round of 16                                Live
Tue., June 3                 Noon – 6:30 p.m.                Quarterfinals                              Live        
Wed., June 4                Noon – 5:30 p.m.                Men’s Quarterfinals                  Live
Thurs., June 5               8 a.m. – 1 p.m.                   Women’s Semifinals                Live

ESPN DEPORTES

ESPN’s Spanish-language U.S. network will provide extensive daily coverage of the 2008 French Open presented by Aviva, mirroring ESPN2’s schedule with 51 hours starting Sunday, May 25.  Live coverage will generally begin each weekday at 12 noon.

2008 French Open Presented by Aviva on ESPN360.com

Date                            Time (ET)                          Event                                                                    

Sun., May 25                5 a.m. – 5 p.m.                   Early Round Action                      Live
Tue., May 27                5 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.              Early Round Action                     Live
Wed., May 28               5 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.              Early Round Action                     Live
Thur., May 29               5 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.              Early Round Action                     Live
Fri., May 30                  5 a.m. – 3 p.m.                   Early Round Action                      Live
Mon, June 2                 6 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.              Round of 16                                 Live
Tue., June 3                 6 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.              Quarterfinals                               Live
Wed., June 4                6 a.m. – 3 p.m.                   Men’s Quarterfinals                   Live
Thurs., June 5               6 a.m. – 3 p.m.                   Women’s Semifinals               Live

Source: ESPN

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