| The French Open begins Sunday with a thrilling twist for U.S. fans — instead of the Tennis Channel, the year’s second Grand Slam tournament will be airing on TNT and streaming on HBO Max for the first time. There are two things I’m excited about here. Tennis is experiencing a popularity boom, and Grand Slams should be easy to watch on TV. The previous setup for the French Open was anything but, with matches spread haphazardly across the Tennis Channel, it’s famously bad and expensive streaming product Tennis Channel+, NBC and Peacock. TNT is easily accessible, and the network says all 900-plus matches are going to be streaming on HBO Max. But most importantly, Grand Slam coverage has been in sore need of a facelift for years. TNT is at least trying. ESPN airs the year’s three other majors, the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open, and plays a huge part in defining how many fans relate to the game. I greatly admire the journalists who lead that coverage — namely, Chris McKendry as a studio host and Chris Fowler as a match commentator — but at the same time, ESPN’s roster hasn’t changed much in the past few decades. The network features the same champions of yesteryear and coaches-turned-analysts who, while knowledgeable, offer little variance in perspective from one another. And without overlooking the work of longtime analyst Mary Joe Fernandez and more recent additions to the network James Blake and Chris Eubanks, tennis coverage across the board has for years been overwhelmingly White.  | | | I’m excited to listen to some new voices on TNT. The networks’ biggest new “gets” by far are Andre Agassi, who will be in studio during the semifinals and finals, and Venus Williams, who will be contributing special feature coverage (no, she hasn’t officially retired yet, but it has been over a year since she played her last competitive match). Current players and recent retirees joining the slate include Sloane Stephens, Eubanks, Caroline Wozniacki, Sam Querrey and CoCo Vandeweghe. Eubanks is a talented broadcaster, and I’m keen to watch Stephens, who has done stints calling matches in the past while recovering from injuries. In an era in which more players of color than ever are captivating audiences, especially American audiences, broadcast teams should reflect that. Now, there will be plenty of familiar faces on our TVs, as apparently it is illegal to air a Grand Slam in the United States without involving John McEnroe. I’m not ready to award TNT Sports a gold star. But I give them credit for at least striving for an ounce more diversity and some fresh perspectives. I’ll be watching to see how it all plays out. |
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