TNT Sports has assembled the usual suspects for its Grand Slam tennis debut, plus some prominent newcomers.
TNT has hired Venus Williams as a contributor to its French Open coverage, according to a promotional video aired during “Inside the NBA” Saturday night. Neither Williams nor her sister Serena, by a wide margin the two most prominent American tennis players of the past 25 years, have ever worked in sports broadcasting. (Update May 8: Williams will officially serve as a contributor for taped features during the tournament, not as an analyst.)
Williams, who is technically not retired from tennis, would not be the only broadcasting novice on the TNT team. As previously announced — and noted in Saturday’s promo — the network has hired Andre Agassi, who has also not previously worked in broadcasting.
Other TNT analysts featured in the Saturday promo were ESPN regulars Chris Evert, John McEnroe, and Caroline Wozniacki, Tennis Channel regulars Jim Courier and Lindsay Davenport, and active player Sloane Stephens, who has most recently been making frequent appearances on the “T2” morning show “Second Serve.”
TNT play-by-play voice Brian Anderson is also slated to cover the event.
TNT Sports begins carrying the French Open for the first time later this month, the first Grand Slam tennis on the networks since TNT aired Wimbledon in the early 2000s. (Back then, Ernie Johnson hosted and Marv Albert did some play-by-play.) While the TNT Sports networks are new to the event, corporate sibling Eurosport is entering its 35th season of coverage.
