Tuesday's deal ends a 43-year run on NBC. Complaints about
NBC not showing every match live in all time zones had become an annual Wimbledon tradition.
"There is no question the sports viewer nowadays wants to see things live," All England Club chief executive Ian Ritchie said on a conference call. ESPN had owned the rights to extensively televise early rounds of Wimbledon since 2003, with NBC picking up coverage as the tournament progressed, culminating with the "Breakfast at Wimbledon" broadcasts of the finals.
Quarterfinal matches will air on
ESPN and ESPN2 at the same time so they can all be broadcast live.
VENUS BACK IN THE USA: Venus Williams played her first match in the United States this year and struggled Tuesday night for her World Team Tennis squad.
Earlier in the match, Williams, 31, won mixed doubles for the Washington Kastles with Leander Paes.
HALL OF FAME CHAMPIONSHIPS: Top-seeded John Isner and Nicolas Mahut are forever linked with the longest match in tennis history.
SWEDISH OPEN: Wozniacki next will face Sofia Arvidsson, who beat Andrea Hlavackova 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 in the clay-court WTA tournament.
BUDAPEST GRAND PRIX: Top-seeded Roberta Vinci crushed Lenka Jurikova 6-1, 6-0 to advance to the second round in Budapest, Hungary.
