Tennis

Providing sense of place key for ESPN’s tennis Grand Slam coverage

LONDON — Every tennis court is the same. The surface varies — hard court, clay or grass — but the actual court is the same at every playground, country club or Grand Slam event: 78 feet long, 27 feet wide (for singles), the service line is 21 feet from the baseline, and the net is 3’6” high at the posts, 3’ in the center.

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When ESPN’s tennis team arrives at each Grand Slam — the Australian Open in January, the French Open in May, Wimbledon in late June and the US Open in late August – they are tasked with presenting dozens of hours of action focused on that same simple rectangle.

But beyond the white lines, the venues vary widely. The fans, cities, countries and even the season of the year all play a factor in the general atmosphere and overall feeling permeating the two weeks of competition.

ESPN Vice President, Production Jamie Reynolds knows that conveying a sense of place is critical in producing such volume of content. In the video above, he explains how and why the production adapts from Slam to Slam.

Video produced by Tonya Malinowski and Dave Nagle

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