Tennis fans will be able to watch live coverage of tonight’s US Open tennis final on Channel 4 after the broadcaster secured a last-minute deal to share the broadcast with Amazon Prime Video.
Viewers will be able to cheer on 18-year-old Emma Raducanu as she makes her first Grand Slam final appearance against Canadian Leylah Fernandez. Coverage starts at 8pm.
Emma is the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977.
As a result of the deal struck with Amazon Prime Video, Channel 4 will Amazon’s live feed and broadcast it free-to-air on Channel 4.
Prime Video’s broadcasts will be available to stream for Prime members via the Prime Video app. This is available on smart TVs, game consoles, mobile devices, set top boxes and online at www.amazon.co.uk/primevideo.
Earlier this year Channel 4 secured a similar surprise for sports fans when it showed live coverage of England’s Test series against India. It was the first time live Test cricket had been on free to air television since 2005.
Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer Ian Katz said:
“Emma’s meteoric rise to secure a place in the US Open Final is just sensational. We’re glad to have worked with Prime Video and pulled out all the stops to get it on air and I’m sure viewers will be thrilled at the prospect of watching Emma in this Grand Slam final.”
He said: “We didn’t know we’d secured the deal until late on Friday night and so many people have gone above and beyond to make it happen. But Channel 4 is all about finding ways to let our viewers share great national moments, whether it’s Bake Off or big sporting events like the cricket World Cup final or US Open final.
Highlights and audio coverage
The BBC will be carrying live audio coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.
However, the BBC has backed out of a deal to show free-to-air highlights of the game on Sunday afternoon now that Channel 4 is showing the event live.