David Farnor | On 16, Jun 2018

Amazon will be serving up some fresh sporting competition this summer, with its first ever coverage of The Queen’s Club tennis tournament.

The men’s tennis event event, which is sponsored by Fever Tree and takes place at the prestigious London club, runs from Monday 18th June to June to Sunday 24th June. It has traditionally aired on the BBC and plays a key part in the tennis calendar’s build-up to Wimbledon, as players switch from the clay courts of the French Open and into the grass court season. While BBC Two will once again be hosting live coverage of the tournament, it will be facing a new rival this year in the form of Amazon Prime Video.

Amazon’s streaming service will showcase live, catch up and on-demand coverage of the championshis, hosted by Catherine Whitaker, sports reporter, presenter and commentator on Eurosport and BBC Radio 5 Live. Whitaker will be joined by Ross Dyer, sports commentator and host on ESPN, Fox Sports and Prime Video in the US, as well as tennis veterans Greg Rusedski and Daniela Hantuchova in the studio. Commentary will be provided by ATP’s top world feed commentators, Nick Lester, Robbie Koenig and Arvind Parmar. Anna Whiteley, reporter on The Wimbledon Channel, will act as on-site reporter at The Fever-Tree Championships.

The full and uninterrupted live coverage will begin at 11.30am and finish at 7.30pm (continuing on until 9pm if delayed by rain). There will also be a 30-minute wrap-up show at the end of each tournament day, which will be available on-demand. Full match replays will also be available on-demand and available for download for the semis, finals and matches, featuring key talent.

The tournament marks the first of Amazon’s major tennis events this year, following a long-term deal with the ATP. (Amazon also recently snapped up the rights to 20 Premier League games from 2019.) The men’s tennis at Nature Valley International from Eastbourne and the US Open will also be streaming live on Amazon Prime Video in the coming months, at no additional cost to subscribers. At the Nature Valley International at Eastbourne, Prime Video will replay the best match from the day’s play during UK prime time.

Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have both confirmed that they will playing at Queen’s, alongside Gilles Muller, Jack Sock, Sam Querrey and Tomas Berdych, although Rafael Nadal has drawn out so he can recover after the French Open. Murray will make his comeback against Nick Kyrgios in round one, while defending champion Feliciano Lopez will take on David Goffin, top seed Marin Cilic will face Fernando Verdasco, and Stan Wawrinka will play Cameron Norrie. British No.1 Kyle Edmund will play Ryan Harrison, while Grigor Dimitrov will play Damir Dzumhur. Djokovic will face a qualifier.

An Amazon Prime Video subscription costs £5.99 a month, with no contract, or is included in a £79 annual or £7.99 monthly Amazon Prime membership, which also offers free next-day delivery.

 

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