At the dawn of the streaming revolution in the 2010s, certain sports stood to benefit right away. Tennis was and is one of them.<\/p>\n
Before streaming, broadcasters would have at times dozens of matches to choose from and only one screen. Fans were at the mercy of the producer in a truck.<\/p>\n
Now at the U.S. Open, like most other pro events, all 16 courts are streamed.<\/p>\n
So it makes sense that ESPN is deploying RedZone at the U.S. Open<\/a> as its first use outside the NFL. As part of the NFL\u2019s acquisition of a 10 percent stake in ESPN, the Worldwide Leader can use the RedZone brand in other sports. And it has been doing so since Sunday on the ESPN app and on ESPN2, ending Friday as the draw thins out.<\/p>\n So how is the experiment faring?<\/p>\n First, know I am a tennis junkie, but it\u2019s amazing to me to have this channel. That said, there are obviously differences from football, so it\u2019s not necessarily going to have the same impact RedZone has in the NFL, where the duo was a match made in heaven.<\/p>\n What is the RedZone in tennis? Unlike in football, where the RedZone describes when a team is at the opponent\u2019s 20-yard line or closer, there is no such obvious game moment in tennis.<\/p>\n So at the Open, when to flip to a match is not as easy to determine. ESPN has used a variety of circumstances. The most obvious are set and match points, but that clearly can\u2019t be the only moments or the channel would be paused for long periods. ESPN\u2019s RedZone coverage also jumped in at break points, and had fun on Thursday breaking into players smashing rackets.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll come back to RedZone anytime for the racket breaks,\u201d said commentator Coco Vandeweghe, who smashed a few in her playing career.<\/p>\n RedZone\u2026 but for tennis \ud83c\udfbe\ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n Watch RedZone at the US Open on ESPN and the ESPN App! pic.twitter.com\/bHbZ1oKP9n<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ESPN (@espn) August 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n But there were also look-ins at other points of matches that seemed a little less pivotal. For example, switching to Harriet Dart served at 15-30 down 3-1 didn\u2019t seem to be a crucial moment. As a tennis junkie, I didn\u2019t mind, but to a casual fan, that\u2019s not a compelling, nerve-filled moment. Then there was the Madison Keys comeback match in which she fought off five match points. But with her down 3-5 in the third set, RedZone went to other matches and didn\u2019t come back until it was 5-5. That was frustrating.<\/p>\n Another quibble I have with the effort\u2014and mind you it\u2019s only a quibble\u2014but there are too many announcers floating in and out of the RedZone coverage. The NFL version has one voice, Scott Hanson, who is closely associated with the channel. Viewers come to expect his voice when tuning in, no different than fans of a game show expect one host.<\/p>\n With the Open RedZone, it is all hands on deck. One moment it\u2019s Vandeweghe, later it might be Andy Roddick. It was tough to tell who was commenting. Though there was no mistaking Luke Jensen, a doubles player from the 1990s, whose commentary at times seemed more suitable for WWE (he and his brother were a gregarious doubles team who described their play as rock and roll tennis because of their high-energy, flamboyant style)<\/p>\n Obviously this is just year one\u2013hopefully there is a year two. And as it evolves, I expect ESPN will choose one or two voices and assign them to do the daily seven hours of coverage (if so, they need to consult Hanson on how he does it without a bathroom break).<\/p>\n I solicited fan opinion from my X account, and most responses were largely positive.<\/p>\n Several tennis fans noted that the swing around to pivotal moments was, at times, slow.<\/p>\n Definitely additive and think can be even better. I\u2019m nit picking but a few times they were late to some of the main\/big match moments. All in all though this is very good from espn<\/p>\n \u2014 Keith Horton (@KeithKhorton) September 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Honestly idea is good but execution is poor. Theyve been missing important moments on bigger matches. I get wanting to show every match\/break point. But should be combined with showing important\/good matches. Because sometimes we are missing good matches to see match points.<\/p>\n \u2014 Mike Friedlich (@moman0330) September 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n There were those who wanted to watch a whole match, so they were not big fans.<\/p>\n As a viewer, the last thing I want is more than one match or game on at the same time on the same screen, multi view, split screen. Any sport. However, if Redzone helps casual fans or new viewers to the sport, that\u2019s fine w\/me. I watch one match or game at a time, in depth.<\/p>\n \u2014 ali (@alicanteahora9) September 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n And others who were loving it, no caveats.<\/p>\n Big fan. I was basically doing this myself during the first week of grand slams and flipping between outer court matches. Been my main channel these first few days.<\/p>\n