Imagine this: You’ve been counting down the days until the US Open, the year’s final Grand Slam. The anticipation is electric, especially as a homegrown star like Frances Tiafoe takes the court. But then, disaster strikes: the broadcast goes dark, leaving fans in the lurch. As a viewer, you’re furious. But what can the tournament organizers do to prevent such a debacle in the future?

DirecTV subscribers were left in the dark on Sunday night as a carriage dispute with Disney caused the blackout of several popular channels, including ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. This disruption coincided with highly anticipated events such as the LSU-USC football game and the Atlanta Braves-Philadelphia Phillies baseball matchup. The blackout, which began shortly before 7 p.m. ET, affected over 11 million DirecTV subscribers.

Unfortunately, for tennis fans this happened before the start of the crucial match between Frances Tiafoe and the Aussie player, Alexei Popyrin (at around 7.20 pm EDT). Hence, fans missed out on how Tiafoe reigned over Popyrin (in four sets), who got the better of Novak Djokovic in the third round. Disney and ESPN issued a joint statement expressing disappointment over the situation and emphasizing their commitment to reaching a fair agreement with DirecTV.

Soon after that, The Walt Disney Company issued a statement where they claimed to have offered ‘flexibility’ to DirectTV, but they were not ready to accept an “undervalued” deal. However, DirectTV’s Rob Thun had a different point of view. He slammed Disney of not taking any “accountability” for frustrating the customers by moving top content to its own platforms and forcing them to pay multiple times.

And as the dispute went on, the US Open Tennis organizers intervened and stated on X, “It is disappointing that fans and viewers around the country will not have the opportunity to watch the greatest athletes in our sport take part in the 2024 US Open due to an unresolved negotiation between DirecTV and Disney, resulting in the loss of access to ESPN.”

With the hope of resolving the issues as quickly as possible, the tournament consoled fans by revealing how they can still catch the action live on alternative streaming services. This includes Hulu, Sling, YouTube TV, and Fubo TV. However, there is a catch:

However, it was not all bad for the Americans, as their favorite players, Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, had a fruitful time on-court!

Here’s how Frances Tiafoe, along with his compatriots, are aiming to bring the US Open trophy home! 

Playing in US Open 4R for the fifth consecutive year, Frances Tiafoe advanced to his 4th Grand
Slam quarter-final, including third at the US Open (2022-23). With this feat, he has joined the ranks of Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, and Andy Roddick Andy Roddick and Pete Sampras as the “only American men to contest in 3+ US Open quarter-finals since 2000”.

The world No. 20 is now gearing up to face Grigor Dimitrov in the QFs on Tuesday. Besides Tiafoe, Fritz is also making waves in the tournament, as he secured his spot in the QFs by winning against Casper Ruud. And if things move in the same rhythm, Tommy Paul, another American ATP player, can join the same team, but only if he emerges victorious over the World No. 1 player, Jannik Sinner.

If Frances Tiafoe continues his winning streak in New York, hopefully, we will see him break the record of Roddick, who was the last American man to win the US Open title in 2003 without any viewing disturbances. Hopefully!

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