UPDATE, 9/2/2009: For any Cablevision subscriber who happens upon this post, I’m told by Cablevision that the cable company didn’t drop the Tennis Channel. It never offered it! See below for details.

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If you’re a tennis fan, you probably already order the Tennis Channel from your TV provider. But if you’re that type of fan who tunes in only for the big games, a few companies are offering the U.S. Open to subscribers.

Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS  are offering the two-week competition to all subscribers. The first matches began Monday and continue to Sept. 13.

For Time Warner customers, tune in to Channel 264.

Verizon FiOS offers two channels: standard definition on Channel 303, and 592 for Tennis Channel HD (usually part of the sports package at $7.99/month).

DirecTV and Dish Network also have the channel but appear to offer access only to existing Tennis Channel subscribers. DirecTV is offering a special six-screen view to watch six games simultaneously on Channel 701.

Not so lucky: AT&T U-verse, which doesn’t offer the Tennis Channel; nor Cablevision, which recently dropped the channel. (Tennis Channel’s funny ad says “Thanks for nothing Cablevision.”) **UPDATE:** Says Jim Maiella, a Cablevision spokesman who contacted me, the company wanted to add the Tennis Channel to its sports tier of 15 channels, which is $5.95/month. But negotiations fell through and the Tennis Channel began running the “attack ads” on August 17.

Says Maiella, ”We have a valid agreement that will immediately make the Tennis Channel available to any Cablevision customer who wants it. The Tennis Channel continues to claim a technicality allows it to delay the launch by a few weeks, and is refusing to do the right thing by authorizing Cablevision to receive its signal. Any further delay by the Tennis Channel is at the expense of New York-area tennis fans. Fortunately, Cablevision customers can already view more than 130 hours of the best live U.S. Open coverage on CBS and ESPN.”

If your TV provider doesn’t offer coverage, the Tennis Channel is streaming some live footage online, at tennis-channel.tv/tennis.

CBS is also showing highlights for free to everyone. Check out the U.S. Open’s TV schedule HERE.

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