As Serena Williams continues to move on in her last ever US Open, ESPN is making a switch that will help the most fans possible see the greatest ever for what could be her final match.
Williams will take on Ajla Tomljanović in a third-round matchup on Friday. Originally, that match was going to be on ESPN2, with the Western Michigan-Michigan State college football game on ESPN.
But on Thursday, ESPN announced that those events will be flipped. Williams and Tomljanović will be broadcast on ESPN’s main network, while the Broncos and Spartans will play on the deuce.
Both events will take place at 7 p.m. ET.
🚨 Friday, Sept. 2 Programming Update 🚨
🎾 The #USOpen third round match featuring #SerenaWilliams moves to ESPN at 7p ET
🏈 @ESPNCFB will air on ESPN2 at 7p ET pic.twitter.com/L1raZ3qThr
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) September 1, 2022
There’s no big surprise here.
Every match Williams plays can be her last. Given that she’s the greatest ever in her sport, that’s a huge deal. Furthermore, her first two rounds have both garnered a lot of attention. Serena’s first-round win over Danka Kovinić generated a lot of attention from the sports world and drew a big overall television rating. Her dramatic three-set victory over No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit was similar.
And while Williams and Anett went the distance in their match, Serena’s 6-2 win in the third set served as an indicator that she might be around for a while. If that happens, expect ESPN to continue to do everything it can to get her matches seen by the biggest audience possible.
[ESPN PR]
