Wimbledon Ladies’ Semifinals Thursday on ESPN: No. 3 Jabeur vs. Maria, No. 16 Halep vs. No. 17 Rybakina

Tennis

Wimbledon Ladies’ Semifinals Thursday on ESPN: No. 3 Jabeur vs. Maria, No. 16 Halep vs. No. 17 Rybakina

Jabeur of Tunisia Breaks New Ground, Will Face Surprising Maria, Mother of Two

2019 Champion Halep vs. Rybakina, Wimbledon’s First Semifinalist from Kazakhstan

Mixed Doubles Championship to Conclude the Day on ESPN,

includes Multi-Major Winner Stosur

ESPN+ with all Outer Courts – Doubles, Juniors, Wheelchair and More

Breakfast at Wimbledon Precedes the Action Each Day through Sunday 

Viewership Update:  Through Seven Days, ESPN/ABC up 35%;

ABC Averaged 1.7 Million Saturday

ESPN’s exclusive coverage of The Championships, Wimbledon continues on ESPN on Thursday, July 7, with Breakfast at Wimbledon at 7 a.m. ET and the Ladies’ Semifinals on ESPN at 8 a.m.

  • 3 Ons Jabeur is the first player from Tunisia, male or female to reach the final four of any tennis Major in the Open Era. At last year’s Wimbledon, she equaled her best-ever finish at a Major by reaching the fourth round.  Tatjana Maria, 34 and a mother of two, has been ranked as high as No. 46 in 2017.  The German’s best previous result in 34 Majors was reaching the third round at Wimbledon in 2015.

Followed by:

  • 16 Simona Halep, who defeated Serena Williams for the 2019 title at Wimbledon and won the French Open in 2018, twice finished the year ranked No. 1 in the WTA (2017, 2018). No. 17 Elena Rybakina, the first Wimbledon semifinalist representing Kazakhstan, has only played Wimbledon once before, a fourth-round result last year.

In addition, the Mixed Doubles Championship will be the third match on Centre.  Australians Matthew Ebden and Samantha Stosur will square off against either the team of Mate Pavic and Sania Mirza or the duo of Neal Skupski and American Desirae Krawczyk .  Stosur, who won the 2011 US Open singles crown, has captured four Major doubles titles and four more in mixed, including two in London.

ESPN+ with More Action

Beyond the two Ladies’ singles matches on Centre Court, all the other courts and matches are available on the ESPN App with ESPN+, including Doubles, Juniors and Invitation (legends) action.  In addition, the Wheelchair competition begins tomorrow.  Coverage begins at 6 a.m.

First Live Wimbledon on ABC Garners Large Audience, Viewership up 35% Through Seven Days

This weekend, ABC aired the first live Wimbledon telecasts in its long and stored sports history.  Saturday’s action – which included the end of the fireworks-filled Nick Kyrgios vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas duel plus Rafael Nadal’s win over Lorenzo Sonego – averaged a strong 1.7 million viewers.  It peaked at 2.2 million at 4 p.m. ET as the second match concluded.  Sunday’s coverage averaged 1.5 million viewers.  After seven days in London, ESPN/ABC is averaging 627,000 viewers, up 35% from a year ago.

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Dave Nagle

As I write this on 11-11-21, it's now 35 years for me at ESPN, the only real job I’ve ever had. I joined merely to help with the upcoming America’s Cup in Australia. I was told it would be for three months at all of $5.50 per hour. I like to say I simply kept showing up. I’ve worked on almost every sport, plus answered viewer calls and letters (people used to write!), given tours, written the company newsletter and once drove NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon to the local airport. My travels have been varied…I’ve been to Martinsville, Darlington, Indy and Super Bowls; the America’s Cup (all 3) in San Diego and College GameDay in the sport’s meccas such as Eugene, Auburn, Lubbock, Stillwater and more; the NBA Finals, Wimbledon (16 times and counting) and the “other Bristol,” the one with a race track in Tennessee. These days, my main areas are tennis, UFC, boxing, network-wide ratings (by month/quarter/year), and corporate communications documents, including fact sheets, chronologies, lists and nearly 35 of the Year in Review press releases. UPDATE EXACTLY ONE YEAR LATER: Today, November 11, 2022, I am retiring from ESPN -- 36 years to the day I began. As I ride off into the sunset – top down and E Street Radio blaring – I do so with so many wonderful memories, proud of my contributions and a heart full of gratitude for the opportunity. 
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