RAFAEL NADAL AND NOVAK DJOKOVIC BATTLE FOR YEAR-END NO. 1 TITLE AT NITTO ATP FINALS, LIVE ON TENNIS CHANNEL STARTING SUNDAY, NOV. 10 Nadal, Djokovic, Roger Federer Highlight Players in London During Round-Robin Year-End Championships Network will Offer More Than 40 Live Hours, 155 in Total, with Round-the-Clock Live and Encore Coverage
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| LOS ANGELES, Nov. 5, 2019 – The battle for the year-end World No. 1 title between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will come down to how they perform at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals, live on Tennis Channel Nov. 10-17. Djokovic is coming off a record fifth title at the Paris Masters this past weekend and Nadal will look to outpace him in London to maintain his place as World No. 1. Along with Nadal and Djokovic, the all-time men’s singles Grand Slam titles record holder Roger Federer has also qualified. This will mark the first time since 2013 that all three players will compete in the tournament. The event is part of Tennis Channel’s yearly “Chase for the Championships” swing, which also features the WTA Tour Finals that concluded Sunday on the network. The channel will have live action throughout the entire tournament, with two sessions of play each day of the event and encore matches being shown throughout the night into the next morning. Tennis Channel will provide almost 50 hours of live action and 155 in total coverage for tennis’ most exclusive men’s event. In all, 27 of the 30 ATP Tour Finals matches will be live on the network.
The ATP Finals features the top eight singles players and doubles teams throughout the season with a level of play and intensity commonly found in the later rounds of Grand Slam events. Play typically starts at 7 a.m. ET each day beginning with doubles play, followed by a singles match at 9 a.m. ET (a complete schedule is below). The afternoon session follows the same format from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. ET. After each day’s play the network will recap the action on Tennis Channel Live.
Hall of Famer and former year-end World No.1 Jim Courier will serve as an analyst for Tennis Channel during the ATP Finals. Fellow commentator Paul Annacone (@paul_annacone), who coached all-time greats Roger Federer and Pete Sampras – who share a combined 11 year-end No. 1 crowns – will also be a part of the network’s broadcast team, Longtime broadcasters Brett Haber (@BrettHaber) and Steve Weissman (@Steve_Weissman) will provide play-by-play during the tournament. Former ATP Tour pro Prakash Amritraj (@PrakashAmritraj) is onboard for player updates and interviews throughout the event.
London’s O2 Arena hosts the ATP Finals and is the largest indoor tennis facility in the world, and second largest overall. Thanks to its sellout crowds, multiple courts on the grounds and additional activities for fans during the ATP Tour Finals, the O2 Arena creates an environment that is reminiscent of the season’s four Grand Slam events. Unlike a typical tournament, the year-end singles competition splits the eight finalists into two groups. Each player competes with the others in his group in a round-robin format, with the top two players in each group advancing to the semifinals. The winner of each semifinal match will play in the finals on Sunday, Nov. 17. The doubles event follows the same format.
Nadal and Djokovic highlight this year’s field with their battle for year-end World No. 1. Six-time ATP Finals champion Federer will serve as tough competition as he seeks his first title here since 2011. These three titans of the sport will have to face 2019 US Open finalist Daniil Medvedev, two-time French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem, 2019 Australian Open semifinalist Stefanos Tsitsipas, 2018 ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev and 2019 US Open semifinalist Matteo Berrettini. The doubles draw features the powerhouse duo of Juan Sebastian Cabal-Robert Farah, as well as Lukasz Kubot-Marcelo Melo, Kevin Krawietz-Andreas Mies, Raven Lassen-Michael Venus, Jean-Julien Rojer-Horia Tecau, Rejeev Ram-Joe Salisbury, Ivan Dodig-Filip Polasek and Pierre-Hugues Herbert-Nicolas Mahut.
Tennis Channel’s 2019 ATP Finals Schedule (all matches are live unless otherwise indicated with * for same-day delay).:
Date Time (ET) Event Sunday, Nov. 10 7 a.m.-11 a.m.; Doubles and Singles Round-Robin 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11 7 a.m.-8:30 a.m.; Doubles and Singles Round-Robin 9 a.m.-11 a.m.; 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12 7 a.m.-8:30 a.m.; Doubles and Singles Round-Robin 9 a.m.-11 a.m.; 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13 7 a.m.-8:30 a.m.; Doubles and Singles Round-Robin 9 a.m.-11 a.m.; 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14 7 a.m.-8:30 a.m.; Doubles and Singles Round-Robin 9 a.m.-11 a.m.; 1 p.m.-3 p.m.; 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.* Friday, Nov. 15 7 a.m.-8:30 a.m.; Doubles and Singles Round-Robin 9 a.m.-11 a.m.; 12:30 p.m.-3 p.m.; 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.*
Saturday, Nov. 16 7 a.m.-8:30 a.m.; Doubles and Singles Semifinals 9 a.m.-11 a.m.; 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.; Double Final; Singles Final 3 p.m.-5 p.m.*
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