Wimbledon tennis finals to be shown on new TV channel after 88 years of BBC coverage
Broadcaster claims unique achievement over the four Grand Slams after SW19 deal
MIC MY DAY Wimbledon tennis finals to be shown on new TV channel after 88 years of BBC coverage
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THE Wimbledon singles finals will be shown live on a BBC rival - giving the broadcaster a unique boast.
Eurosport have landed a five-year deal that also includes a daily 90-minute package of tennis highlights from SW19.
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Carlos Alcaraz, who won the French Open on Sunday, will be back at Wimbledon this year to defend the trophy, above, that he won in 2024
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Czech star Barbora Krejcikova lifted the women's SW19 trophy last year
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The company is now boasting its the "only channel in the UK to show live coverage of all four of the sport's major singles prizes".
That's Wimbledon, plus the French, US and Australian Opens.
However, the Beeb will remain Wimbledon's main domestic broadcaster - after its 88 years of coverage.
The arrangements with BBC and Eurosport are both with the All England Lawn Tennis Cub (AELTC).
Ofcom Listed Events regulations allow for "secondary broadcasters" at major sporting tournaments.
And that's the status Eurosport is taking with the AELTC at Wimbledon.
Susanna Dinnage, MD of Discovery Networks UK and Ireland said the new deal "cements" Eurosport's "position as
Former Sky Sports presenter Rob Curling will host the channel's nightly highlights from 10pm.
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This year's Wimbledon runs from Monday June 30 to Sunday July 13.
Britain's two-time SW19 king Andy Murray could return as a Beeb pundit, having ended a six-month stint coaching Novak Djokovic.
Novak Djokovic digs out French Open rival for 'spying' on him and seeing Champions League trophy
The grass-court tournament retains pride of place in the BBC's sporting armoury.
But it costs the Beeb around £60million a year for the privilege.
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It was challenging, for example, to determine who would win between a peak Federer and Rod Laver, with his wooden racket, because of the evolving nature of sport. Advancements in racket technology and nutritional understanding came too late for the likes of Laver and Borg, and there is even a feeling now that the ball is generally being hit harder by better athletes compared with 20 years ago because of the sport's progression. 'Every rivalry is different,' Sinner said. 'Back in the days, they played a little bit different tennis. Now, the ball is going fast. It's very physical. It's slightly different from my point of view, but you cannot compare. I was lucky enough to play against Novak, against Rafa. Beating these guys, it takes a lot. I have the same feeling with Carlos and some other players.' It is clear, though, that Alcaraz is better developed at a younger age across all surfaces compared with Djokovic, Nadal and Federer. He has already won grand slams on hard, clay and grass with an all-round game in which he is as comfortable rallying from the baseline as he is charging towards the net. His footwork on all surfaces is remarkable. Again, this does not necessarily mean he is already definitively better than the others as it would take some going to beat a peak Federer on Wimbledon's Centre Court or outlast a peak Djokovic for hours on Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena. But the way in which he raised his level when it mattered most to produce some explosive shot-making at the end of the fifth set shows the belief he has in his abundance of skills. 'I think he is born to play these kind of moments,' Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz's coach, said. 'Every time that we were in these situations, even when he was younger in the Challengers, when he had the big opportunities for him at that age he always went for it. 'In this kind of situation of course it's so much more important than maybe other tournaments. But his style of game again I think has to be the same. It's something we try to prepare his mind for these kind of situations, like the tie-break at the fifth set. He went for it since the first point. Very brave all the time and very aggressive trying to win the point all the time.' Curiously, Alcaraz has not quite cracked the Australian Open, going no further than the quarter-finals in 2024 and 2025, but it is inevitable that he will complete the career grand slam there at some point in the future when he figures out the best way of peaking in time for this tournament just weeks into the season. Only Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Laver and Andre Agassi have won all four majors in the Open era. For now, it is onto Wimbledon this month for a bid at grand slam No6 and a third consecutive All England Club title. Worryingly for the rest of the field, he has quickly become as comfortable on a grass court as he is on a clay court, channelling the greats of the past. 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