Flushing Meadows plays host once again to the final tennis grand slam of the year as the world’s greatest players gather in New York for the 2012 US Open.
A record prize purse of $25.5m will be up for grabs as Novak Djokovic and Sam Stosur begin the defence of their singles crowns.
Sky Sports is showing matches from every round of both the men’s and women’s competitions exclusively live throughout the tournament, with selected live matches also available on British Eurosport.
The tournament will provide an opportunity for Britain’s Andy Murray to build on the brilliant gold medal he won at the London 2012 Olympic Games as he continues to seek to win his first Grand Slam title.
The Scot previously reached the final here in 2008 and lost in the semi-finals to Nadal in 2011, and he will be hopin to use his recent Olympic success as a springboard to lift the US Open title.
World number one Roger Federer is the hot favourite in New York after returning to the top ranking following his title at Wimbledon.
Federer surpassed Pete Sampras to set the record for the most weeks at No. 1 in the ATP rankings at 287 weeks and is looking for his sixth US Open title.
Novak Djokovic is the defending US Open champion after defeating Rafael Nadal in the final last year. The Serb won the 2012 Australian Open and reached the final of the French Open too.
Having missed out on the Olympic tennis tournament at Wimbledon, 2010 US Open champion Rafael Nadal will miss the 2012 tournament after failing to recover from a knee injury.
In the women’s, all 102 of the world’s top players will be in action, including 2012 Grand Slam singles champions Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Victoria Azarenka.
The tournament will hold particular emotional significance for three-time US Open champion Kim Clijsters who will make her final career appearance in Flushing Meadows after announcing she will retire this year.
Their will be strong British representation in women’s draw as Heather Watson, Anne Keothavong and Laura Robson will all take to the court.
Watson was knocked out in the opening round in 2011, but comes into this year’s event having reached the third round of a grand slam for the first time in her career at Wimbledon this year.
Keothavong was another first-round departure while world number 89 Robson is looking to move past the opening round in a grand slam for the first time in 2012.
Here’s SOTB’s guide to how you can follow all the action from the 2012 US Open on Sky Sports and British Eurosport:
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Sky Sports will have unrivalled coverage of the 2012 US Open, featuring live action from the first round to the finals.
Presenter Marcus Buckland and the Sky Sports team will again be on-location in New York to bring viewers the pick of each day’s matches as well as all the colour and atmosphere from inside the Flushing Meadows complex.
Sky Sports will have up to 12 hours of continuous live action up to the second Thursday of the tournament, including exclusive live coverage of every night session on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
In addition to the featured match on the main channel, viewers can choose up to five additional matches on the outside courts by pressing the red button during the live coverage.
This feature is also available to Sky Sports subscribers online via Sky Sports Xtra.
Greg Rusedski and Annabel Croft will provided analysis and comment from the studio overlooking the Arthur Ashe Stadium court throughout the tournament.
Mark Petchey leads Sky Sports’ commentary team, which also includes Barry Milns, Peter Fleming, Sam Smith, Barry Cowan and Leif Shiras.
Former US Open champion Boris Becker will once again link up with the Sky Sports team for the second week of the tournament.
Extended highlights of the overnight action, plus a round-up of the day session matches, will be shown each day on Sky Sports at 1pm, presented by George Gavin with studio analysis from Andrew Castle.
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British Eurosport will have selected live coverage from the US Open in Flushing Meadows, the last Grand Slam event of the season.
Second choice matches are live on British Eurosport for the first nine days with delayed next day coverage from the quarter-finals onwards.
Commentary will be provided by Simon Reed, David Mercer, Chris Bradnam, Frew McMillan and Jo Durie.
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US Open 2012 – Men’s / Women’s Draws – CLICK HERE
Monday 27th August Day 1 – Men’s / Women’s 1st Round LIVE – 4.00pm-4.00am – Sky Sports 2 LIVE – 4.00pm-12.30am – British Eurosport Tuesday 28th August Day 2 – Men’s / Women’s 1st Round LIVE – 4.00pm-4.00am – Sky Sports 3 LIVE – 4.00pm-12.30am – British Eurosport Wednesday 29th August Day 3 – Men’s 1st & 2nd Round / Women’s 2nd Round LIVE – 4.00pm-7.00pm – Sky Sports 1 | 7.00pm-4.00am – Sky Sports 3 LIVE – 4.00pm-12.30am – British Eurosport Thursday 30th August Day 4 – Men’s / Women’s 2nd Round LIVE – 4.00pm-4.00am – Sky Sports 2 LIVE – 4.00pm-12.30am – British Eurosport Friday 31st August Day 5 – Men’s 2nd Round / Women’s 3rd Round LIVE – 4.00pm-4.00am – Sky Sports 3 LIVE – 4.00pm-12.30am – British Eurosport Saturday 1st September Day 6 – Men’s / Women’s 3rd Round LIVE – 4.00pm-4.00am – Sky Sports 3 LIVE – 4.00pm-12.30am – British Eurosport Sunday 2nd September Day 7 – Men’s 3rd Round / Women’s Last 16 LIVE – 4.00pm-4.00am – Sky Sports 3 LIVE – 4.00pm-12.30am – British Eurosport Monday 3rd September Day 8 – Men’s / Women’s Last 16 LIVE – 4.00pm-4.00am – Sky Sports 2 LIVE – 4.00pm-12.30am – British Eurosport Tuesday 4th September Day 9 – Men’s Round of 16 / Women’s Quarter Finals LIVE – 4.00pm-4.00am – Sky Sports 2 LIVE – 4.00pm-12.30am – British Eurosport Wednesday 5th September Day 10 – Men’s and/or Women’s Quarter Finals LIVE – 4.00pm-4.00am – Sky Sports 2 Thursday 6th September Day 11 – Men’s Quarter Finals LIVE – 4.00pm-4.00am – Sky Sports 2 Friday 7th September Day 12 – Women’s Semi Finals LIVE – 5.00pm-12.00am – Sky Sports 2 Saturday 8th September Day 13 – Men’s Singles Semi Finals LIVE – 5.00pm-9.00pm – Sky Sports 2 Women’s Singles Final LIVE – 1.00am-3.00am – Sky Sports 1 Sunday 9th September Men’s Singles Final LIVE – 9.00pm-12.00am – Sky Sports 1 . .
