For anyone living under a rock: a 20-year-old Spanish phenomenon named Carlos Alcaraz somehow came back from a set down in the Wimbledon men’s final to defeat Novak Djokovic, who was all set to equal the now-retired Roger Federer’s record of eight titles on the hallowed grass.
The cliché of the day was “the changing of the guard”, as Federer, Djokovic and another elder, Rafael Nadal, had long resembled a three-headed beast guarding the gates of the grand slams.
Mike Darcey assesses how vulnerable Sky is to a bid for Premier League rights from one of the tech giants
Strictly Come Dancing winner Ore Oduba will host the live show on Dave.
Tie Break Tens is a short format of tennis where only tie-breaks are played. Each match is a first-to-ten point tie break. Every tournament awards a winner-take-all cheque after a four-hour session of high pressure tennis.
A total of 16 players will compete in 14 tie-break matches, with two tournaments running side by side, over the course of the evening.
For the first time, the Eurosport Player will provide online subscribers with live access to matches across 12 courts. Matches will also feature heavily on the Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 satellite channels
Rob Curling will lead the channels' presenting duties, accompanied by British stars Greg Rusedski and Annabel Croft. Retired champions Pat Cash, Mats Wilander, and Mary Pierce will feature as pundits throughout the tournament, which begins on 29 August.
The deal is overseen by Ofcom, and allows certain rights to a secondary broadcaster after the main entitlements of the BBC. These include live coverage of both the men's and women's singles finals as well as daily 90 minute highlight shows.
Eurosport now becomes the only broadcaster to show live coverage of all four Grand Slam tennis tournaments. The Wimbledon deal has come just after its transmission of the French Roland Garros tournament concluded earlier this month and before filming of the US Open begins in August.
Over-the-top hyperbole is usually de rigueur when it comes to unveiling big TV sports-rights deals. But, this summer, when Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav declared his company’s €1.3bn, pan-European deal with the International Olympic Committee a “game changer”, it seemed more like an understatement.
The contract, which runs from 2018, caused many people’s jaws to drop – while others scratched their heads over its implications. It seemed like another blow to the BBC and its grip on the world’s greatest festival of sport.
