US tennis fans unable to watch Federer’s French Open semifinal victory on live television

Federer’s semifinal match not available live in US

NEW YORK — U.S. tennis fans hoping to watch Roger Federer’s pursuit of the career Grand Slam had to wait until after his match ended Friday, as his French Open semifinal was not available on live television.

NBC broadcast its coverage of the men’s semifinals from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. in each time zone. With Open officials choosing Federer’s match to start second, the network decided to show the earlier semi between Robin Soderling and Fernando Gonzalez because it could definitely be aired in its entirety.

Their five-set match concluded at 10:45 a.m. EDT; Federer’s semi against Juan Martin del Potro started after 11.

Federer’s five-set win was to be shown on tape delay on the Tennis Channel after NBC’s window of exclusivity ended on the West Coast at 1 p.m. PDT (4 p.m. EDT).