If you are a tennis fan living in the US, trying to find tennis on TV can be a painful exercise. This was especially the case for the 2021 US Open final which was only carried by ESPN, a paid cable channel. Streaming was also available on ESPN3 if the internet provider offered that option.

Not showing the finals on free-to-air TV in the US is a disgrace. No one should need a paid cable subscription to watch the most popular tennis event in the US.

Tennis has a tough time competing with other American sports such as the NFL and college football. In recent years, not many Americans have reached the finals, which has reduced TV audience for tennis.

Free to air channels CBS get their revenue from advertisements whereas cable channels like ESPN get bulk of their revenue from subscription fees. In the US, where ESPN2, which carries tennis, has received complaints from viewers that the channel spends too much time showing tennis.

A fix to the problem would be more Americans going deep at the US Open and possibly winning titles. Even then, tennis will find it difficult to compete against NFL.

Emma Raducanu had a great US Open and dominated the news for the right reasons. But another Brit, Joe Salisbury had a great US Open as well, winning both the doubles title and mixed doubles title.

He won the doubles title with American partner Rajeev Ram. The pair defeated Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the final. Salisbury followed up that victory with a win in mixed doubles with Desirae Krawczyk,

Salisbury became the first man since Bob Bryan in 2010 to win the men’s doubles and mixed doubles at the US Open. Desirae Krawczyk won three mixed doubles grand slam titles in 2021, though the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon came with another British partner Neal Skupski.

Joe Salisbury now has 4 grand slam titles – two titles in doubles and two titles in mixed doubles. Interestingly, he has more grand slams than Andy Murray, though all of Murray’s three titles came in singles. Doubles players don’t get the publicity that singles players get, but doubles is still a very competitive sport.

Salisbury played college tennis at the University of Memphis before turning pro. He has been playing doubles with Rajeev Ram for a couple of years and the doubles pair has produced good results.