The first Grand Slam of the year is upon us Down Under, and the great news for tennis fans in the US is that coverage of the event is easy to stream thanks to ESPN Plus.
The specialist sports streaming service's comprehensive coverage means every serve, backhand and volley will be available to watch live online for the remainder matches of the tournament .
It's set to be a summertime sizzler for those lucky enough to be in Australia at the time of the tournament. Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal are the big favorites but both are carrying injury issues, and that leaves space for someone else to come in and pick up the men's trophy.
Over on the women's side, local girl and last year's champ Ash Barty has now retired, meaning that we'll have a brand new winner by the end of the show. Will Ons Jabeur finally get a Grand Slam win?
No tennis fan will want to miss out on its conclusion. So read on to find out the latest info on what ESPN Plus Australian Open tennis coverage gives you, as well as the cheapest way to subscribe to the service and whether the streaming device you own is compatible.
Australian Open tennis on ESPN Plus: what can I watch?
While Australian Open live stream live coverage is accessible on linear ESPN channels, ESPN Plus has access to every key match live including the semis and finals
As well as simulcasts of all ESPN and ESPN2 telecasts of the remaining singles and doubles matches in the men’s, women’s, mixed events, the online only service also gives access to wheelchair, legends and juniors matches.
It also has the big bonus of offering the ability to pause, rewind and replay every single live game, plus on-demand replays of completed matches - a super handy feature when so much of the play is scheduled for inconvenient start times for US viewers.
Plus, there's a daily highlights show posted at 11am EST / 8am PST on every morning of the tournament, on-demand replays of classic AO matches from the past and the option of Spanish-language commentary instead of English during live coverage.
How much does it cost to watch Australian Open tennis on ESPN Plus?
The mega popular free trial ESPN Plus offer is now sadly a thing of the past, but the service remains at a budget-friendly $9.99 a month or $99.99 for a whole year of access.
Where real savings can be made is via a bundle offering that include ESPN Plus. The sports network is jointly owned by Disney, and there are massive saving to be had by opting for a package that gets you Disney Plus and Hulu as well as ESPN Plus, for the bargain monthly fee starting at $13.99. You can sign up for the package by checking out Disney Plus's website here.
Taking advantage of that Disney Plus bundle deal means that as well as getting all the tennis and sports content provided by ESPN Plus, you'll also have access to a treasure trove of family entertainment including Classic Disney Animations, Pixar movies, and documentaries from National Geographic plus the entire Marvel and Star Wars film library via Disney Plus. And that's not all as you'll also be able to delve into Hulu's massive library of movies, TV shows and top notch originals.
What other sport content can I watch on ESPN Plus?
Beyond its excellent coverage of the Australian Open tennis, an ESPN Plus subscription also opens the doors to live action from a multitude of sports.
On of the service's biggest draws is ESPN Plus's exclusive coverage of UFC live streams, with the platform having the rights to live stream all of the MMA promotion's events in the US. That includes every Fight Night and numbered PPV event which are now shown on ESPN Plus (although the latter still requires viewers to pay a PPV fee for access).
If you're a subscriber you'll also get streaming access to one NHL and MLB game per day during their respective regular seasons, every out-of-market MLS match plus a wealth of international and FA Cup soccer, top-tier boxing cars and select PGA Tour golf events.
Another big incentive to sign up is that a subscription will also give you access to the entire 30 for 30 documentary library, with on demand access also available to a whole host of exclusive original sports programming including must-see programmes like The Fantasy Show and award-winning sports analysis series Detail.
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What devices can I watch Australian Open on ESPN Plus with?
With its wide-ranging support for a host of devices, it's easy to watch ESPN Plus.
For phones and tablets, its a simply case of downloading the ESPN app from either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and sign up for the service there.
If you're on a PC or Mac, you also can watch ESPN Plus via your web browser by heading to the service's website.
If you've a streaming box connected to your TV, it shouldn't come as any surprise that ESPN Plus is available on Apple TV, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV , as well as the Roku platform.
Games consoles also offer access to ESPN Plus, with dedicated apps for the service available for the PS5 and Xbox Series S and Series X as well as older machines such as all Xbox One models and the PS4, (but not unfortunately the Nintendo Switch).
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