Nadal comeback is most-watched Australian Open men’s final in five years
Last Saturday’s Australian Open men’s final (Rafael Nadal-Daniil Medvedev) averaged a 0.44 rating and 690,000 viewers on ESPN, up 63% in ratings and 56% in viewership from last year (Novak Djokovic-Medvedev: 0.27, 441K) and the most-watched men’s final at the tournament since Nadal’s 2017 loss to Roger Federer (1.1M).
The previous night’s women’s final (Ashleigh Barty-Danielle Collins) posted a 0.32 and 482,000, up 7% and 1% respectively from last year (Naomi Osaka-Jennifer Brady: 0.30, 478K).
The full tournament averaged a 0.22 and 357,000, up 22% and 31% respectively from last year, when the tournament took place several weeks later than usual (0.18, 273K). Keep in mind that the linear ESPN networks aired far fewer overnight hours than in previous years.