ESS to telecast French Open 2007, Monaco Grand Prix

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent
ESPN Star Sports (ESS), the sports broadcaster, will telecast the French Open from Roland Garros Starting May 27, 2007. The attention of the world's best tennis players will be focused on only one place for the next two weeks – Paris, France as the best of the best hit the red clay courts for the French Open crown.

The French Open has a special place in the heart of all tennis fans, with its rich history. The second of the four majors, the French Open is held right in the middle of the tennis calendar, and is a target for all the big names aiming for a Grand Slam title.

Rafael Nadal will have his sights set on a third consecutive title, a feat only achieved by the legendary Björn Borg before him. The double defending champion, Nadal, has been unbeaten on clay for a record 81 consecutive matches till Roger Federer beat him in the final of the Hamburg Open lasy week. On the other hand, World No 1 Roger Federer will be looking to lift his maiden French Open trophy to achieve the feat of winning four grand slams in a year for the first time since Rod Laver did in 1969.

In the women's draw, Belgian J. Henin is seeded no 1 followed by S Kuznetsova and 19 year old D. Safina. Justine Henin will be hoping to win a fourth French Open title in the past five years. Serena Williams is also making a come back to the slow clay courts at the French Open for the first time in three years. The Russian brigade of Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina, come back queen Martina Hingis and the home town girl Amelie Mauresmo will also be gunning for the elusive French Open crown in the women's draw this year.

ESS will also bring all the excitement of F1 racing this weekend with the Monaco Grand Prix. The channel will telecast the Grand Prix from Monte Carlo with its signature show Race Day (pre race) and Chequered Flag (post race) as part of its comprehensive F1 programming for the Indian viewers.

The focus in the McLaren team has suddenly shifted from Fernando Alonso to the season's debutant Hamilton who has taken the racing world by storm. Lewis Hamilton, the 22-year-old British rookie who is leading this year's Formula One drivers' world championship, will look to continue his impressive record at the Monaco circuit. The young racing ace has won all three of his previous racing appearances on the famous old Mediterranean street circuit in the Formula Three and GP2 series; however F1 is a huge step forward. Hamilton has reeled off a record-breaking run of four podium finishes in his first four races of the season.

On the other hand the Ferrari camp is celebrating with Felipe Massa scoring victories in the last two races. However, the team's concern is currently the performance of both cars as retirements mid way have allowed McLaren to gain a nine points lead after four races. With two extremely talented and fast drivers, Ferrari will look to a 1-2 finish in Monaco to close in on the early leaders.

The Monaco circuit is extremely interesting – it features a long tunnel; is tight and demanding and offers very little room, if any - for errors or overtaking. With 3.340 km as its lap distance, the circuit has 78 laps. The late Ayrton Senna holds a record 6 victories at Monaco. Six different drivers have won the last six events with Coulthard being the only current driver to have won this race more than once.