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Versus and Tennis Channel continue 2008 Davis Cup Chase With Complete U.S. Team Coverage This Weekend

LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2008 - Tennis Channel and VERSUS will provide complete coverage of the U.S. Davis Cup team’s semifinal match up in Spain this weekend, with same-day delay telecasts Friday through Sunday. The networks are covering all U.S. Davis Cup action again in 2008, continuing the domestic telecast partnership they began in 2006.

Semifinal competition between Spain and the United States will consist of two singles matches on Friday, Sept. 19, one doubles match Saturday, Sept. 20, and two singles matches Sunday, Sept. 21. Each of the five matches is worth one point, with the team that wins at least three points advancing to the yearlong tournament’s final Nov. 21-23. VERSUS will carry all matches live this weekend, beginning at 12 p.m. ET each day, followed by same-day delay telecasts on Tennis Channel each night at 8 p.m. ET.

Coverage from Madrid, Spain’s Plaza de Toros Las Ventas is as follows (subject to change):

Friday, Sept. 19:
12 p.m. ET VERSUS Same-Day Coverage - Singles, First Day
8 p.m. ET Tennis Channel Same-Day Delay - Singles, First Day

Saturday, Sept. 20:
12 p.m. ET VERSUS Same-Day Coverage - Doubles, Second Day
8 p.m. ET Tennis Channel Same-Day Delay - Doubles, Second Day

Sunday, Sept. 21:
12 p.m. ET VERSUS Same-Day Coverage - Singles, Third Day
8 p.m. ET Tennis Channel Same-Day Delay - Singles, Third Day

Should the U.S. team defeat Spain to advance to the Davis Cup championship, both Tennis Channel and VERSUS will carry the final Nov. 21-23. In that case, the American squad would play the winner of this weekend’s semifinal competition between Argentina and Russia.

The United States and Spain have faced each other eight times before, with the Americans winning five of those matches. The most recent completion was during the 2007 Davis Cup quarterfinal, when the United States defeated Spain in Winston-Salem, N.C. The United States enters this weekend’s Davis Cup semifinal with victories over Austria in the first round and France in the quarterfinal.

Last year, the U.S. team won its 32nd Davis Cup title with a 4-1 win against Russia, whom it had not defeated since 1995. This year’s team is captained by Patrick McEnroe and features four of America’s best tennis players. Andy Roddick is the World No. 8 singles player and comes into this weekend’s match after an impressive quarterfinal run in the US Open this month. Sam Querrey, World No. 40, is building on a career year that saw him win his first ATP title in Las Vegas and advancing to the quarterfinals at the US Open before losing to World No. 1 Rafael Nadal. On the doubles front, twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan continue to be the world’s most dominant pair, currently ranked No. 1, and winners of this year’s US Open and last year’s Australian Open championships.

U.S. Davis Cup sponsor AIG continues its role as the presenting sponsor of all U.S. Davis Cup telecasts on VERSUS and Tennis Channel.

In addition to its U.S. Davis Cup telecast partnership with VERSUS this weekend, Tennis Channel will offer complete live coverage of the semifinal competition between Argentina and Russia in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The action begins with two singles matches Friday, Sept. 19, at 10 a.m. ET, followed by the doubles match Saturday, Sept. 20, at 11 a.m. ET. Tennis Channel’s coverage concludes with the remaining singles play Sunday, Sept. 21, at 10 a.m. ET. Among the respective squads’ notable players are Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev, and Argentina’s David Nalbandian and Juan Martin Del Potro.

Posted on September 18, 2008
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