The idea of seeing Andy Murray’s strained grimace jumping out of you from the TV may not entice many to tune into Virgin’s newly announced 3D coverage of the French Open, but the idea of watching Caroline Wozniacki smashing a forehand down the line could seem a lot more enticing.

Without a doubt Sky is currently the leader in 3D content, pushing the platform forward more than anyone else with its ground-breaking sports coverage and home made 3D documentaries. Now Virgin Media is trying to get in on the action by announcing that it will be broadcasting the Eurosport coverage of the French Open in 3D from next Sunday, 22 May. The coverage of the action from Roland Garros will be available to all M, L and XL customers for free and some of the matches will be available on-demand to Virgin Media’s XL TV customers. Customers who have a VHD, V or TiVo box will be able to receive the 3D content – though unless you have a 3D TV it won’t really matter.

According to Virgin Media 1.5 million of its customers has a 3D-ready set top box but of course not all of them will be hooked up to a 3D TV. The whole third-dimension-in-your-home phenomenon has had a bit of a rocky start with not everyone getting on board from the off. While Sky has dived in head-first, providers such as the BBC have barely dipped a big toe in the water so far. Although the national broadcaster has indicated that it will trial 3D at Wimbledon this summer. Cindy Rose, executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, said: “We’re delighted to be adding one of the year’s most prestigious sporting events to our calendar and giving our customers more of those ‘wow’ moments in breath-taking 3D. With Sky Sports, Eurosport and ESPN all available in HD and SD and a great choice of sport on demand, Virgin Media is the perfect choice for sports fans everywhere.”

Tennis is one sport where 3D really could work well and we’ll be interested to see how it works on Virgin Media’s coverage. Will we be dodging tennis balls as they whizz out of the TV set or will we be turning away as one of the Williams’ sisters burst out of the screen? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Virgin Media