Guide to live tennis streaming, free video and tv streams

Now this is something that annoys me a lot. I know many of you will understand.

Online live tennis (or any other sport for that matter) streaming.

You know how it is. There is an important tennis match on. Being Down Under, it's inevitably very late or very early. It's not on TV or it is delayed because, well Bangladesh is playing Sri Lanka in cricket or there is a rerun of Dancing with the Stars. Tennis is not unique in these situations, as the power of mundane, bogan oriented shows to stop broadcasts of soccer, tennis or even the Olympics is limitless. As your "favourite" channel informs you of their undying commitment to tennis, you swear at the TV. But all is not lost. It has to be online, right?

Clutching to your warm coffee, wrapped in a blanket, you scurry to your computer and google it. Five viruses and fifty broken/useless links later, you find a small, delayed, choppy video that you think might resemble your favourite players and you imagine there is a ball flitting from one end of the court to the other. While on the internet equivalent of a Guantanamo Bay jail cell, you realise your search has been fruitless. Tired, hungry and cold you continue swearing in the darkness.

The idea of this post is to offer help in these exact situations. And maybe some of you will have even better ideas you are keen to share. Because if you know where to look, more often than not you will find (relatively) good online streams. I am no expert in the area, but I will share some sites that I have found useful. Having said that, I can't guarantee they will work for you or be 100% safe.

First of all, there are numerous premium services that offer "high" quality streams for a price. As I have not personally tested any of these and do not receive a cut of their earnings by getting you guys to sign up (as so many other sites are, so be aware), I am not in a position to recommend them. Just like anything else, I am sure there are great ones and poor ones. If you are interested, do your own research. A few that come to mind are the official Wimbledon TV stream and Tennis Online.

Now to the free ones. These will usually be poorer quailty but many are worth it. Sites I have found useful are:

http://channelsurfing.net/ -scroll down the page to the events and look for the one you are interested in. Often has good quality.

Bet 365- As a member of bet365, you get access to their live streaming function which has very good coverage

justin.tv - usually poorer quality, but great coverage

http://myp2p.eu/index.php?part=home - I haven't had much experience with this one but many swear by it

http://www.espn360.com if you are lucky and have the appropriate provider and area code (I assume in the U.S.), this may work for you

http://atdhe.net/index.html

Failing these you could attempt finding local TV channel streams of the players involved, for example Serbian RTS for Djokovic matches or French channels for Monfils or Tsonga matches. Streaming Eurosport matches may also be helpful.

Also remember that here at New Balls, Please at the top of the page, we have a live scores and chat function which will allow you to follow games and discuss them. In addition, the chatters will often have useful streaming links to offer during games. Lastly, we will try to stream a number of matches during the year, so make sure you visit this page often.

Does anyone know of any other useful sites they recommend and I haven't listed? Also, as you can see, I tried and failed to find an appropriate tennis related picture that showcases sheer anger. If you know of any, let me know in the comments below...


Thanks guys (not long till the 2010 sesason now)


Ben and NBP