LOS ANGELES, July 8, 2010 – Tennis Channel will provide exclusive coverage of Spain and France’s Davis Cup quarterfinal competition in Clermont-Ferrand, France, this weekend. The meeting will consist of two singles matches on Friday, July 9, at 7 a.m. ET, followed by the doubles match Saturday, July 10, at 8 a.m. ET. Tennis Channel’s coverage concludes with the remaining singles play Sunday, July 11, at 7 a.m. ET. Each of the five matches is worth one point, with the team that wins at least three points advancing to the semifinals Sept. 17-19. Each evening at 8 p.m. ET Tennis Channel will offer an encore presentation of the day’s Davis Cup action.
Coverage from Zenith – Grande Halle d’Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France (all times ET):
Friday, July 9:
7 a.m. – Live Singles #1
10 a.m. – Live Singles #2
{1 p.m. – Instant Encore Singles #1}
{8 p.m. – Instant Encore Singles #1}
{11 p.m. – Instant Encore Singles #2}
Saturday, July 10:
8 a.m. – Live Doubles
{11 a.m. – Instant Encore Singles #2}
{2 p.m. – Instant Encore Doubles}
{8 p.m. – Instant Encore Doubles}
{11 p.m. – Instant Encore Doubles}
Sunday, July 11:
7 a.m. – Live Singles #1
10 a.m. – Live Singles #2
{1 p.m. – Instant Encore Singles #1}
{8 p.m. – Instant Encore Singles #1}
{11 p.m. – Instant Encore Singles #2}
Spain and France have faced each other six times in Davis Cup play, with Spain holding a 5-1 advantage. The most recent competition was during the 2004 Davis Cup semifinals, when Spain won 4-1 in Alicante, Spain. The Spaniards enter this weekend’s match after defeating Switzerland 4-1 in Logrono, Spain, to reach the Davis Cup quarterfinal for the fourth consecutive year. Spain, the two-time defending champion, has dominated the past decade with Davis Cup championships in 2000, 2004, 2008 and, most recently, in 2009 when it defeated the Czech Republic 5-0 in Barcelona, Spain.
Spain is captained by former tennis star Albert Costa, who won the 2002 French Open singles title and played on Spain’s winning Davis Cup squad in 2000. Rafael Nadal, World No. 1 and 2010 Wimbledon champion, will not play in the quarterfinals against France due to knee injury. Rounding out Spain’s team are tennis stars Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro and Feliciano Lopez.
France enters this weekend’s match after defeating Germany 4-1 in Toulon, France. The French team is captained by Guy Forget and features Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau.
Tennis Channel (www.tennischannel.com) is the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle. A hybrid of comprehensive sports, health, fitness, pop culture, entertainment, lifestyle and travel programming, the network is home to every aspect of the wide-ranging, worldwide tennis community. It also has the most concentrated single-sport coverage in television, with telecast rights to the US Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros (French Open), Australian Open, Olympus US Open Series, ATP Masters Series, top-tier Sony Ericsson WTA Tour championship competitions, Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, and Hyundai Hopman Cup. Tennis Channel is carried by nine of the top 10 MSOs, Verizon FiOS TV, and has a national footprint via DIRECTV and DISH Network.