DIRECTV and Comcast are showing the 124th French Open tennis tournament from Paris in 4K.

The tournament, which is also known as the Roland-Garros, began this month and will run daily until October 11. DIRECTV and Comcast are expected to provide daily 4K coverage of the event until its conclusion. (NBC and the Tennis Channel will broadcast the tournament in high-def.) The first round of singles play began today.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, there will be no fans in attendance. Players competing include Rafael Nadal, last year’s men’s singles winner (and the winner of 12 French Open titles), Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Novak Djokovic.

Ashleigh Barty, who won last year’s women’s singles titles at the French Open, has decided not to compete this year because of the pandemic.

The Tennis Channel is showing French Open coverage from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET every day. But the 4K coverage may start later in the day. Consult your on-screen guide for more information. DIRECTV is showing the tournament in 4K on channel 106 while a Comcast X1 subscriber who has a 4K-enabled set-top can say ‘4K’ into the Xfinity voice remote to display the listing.

Final note: I watched roughly 10 minutes of the tournament in 4K today on Comcast. The picture was more detailed than some HD broadcasts, but it also featured an annoying cloudy shadow over it, as if it was taken with a filter on the lens. Your 4K picture might be different, but I thought it was worth sharing. 4K TV remains a work in progress.

Update:
AT&T on Monday released a schedule for DIRECTV’s 4K coverage of the tournament. (All in Eastern time)

  • Week One (9/27 – 10/4) 
    • 5 a.m. – 3 p.m.
  • Monday (10/5) 
    • 5 a.m. – 2 p.m. 
  • Tuesday (10/6) – Wednesday (10/7)
    • 5 a.m. – 3 p.m.
  • Thursday (10/8) 
    • 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. 
  • Friday (10/9) 
    • 8:50 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Need to buy something today? Please buy it using an Amazon.com link on this page. This site receives a small portion of each purchase, which helps us continue to provide these articles.

Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvpredictions.com. Please include your first name and hometown in your message.

— Phillip Swann