FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, April 27th, 2020

SERENA, VENUS, FEDERER, AND AGASSI RETURN TONIGHT AT 7 P.M. ET ON NBCSN, HIGHLIGHTING OPENING NIGHT OF NBC SPORTS FROM THE VAULT

Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Andre Agassi’s First French Open Titles Highlight Tonight’s Coverage, Starting at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN

NBC Sports’ French Open Commentator Dan Hicks will Host Tonight’s Tennis Coverage

50+ Hours of Classic Sports Moments from Notre Dame Football, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, NHL Classics, French Open & PGA TOUR Throughout the Week

Content to Stream on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 27, 2020 – NBC Sports From the Vault begins today at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN with classic French Open finals featuring Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Venus Williams. This week NBC Sports will be presenting more than 50 hours of classic sports events from the past 45+ years throughout the week, featuring Notre Dame Football, the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, NHL classics, French Open and PGA TOUR.

NBC Sports’ French Open play-by-play commentator Dan Hicks will introduce tonight’s tennis coverage. Match presentations will include a specialized ticker featuring live tweets. Fans can tweet #NBCSNVault for the chance to see their tweets live on air.

Programming will also stream on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.

MONDAY, APRIL 27 – FRENCH OPEN

The opening night of NBC Sports From the Vault, beginning at 7 p.m. ET, features three classic French Open finals: Andre Agassi and Roger Federer completing the career Grand Slam, in 1999 and 2009, respectively, and Serena Williams defeating sister, Venus Williams, for her first career French Open title in 2002.

Commentators on the encore matches from Roland Garros include: Dick Enberg, John McEnroe and Bud Collins for the 1999 men’s final; McEnroe, Collins, Ted Robinson and Chris Evert for the 2002 women’s final; and Robinson, McEnroe and Mary Carillo for the 2009 men’s final.

EVENT TIME (ET) NETWORK
1999 French Open Men’s Final 7 p.m. NBCSN
2002 French Open Women’s Final 10:30 p.m. NBCSN
2009 French Open Men’s Final 12:30 a.m. NBCSN

 

1999 FRENCH OPEN MEN’S FINAL AT 7 P.M. ET

In a comeback for the ages, Agassi rallied from two sets down to win the 1999 French Open against former world No. 4 Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine, 1–6, 2–6, 6–4, 6–3, 6–4. This marked Agassi’s first French Open win after losses in the final at the beginning of his career to Andres Gomez of Ecuador in 1990 and fellow American tennis legend Jim Courier in 1991.

With the win, Agassi became the second man to complete a career Grand Slam in the Open Era, following tennis legend Rod Laver in 1969. At the time, Laver played his tournaments only on grass and clay, making Agassi the first man to accomplish the feat on three surfaces (grass, clay and hard courts).

2002 FRENCH OPEN WOMEN’S FINAL AT 10:30 P.M. ET

In the fourth Grand Slam matchup (second final) between the Williams sisters, Serena defeated Venus in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3, to win her first French Open title. For Serena, this was the first step towards four consecutive Grand Slam wins over two seasons, completing the self-styled “Serena Slam,” in 2002-03.

Serena would go on to win 23 Grand Slam singles titles to-date, just one shy of matching Australian tennis legend Margaret Court for the all-time record.

2009 FRENCH OPEN MEN’S FINAL AT 12:30 A.M. ET

With an exceptional performance, Swiss star Federer defeated No. 23-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden, 6–1, 7–6 (1), 6–4, to win his first French Open title. This was Federer’s fourth consecutive French Open final, having lost the previous three to Spanish rival Rafael Nadal.

With the win, Federer became the third man in the Open Era (following Laver and Agassi) and sixth overall to complete the career Grand Slam. Federer was presented with the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy by Agassi, the 1999 French Open champion.

Below is each night’s highlighted content throughout the week:

    • Monday, April 27: French Open
    • Tuesday, April 28: NHL Classics
    • Wednesday, April 29: Notre Dame Football
    • Thursday, April 30: Orange Bowl
    • Friday, May 1: Fiesta Bowl and Orange Bowl
    • Saturday, May 2: Rose Bowl
    • Sunday, May 3: PGA TOUR (THE PLAYERS Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational)

 

–NBC SPORTS–