With the greatest male and female tennis players of all time facing their most significant rivals, the Australian Open singles finals hit multi-year highs in ratings and viewership.
The Roger Federer/Rafael Nadal Australian Open men’s final had a 0.7 final rating and 1.1 million viewers on ESPN early Sunday, up 75% in ratings and 106% in viewership from Novak Djokovic/Andy Murray last year (0.4, 527K) and up 75% and 95% respectively from that same matchup in 2015 (0.4, 557K).
Federer’s five-set win ranks as the highest rated Australian Open final since his five-set loss to Nadal in 2009 (0.8). It was the most-watched men’s final since his win over Marat Safin in 2004 (1.2M) and the most-watched final regardless of gender since Maria Sharapova/Ana Ivanovic in 2008 (2.0M) — the last men’s and women’s finals to take place in primetime rather than the middle-of-the-night.
On the women’s side, the Serena Williams/Venus Williams final had a 0.6 and 926,000 — up a tick in ratings and 36% in viewership from Serena’s loss to Angelique Kerber last year (0.5, 679K) and flat and up 15% respectively from Serena’s win over Sharapova in 2015 (0.6, 805K).
Serena’s straight-set win was the highest rated and most-watched women’s final since the previously mentioned Sharapova/Ivanovic match in 2008. The previous all-Williams match at the Australian Open had a 1.7 and 2.4 million back in 2003, but that aired in primetime.
An encore presentation of the women’s final had a 0.4 rating and 627,000 viewers on ESPN2 Saturday morning, while an encore of the men’s final had a 0.6 and 920,000 on Sunday.
| RATINGS/VIEWERS FOR AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINALS, 2002-PRESENT Italics indicates that data does not include 6 AM-conclusion |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Women | Men | ||||||
| Winner | Time | Rtg. | Vwrs. | Winner | Time | Rtg. | Vwrs. | |
| 2017 | S. Williams | 3:00 AM | 0.6 | 926K | Federer | 3:00 AM | 0.7 | 1.09M |
| 2016 | Kerber | 3:00 AM | 0.5 | 679K | Djokovic | 3:00 AM | 0.4 | 527K |
| 2015 | S. Williams | 3:00 AM | 0.6 | 805K | Djokovic | 3:00 AM | 0.4 | 557K |
| 2014 | Li Na | 3:00 AM | 0.3 | 390K | Wawrinka | 3:00 AM | 0.5 | 670K |
| 2013 | Azarenka | 3:00 AM | 0.4 | 590K | Djokovic | 3:00 AM | 0.5 | 619K |
| 2012 | Azarenka | 3:00 AM | 0.3 | 432K | Djokovic | 3:00 AM | 0.6 | 762K |
| 2011 | Clijsters | 3:00 AM | 0.4 | 476K | Djokovic | 3:00 AM | 0.4 | 563K |
| 2010 | S. Williams | 3:30 AM | 0.5 | 765K | Federer | 3:30 AM | 0.6 | 817K |
| 2009 | S. Williams | 3:30 AM | 0.4 | 594K | Nadal | 3:30 AM | 0.8 | 984K |
| 2008 | Sharapova | 9:30 PM | 1.3 | 2.00M | Djokovic | 3:30 AM | 0.5 | 698K |
| 2007 | S. Williams | 9:30 PM | 1.5 | 2.20M | Federer | 3:30 AM | 0.4 | 485K |
| 2006 | Mauresmo | 9:30 PM | 0.8 | 1.22M | Federer | 3:30 AM | 0.3 | 336K |
| 2005 | S. Williams | 9:30 PM | 1.2 | 1.90M | Safin | 3:30 AM | 0.2 | 289K |
| 2004 | Henin | 9:30 PM | 0.8 | 1.14M | Federer | 10 PM | 0.8 | 1.16M |
| 2003 | S. Williams | 9:30 PM | 1.7 | 2.41M | Agassi | 10 PM | 1.5 | 2.29M |
| 2002 | Capriati | 9:30 PM | 1.9 | 2.94M | Johansson | 10 PM | 0.9 | 1.38M |
(Numbers from Nielsen)
