LOS ANGELES, Sept. 11, 2023 – Tennis Channel; its free, ad-supported streaming TV channel T2; and subscription-service Tennis Channel Plus will be the exclusive U.S. media home of the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage September 12-17. The six-day event will feature 16 national teams in four European cities, with the chance to be one of the eight that will qualify for the Davis Cup Finals in November. Among them is the United States, which first plays Wednesday, Sept. 13, against Croatia at 9 a.m. ET.
The annual “World Cup of Men’s Tennis,” Davis Cup has been played since 1900, with the United States winning the title a record 32 times. Tennis Channel platforms’ daily coverage begins at 8 a.m. ET (www.tennischannel.com/schedule). The 16 nations that have qualified for the Finals Group Stage this week are separated into four groups of four teams each. Competition will take place in Bologna, Italy; Manchester, England; Split, Croatia; and Valencia, Spain.
All three of the United States Davis Cup matches this week will begin at 9 a.m. ET. After battling Croatia on September 13, the team will face Netherlands on Thursday, Sept. 14, and Finland on Saturday, Sept. 16. The head-to-head matchups will air on Tennis Channel.
The Americans are led by World No. 11 singles star Frances Tiafoe, a fan favorite who reached the US Open singles quarterfinals last week after advancing to the event’s semifinals in 2022. He will be joined by Tommy Paul, who made it to the fourth round of the US Open singles tournament this year. Their teammate Mackenzie McDonald recently posted his best result at an ATP Masters 1000 event, getting to the singles quarterfinal in Toronto last month and achieving a career-high World No. 43 ranking.
The U.S. squad is just as strong on the doubles side, with World No. 5 doubles star Rajeev Ram having won his Open Era-record third consecutive US Open crown on Friday. World No. 1 doubles player Austin Krajicek is having a career year as well. After winning his first major doubles championship at Roland Garros (commonly referred to as the French Open), he achieved the top ranking in men’s doubles in June and again this week. At the US Open, Krajicek also marched into the doubles semifinals, where he lost to his Davis Cup teammate Ram.
The United States is captained by Bob Bryan who, with his brother Mike, are considered by many to be the greatest doubles team of all time. The Bryans contributed to the championship won by the most recent American team to capture the Davis Cup, in 2017.
Every year, Davis Cup competition is essentially an all-star tournament with many of the game’s best tennis players. With Tiafoe, top-ranked men set to compete this week include Holger Rune (Denmark), Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) and Alexander Zverev (Germany). Here are the pools for the 2023 Davis Cup Finals Group Stage:
Group A (Bologna, Italy) Group B (Manchester, England)
Canada, Chile, Italy, Sweden Australia, Britain, France Switzerland
Group C (Valencia, Spain) Group D (Split, Croatia)
Czech Rep., Serbia, South Korea, Spain Croatia, Finland, Netherlands, United States
Davis Cup competition this week will be included with Tennis Channel’s Center Court coverage, which will bring viewers men’s and women’s tennis taking place around the world at the same time.
Tennis Channel (www.tennischannel.com) which is owned by Sinclair Inc., is the only television-based multiplatform destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle. The network has the most concentrated single-sport coverage in television in one of the world’s most voluminous sports, with multiple men’s and women’s tournaments and singles, doubles and mixed competition throughout the year. Tennis Channel has rights at the four majors – US Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros (French Open) and Australian Open – and is the exclusive U.S. home of all men’s ATP World Tour and women’s WTA Tour competitions, Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, and Laver Cup. Direct-to-consumer streaming service Tennis Channel Plus is available to everyone in the United States and allows subscribers to select from another 4,500 live and on-demand matches and award-winning content from short-form to films throughout the tennis season. Tennis Channel International brings live competition and network content to markets in Europe and Asia via digital subscription and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels.Additional platform www.tennis.com is the largest digital outlet dedicated to the sport. Tennis Channel also manages a network of close to 20 podcasts.
About Sinclair, Inc.
Sinclair, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) is a diversified media company and a leading provider of local news and sports. The Company owns, operates and/or provides services to 185 television stations in 86 markets affiliated with all the major broadcast networks; owns Tennis Channel and multicast networks Comet, CHARGE! and TBD; and owns and provides services to 21 regional sports network brands. Sinclair’s content is delivered via multiple platforms, including over-the-air, multi-channel video program distributors, and the nation’s largest streaming aggregator of local news content, NewsON. The Company regularly uses its website as a key source of Company information which can be accessed at www.sbgi.net.
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For further information:
Eric Abner, Tennis Channel, 310-314-9445, eabner@tennischannel.com, @TennisChannelPR