Tennis on NBC

Tennis on NBC is the name used for broadcasts of big professional tennis tournaments made by NBC Sports, the sports part of the NBC television network in the United States. NBC has been showing tennis events since 1955.

Usually, NBC’s tennis coverage happens in the afternoon. But during some weeks in the summer, the Sunday morning shows for Grand Slam tennis tournaments can start as early as 8:00 a.m. This means that regular shows, like the political talk show Meet the Press, might not be shown that day.

These special early morning broadcasts give fans a chance to watch important tennis matches live, even if it means changing the usual TV schedule.

Overview

NBC has been showing tennis since August 9, 1939, when they broadcast the first-ever televised tennis match at the Eastern Grass Court Championships in Rye, New York. In 1955, NBC made another milestone by showing the first color tennis match during the Davis Cup between the United States and Australia.

NBC has covered many famous tennis tournaments over the years. They showed the US Nationals from the early 1950s until 1964, with famous commentators like Bud Palmer, Jack Kramer, and Lindsey Nelson. NBC began showing The Championships, Wimbledon in 1969, and for many years, their special "Breakfast at Wimbledon" weekend mornings became a tradition for tennis fans in the United States.

NBC also covered the French Open starting in 1975, except for a brief three-year period on CBS. In 2012, NBC extended its agreement to show the French Open through 2024, adding more live coverage. However, in 2024, NBC showed its last French Open match, as the rights moved to TNT Sports beginning in 2025.

For the Olympic Games, NBC has also provided coverage of tennis events. In 2012, Bravo showed 56 hours of Olympic tennis coverage.

Commentators

See also: List of sports announcers § Tennis

Many famous tennis players and sports announcers have shared their knowledge and excitement during NBC's tennis broadcasts. Some of these announcers include Julie Anthony, Tracy Austin, Don Budge, and Mary Carillo, who has been with NBC since 2003. Others include Rosie Casals, Bud Collins, who worked for NBC for many years, and Jimmy Connors.

NBC has also featured announcers like Donald Dell, Noah Eagle, who started in 2024, and Dick Enberg, who worked there from 1978 to 2000. Chris Evert and Gayle Gardner also contributed to NBC's tennis coverage. More recent announcers include Dan Hicks, Ted Robinson, who was the lead commentator from 2000 to 2018, and Maria Taylor, who has been with NBC since 2022.

On-screen graphics

NBC Sports started using digital graphics on the screen in 1995, but they were very simple and only showed text. In 1999, they updated their graphics with a new design that included black rectangles with gold edges and colored accents for different sports. These graphics didn’t show scores all the time and only added score bars in 2005 for college football and hockey. In 2002, the graphics got rounded edges and changed colors to match the sport’s accents.