HISTORY

The history of the US Open Tennis Championship on USA Network dates back to 1984, when USA carried 25 1/2 hours of coverage. Al Trautwig served as USA Sports' play-by-play announcer with analysis coming from Barry MacKay and Mary Carillo. That same year, 15-year old wunderkind Steffi Graf made her US Open debut. Argentina teenager Gabriela Sabatini (14 years old) also made her debut at the US Open in 1984 and became the youngest player, male or female, to win a match.

Since 1984, USA Network's exclusive live cable coverage of the US Open Tennis Championships has been a steadfast component of the event, with USA providing the only weekday prime-time live coverage of Grand Slam tennis. Today, USA Network airs over 95 hours of live coverage during the two-week event, and has aired over 1,674 hours of live coverage over the past 20 years.

USA Sports' scheduled live coverage of the US Open is the largest commitment of any cable network to air a championship sports event. USA Network's cable universe has expanded from 25.9 million homes in 1984 to 94 million homes today.

USA Network's coverage of the US Open has earned the distinction of "Best Tennis Coverage" on television by Tennis Magazine seven times. In 2002, USA Sports reached an agreement with the USTA to extend USA Network's rights as the exclusive cable home of the US Open through 2008.