Australian Open 2015 live on British Eurosport

Melbourne provides the stunning backdrop for the first Grand Slam of the 2015 tennis season and British Eurosport will be the only place to see complete coverage of the Australian Open from January 18-February 1.

Andy Murray will once again be bidding to become the first ever male British champion Down Under when the first Grand Slam of the season gets underway in the city that is regarded as the sporting capital of Australia.

Last year was a difficult one for the Scot as he battled to regain fitness and form after surgery at the end of the 2013.

Murray also had to adapt to a change in coach as Amelie Mauresmo replaced Ivan Lendl, who had helped him win two Grand Slam titles, the US Open in 2012 followed by his stunning Wimbledon triumph in 2013.

Murray also split with coach and friend Dani Vallverdu in November after five years together, a decision which surprised many amongst the tennis community, while Jez Green, who had been Murray’s physical conditioner for seven years, also left the team.

It is expected that Murray will replace Vallverdu and Green before the start of the Australian Open, arguably the most gruelling Grand Slam of the year due to the heat and humidity in Melbourne.

Murray has a good record at this tournament, reaching the final on three occasions, including consecutive years in 2012 and 2013.

Novak Djokovic, a four-time winner of this tournament, enters as the favourite and will be keen to impress after a surprise defeat to eventual winner Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarter-final stage at last year’s event.

Djokovic is chasing a record fifth Australian Open title but faces tough competition from the rejuvenated Roger Federer, also a four-time winner, and Rafael Nadal, who is expected to return to action after undergoing surgery to remove his appendix in November.

In the women’s draw, last year’s women’s champion, Li Na, will not be back to defend her title after retiring from tennis in 2014.

Serena Williams, a four-time winner in Melbourne, will be the favourite to take the title. Other contenders include world number two Maria Sharapova and two-time winner Victoria Azarenka.

Heather Watson is likely to be Britain’s sole representative, with Laura Robson continuing her rehabilitation from a wrist tendon problem.

Robson has not played competitively since last year’s Australian Open and has decided to skip this year’s tournament.

Get set for the drama, upsets, marathon matches, controversies and for the unhealthy amounts of sleep deprivation that are sure to accompany two wild weeks of Australian Open tennis on the hard courts of Melbourne Park.

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British Eurosport will again provide exhaustive coverage of the Australian Open with over 300 hours of live action from Down Under over the course of the fortnight.

The pan-European broadcaster is the only place to follow the entire tournament from start to finish on UK television, starting each night during the first 10 days at 12 midnight.

Both British Eurosport channels – British Eurosport and British Eurosport 2, as well as their high-definition equivalents, will screen continuous through-the-night coverage for the first 10 days, giving fans the opportunity to choose between two different live TV matches.

Every night session on Rod Laver Arena will be screened exclusively live on British Eurosport throughout the first week, with each session under the dazzling lights starting at breakfast time in the UK.

British Eurosport’s studio coverage of each night session, including both singles finals over the concluding weekend, will presented once again by the channel’s lead tennis presenter Rob Curling.

He will be joined by a range of guests in the Eurosport studio, including former world number four and 1997 US Open finalist Greg Rusedski, three-time Grand Slam winner Virginia Wade, as well as former British number one Annabel Croft and top tennis coach Nigel Sears, all of whom will both offer their unique expert analysis on proceedings Down Under.

If you can’t stay up all night, there will be plenty of chances to catch match replays and extended highlights of the overnight action throughout the rest of the day across the British Eurosport channels.

Game Set and Mats, Eurosport International’s daily round-up show at the Grand Slams, also returns to bring fans up to date with each day’s play, fronted by three-time Australian Open champion Mats Wilander.

He will welcome experts and players to give their insight on the tournament alongside co-presenter and former world number seven Barbara Schett, who will bring the best interviews and reaction right from the grounds at Melbourne Park overlooking the main arena.

British Eurosport’s expert commentary team guiding fans through the action includes Simon Reed, Chris Bradnam, Jo Durie and Frew McMillan.

For further multi-court coverage, Eurosport Player subscribers can also access up to seven main courts live via the website and apps.

The Eurosport Player service includes stamped timeline and live alerts, meaning fans will never miss a match point.

There will also be comprehensive coverage on the British Eurosport website with up-to-date scores, reports, blogs, interviews and videos.

BBC Sport will again screen free-to-air coverage of the closing weekend of the Australian Open live from Melbourne.

As in the past three years, the BBC will only screen live TV coverage of one of the men’s semi-finals on either Thursday or Friday morning, plus both the men’s and women’s finals live over the weekend of January 31-February 1.

Sue Barker returns to present the BBC’s coverage of the latter stages of the 2014 tournament, with studio analysis and live match commentary from Andrew Castle and John Lloyd.

Daily interactive coverage of the evening session matches on Rod Laver Arena, along with network coverage of matches involving British players, were dropped after 2011 due to budget cuts.

BBC Radio 5 live and 5 live Sports Extra will be the place to go for daily live commentaries with the station’s tennis correspondent Russell Fuller.

Alternatively, fans can follow online text commentaries on every night session as well as each of Andy Murray matches during the fortnight via the BBC Sport website.

The BBC’s online platforms will provide in-depth coverage of the entire tournament, while fans can also access the latest updates, features and live streaming of the BBC’s TV coverage over the final weekend via online, mobile, the BBC Sport app and Connected TV.

There will also be behind-the-scenes gossip and photos on social media via BBC Sport’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.