MSG Plus and ESPN2 will televise the 2010 BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean Cup on Monday, March 1, live with MSG Plus showing the semifinals and ESPN2 presenting the finals.
The one-day, single-elimination tournament will include four of the world’s top female tennis players – Svetlana Kuznetsova, Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters and Ana Ivanovic – at Madison Square Garden.
Starting at 7 p.m. ET, MSG Plus will televise two semifinal matches with World No. 17 Clijsters facing No. 23 Ivanovic and No. 4 Kuznetsova taking on No. 5 Williams.
At 9 p.m. ESPN2 will air the final match. All three matches will also be available on broadband ESPN360.com.
Both MSG Plus and ESPN2 will showcase leading on-air commentators during the event. One of the most respected broadcasters in sports, Ted Robinson, will call play-by play for the semifinals while former World No. 1 player and three-time Grand Slam winner, Lindsay Davenport, will serve as analyst.
MSG’s Scott Lasky will handle reporter duties for the semifinal matches. ESPN2’s coverage of the final will feature two prominent tennis commentators: Chris Fowler, host of the network’s coverage of all four Grand Slam events, alongside seven-time WTA Tour winner Mary Joe Fernandez.
The BNP Paribas Showdown features a unique set of rules. The semifinal matches will consist of only one set while the final match will be best of three. There will be no ad scoring in either round. The four participants will compete for a $1.2 million prize pool.
The “BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup” is the featured element of the national “Tennis Night in America” promotion. Through “Tennis Night in America”, the USTA will continue its efforts to grow youth participation in the sport of tennis. “Tennis Night in America” is among the sports largest ever grass roots initiatives.
The USTA has made this event a major component for its Youth Registration Night, where youth from all over the country can begin signing up for spring and summer league play beginning on Friday, February 26th through March 1st. To find a sign-up location please go to www.tennisnight.com.
I wish they had not gone back to the 2008 French Open to find their fill-in for S. Williams. In fact you have to go back to 2008 for V Williams. I think every year should reflect the previous year. They should have chosen among the Grand Slam Finalists in 2009 to replace S.Williams. V. Williams was one of them and given her record in general should be included. But I think Wozniacki should have replaced S. Williams, given her status and ranking coming out of the US Open final. Ivanovic’s success was almost 2 years ago and she is down to #26 in rankings. Whatever year it is, again, it should reflect the last Grand Slams, winners or finalists.
Oh yeah-so no one will jump on me as in other sites and has been the case on this site, I have nothing against any of the players. I just thought there needed to be some objectivity involved in setting up these events. If Safina was healthy I would have thrown her in the mix.
I think Ivanovic is there because she’s won a slam. I think she was an option C anyway, as they wanted Maria/Justine but both declined. I think Jankovic would be a fair choice as she used to be no.1 in the past and Wozzy has never reached the top spot.