In 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery and the French Tennis Federation confirmed that the French Open will be on air on TNT Sports in the U.S. from 2025. The deal claimed that the 10-year agreement will average $65 million per year, which is a relatively significant jump from $12 million a year the French Tennis Federation had received from the NBC and the Tennis Channel for the US rights. Talking about this move, Luis Silberwasser, the TNT Sports chairman and CEO the said, “Once it became clear that the rights were available, we jumped quickly and then went to Paris and explained the vision for what we wanted to do with the tournament.” Even the French Tennis Federation president, Gilles Moretton, said that this agreement will enable the federation to ensure the maximum exposure for Roland Garros in the U.S. and help further promote the tournament. TNT Sports brought in several big names for the coverage this year, but was it a success? Well, tennis legend Andy Roddick recently had something to say about this. 

This year, we saw the seven-time Grand Slam champion, Venus Williams, join a star-studded cast that included Andre Agassi, Chris Evert, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Sloane Stephens, Lindsay Davenport, and Caroline Wozniacki to do the coverage for TNT Sports. If we take a look at the success story for them this season. Ben Shelton recently highlighted a very interesting stat surrounding TNT Sports’ inaugural Roland Garros coverage in the U.S.

The stats claimed the women’s singles final between Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka across TNT and truTV saw a jump of 94% in comparison to the previous year. It was, in fact, the most-watched Roland Garros women’s final since 2016. On the men’s side, Carlos Alcaraz’s marathon five-set victory over the world number one, Jannik Sinner, drew 2.6 million viewers. This was also the most-watched French Open men’s final since 2021. 

While sharing his thoughts on TNT‘s first-year broadcasting success, Roddick said, “Do you know what this was for TNT? Do you remember… you guys might not get this cuz your mind is going to go to other places, but there’s only one answer. The best feeling on Earth when you’re a kid. You know what this was for TNT? Like the adult version, this was the equivalent of those doors sliding open. The air hitting your face. The smell of walking into a Toys “R” Us when you’re 7 years old.”

He further added, “You remember that, and they made you go the long way around and then you had to like and your parents would be like if you did this you get to go to Toys “R” US and you would run in and just go ‘ahhh‘ and just freak out. That’s what the feeling has to be was to be what’s going on at TNT after this tournament.”

And Roddick’s effusiveness about TNT’s French Open coverage hasn’t just been a one time thing. Previously, while sharing his thoughts about their coverage of Rafael Nadal’s emotional farewell, he had said, “TNT’s coverage, I think, for the most part so far has been awesome. It has been a complete upgrade from what we normally see. I think they’ve done a great job.” But that’s not all, he also criticized them on a couple of occasions. But why?

Andy Roddick’s complaints surrounding TNT’s coverage of the 2025 French Open

On May 25, the ‘King of Clay’ received a tribute from the French Open, and following this tribute, the tournament officially began, and America’s Frances Tiafoe quickly sealed the deal by 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in his first match against Russia’s Roman Safiullin. However, despite all the praises surrounding the coverage of Nadal’s iconic farewell, Andy Roddick took a jibe at the broadcasters for a major broadcasting miss that could perhaps have disappointed quite a few American fans.

He said, “I would have liked to have watched the ceremony live. No disrespect to Frances Tiafoe, but Frances is going to play a lot of Grand Slam matches. I think we’re only going to have one Rafa ceremony, you know, in this world. I don’t think you want Twitter reacting before people are seeing it live. But all in all, I thought it was full of gratitude and respect both ways.“

In another instance, Andy Roddick hit out at the French Open’s commentators for their coverage of João Fonseca’s win over Hubert Hurkacz. What was the issue this time? Speaking to the @officialsquarespace Reddit channel, he said: “I’m watching the coverage today, TNT Sports, and I heard someone go ‘Is this the most exciting match in the history of the French Open?’” He felt this was a bit “disrespectful” to the rest of the field and questioned whether that meant “He automatically in that conversation with the Big Three?“

However, American tennis star Ben Shelton gave special credit to TNT by saying, “I think Chris (Eubanks) can attest to this, but you know, a lot of us Americans, we play the best when the lights are shining bright, and I think TNT has done a great job of that so far for us this year. I know for me, my friends back home see stuff on TNT and Bleacher Report and House of Highlights. It’s like there’s a lot of hype around the tournament, and you know, one person aside from me who plays well with some hype is Frances Tiafoe.” How much would you rate TNT’s 2025 French Open coverage out of 10, though?