The Australian Open is usually the upbeat beginning of the tennis calendar, but with Australia engulfed by bushfires this year it’s instead grabbed headlines for the wrong reasons so far. Qualifying play was marred by air quality issues and player complaints, with issues set to continue throughout the fortnight.
Still, smoke or no smoke this is still a tournament that attracts the world’s best players and there should be some great tennis to look forward to, even if everyone needs to catch their breath a little more.
When is the Australian Open?
The Australian Open runs for two weeks starting on Monday 20 January and ending on Sunday 2 February.
View the schedule here.
How to watch on TV
In the UK you can watch the Australian Open on Eurosport. If you have a basic Sky entertainment package your subscription should include Eurosport 1 and 2 – they are on 410 and 411, while the HD versions are 864 and 865. You can also watch through the Sky Go app if you prefer.
Eurosport is also available through BT on 412 & 413 for the regular versions, or 435 & 436 for high definition. You’ll need the Entertainment bundle, but if you don’t have it you can upgrade your subscription here. The BT TV and BT Sports app will also let you watch there.
Finally, Virgin Media subscribers need to head to channels 521, 522, 523 and 524. You’ll need the Bigger, Bigger + Movies or Ultimate Oomph bundle, but you can upgrade your package if you’d like.
Watch the Australian Open online for free
If you already subscribe to Amazon Prime there’s an even better deal. You can add Eurosport Player to your Prime account, which normally costs £6.99 per month, and then watch through your TV, laptop, phone, or tablet.
However, right now there’s a 7-day free trial (and a 30-day free trial of Prime, if you don’t have that yet), meaning you can watch a week’s worth of tennis without paying a penny.
That won’t cover the full tournament of course, but could net you coverage of the full second week, which includes the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals of both the men’s and women’s tournaments – all the best bits anyway, barring any exciting first week upsets.
If you want to buy a pass from Eurosport directly you can do that too and watch Eurosport on your computer, tablet or smartphone. You can buy an annual or monthly pass here, with prices starting from £4.99 per month.
Via Techadvisor