ESPN Expands Online Australian Open Coverage
Jed Drake, the senior vice president of ESPN, is responsible for the organization and broadcasting of numerous international sporting events. Among the events Jed Drake supervises are the X Games and the Australian Open.
ESPN continued its groundbreaking coverage of the Australian Open from Melbourne Park this year. During the 30th anniversary of the partnership between ESPN and the tennis season’s first major tournament, ESPN broadcast more than 100 hours of live coverage in addition to over 500 hours of tennis from seven different courts on ESPN3 and WatchESPN. Through these online methods of broadcasting, ESPN was able to air certain events that the average tennis fan is not able to view. Prior to the women’s championship match between Li Na and Dominika Cibulkova,
ESPN3 aired both the Australian Open Boys' and Girls' Championship matches. ESPN also broadcast the mixed doubles finals on ESPN3 leading up to the tournament’s final match between Rafael Nadal and Stanislas Wawrinka.