The ESPN Tennis Team – US Open
James Blake, once ranked as high as No. 4 in the world, will serve as an analyst. He joined ESPN in 2020. Blake won 10 titles during his playing career (1999-2013) and seven additional in doubles. He was part of the 2007 victorious U.S. Davis Cup team and placed fourth at the 2008 Olympics. The tournament director of the Miami Open, his memoir, Breaking Back, was a New York Times Best Seller.
Sam Borden, who joined ESPN in February 2017 is an award winning journalist, global correspondent and senior writer focused on investigative stories about sports ranging from international soccer to the NFL, the Olympics to the NBA. Borden has traveled to over 40 countries, and his written work appears on ESPN.com and, formerly, in ESPN The Magazine, while his television stories air on E:60, Outside The Lines, SC Featured and SportsCenter.
Kris Budden joins the team as a college sports reporter for ESPN, working on football, basketball and baseball. Prior to joining ESPN, Kris was a sideline and feature reporter for FOX Sports, covering NFL and college football from 2013-2015. During that time, Kris also worked for FOX Sports San Diego as a host and reporter for their coverage of the San Diego Padres.
Darren Cahill, who once reached the US Open semifinals and the Australian Open doubles finals and later coached fellow Australian Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi to No. 1 rankings, has worked for ESPN since 2007. He coached Simona Halep from 2015-19 and 2020-21, including Halep reaching No. 1 and winning a French Open title.
Cliff Drysdale, who was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013, reached the US Open finals and is a two-time Wimbledon and French Open semifinalist. He has been with ESPN since its first tennis telecast in 1979. Drysdale was a leader on the court – a top player for many years who was one of the first to use a two-hand backhand – and off the court, as the first president of the ATP.
Chrissie Evert, a Hall of Famer who joined ESPN in 2011, her 18 Major titles include three at Wimbledon. She recorded the best career win-loss record in history, reached more Major singles finals than any man or woman (34), and reached the semis or better in 34 consecutive Majors (1971-83). The AP Female Athlete of the Year four times, in 1976 she was the first woman to be the sole recipient of Sports Illustrated’s Sportswoman of the Year.
Mary Joe Fernandez, an ESPN analyst since 2000, she played in three Major singles finals and won two Majors in doubles, won a Gold Medal in doubles at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics and a Bronze in singles in 1992. She was the coach of the United States’ Fed Cup team for eight years, stepping down in 2016, and coached the 2012 and ’16 U.S. women’s Olympic team.
Chris Fowler – who joined ESPN in 1986, is the lead ESPN/ABC college football play caller and joined the ESPN tennis team in 2003 – will call matches, including the singles finals. He hosted College GameDay on football Saturdays 1990-2014, and has hosted World Cup soccer, college basketball including the Final Four, the X Games and Triple Crown horse racing. Originally, he was the first host of Scholastic Sports America and later was a SportsCenter anchor.
Brad Gilbert, whose flair and unique nicknames for players have enlivened ESPN’s tennis telecasts since 2004, parlayed his playing career – peaking at a No. 4 ranking and once reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open and at Wimbledon – into great success coaching: Andre Agassi (six Major titles with Brad), Andy Roddick (US Open victory) and Andy Murray.
Jason Goodall will serve as a studio and match analyst and call action. A one-time standout among Juniors in Britain whose career was ended by injury at 21, he later coached ESPN’s Mary Joe Fernandez and Pam Shriver and the British Fed Cup team.
Sam Gore, who has worked for ESPN since 2004, hosts the all-day multi-screen offering on AT&T DirecTV that ESPN produces at three Majors – the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. It offers the viewer the choice of five matches and the ESPN feed the first eight days of the events. He also calls the action for a number of college sports, including basketball, gymnastics and soccer.
Luke Jensen, who first worked for ESPN in 1994, serves as the analyst on the all-day multi-screen offering on AT&T DirecTV that ESPN produces at three Majors – the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. It offers the viewer the choice of five matches and the ESPN feed the first eight days of the events. Jensen was an All-American in singles and doubles as a junior and at USC. He and his brother Murphy won the 1993 French Open doubles title.
Nick Kyrgios won seven singles titles and 4 doubles titles throughout his career. In 2022, he achieved remarkable milestones including his inaugural Grand Slam Final appearance, securing 3 singles titles and 3 doubles titles, and a memorable Quarter Finals showdown at the 2022 US Open where he triumphed over the then-ranked No. 1 Daniil Medvedev. Notably, Kyrgios is one of the few players to defeat the Big Three (Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal) at least once.
John McEnroe won seven Major singles titles, including three at Wimbledon, during his storied career, which included 10 more Major crowns in doubles or mixed doubles. He also led the U.S. to four Davis Cup titles and won the NCAA’s while attending Stanford. He has worked for ESPN since 2009.
Patrick McEnroe, who has worked for ESPN since 1995, was a three-time singles All-American at Stanford – where the team won NCAA titles in 1986 and 1988 – and served as General Manager, USTA Elite Player Development from 2008 – 2015. He won the 1989 French Open doubles title and reached the 1991 Australian Open semifinals in singles. He served as the U.S. Davis Cup captain 2001-2010; in 2007 the team won its first championship since 1995.
Chris McKendry returns as host, a role she has filled at all the Majors for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 1996 as a SportsCenter anchor, and later hosted the Little League World Series and X Games. As of Spring 2016, she focuses on tennis. She attended Drexel University on a tennis scholarship.
Mike Monaco, who first worked for ESPN in 2019, is a versatile and accomplished play-by-play announcer for ESPN. Adept at calling a variety of sports, Monaco has called Major League Baseball, NHL, Little League World Series, basketball, college baseball, football, lacrosse, volleyball and softball events.
Pam Shriver, who started working for ESPN in 1990, long before her Hall of Fame career ended, played in the US Open finals at age 16 (losing to Evert) and three times in the Wimbledon semifinals. She won 21 Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles (another in Mixed) including five at Wimbledon, plus a Gold Medal in doubles at the 1988 Olympics.
Rennae Stubbs, who enjoyed a long career in doubles – winning six Majors: four in women’s and two in mixed, and representing Australia at four Olympic Games and for 17 years in Fed Cup, will be an analyst. She’s worked for ESPN for many years, and for NBC at the Olympics and for Tennis Channel.