Australian Open 2022 women's singles final shatters records as millions tune in to watch Ashleigh Barty create history
Ashleigh Barty made history on the courts at Melbourne Park on Saturday by becoming the first Aussie in 44 years to win the Australian Open. Off the court, the World No. 1 was part of broadcasting history as record numbers tuned in to watch her final against Danielle Collins.
Barty's 87-minute demolition act against Collins, which ended 6-3, 7-6(2) in favor of the Australian, was viewed by an average of 3.67 million people nationally. At its peak, 4.3 million Australians enjoyed the sight of the home favorite battling past the World No. 30 in straight sets.
Ash Barty's historical win against Danielle Collins was the most-watched Australian Open women's final since Oztam started keeping records in 1999.
Peak audience: 4.261 million
Average audience: 3.577 million
This is the largest audience for any women's final match at the Melbourne Major since OzTAM (Australia's Television Audience Measurement firm) started keeping records in 2001.
In the history of the tournament, only three other finals have drawn more spectators than the Barty-Collins encounter: Lleyton Hewitt vs Marat Safin (2005), Roger Federer vs Marcos Baghdatis (2006) and Federer vs Rafael Nadal (2017).
Those incredible ratings for the Ash Barty match: 4.2 million peak, 3.5 million average. #AusOpen https://t.co/NLVQprbvoZ
Interestingly, the presentation ceremony after the match - where Australian tennis legend Evonne Goolagong Cawley dropped in to present the trophy to her compatriot - attracted even more viewership. An estimated 3.9 million Australians watched Barty lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.
The numbers keep rising...
Ash Barty v Madison Keys was the highest-rating program on Thursday in Australia and the highest-rating match of #AusOpen 2022 so far.
National peak audience: 2.47million
National avg audience: 2.06million twitter.com/MattyAT/status…
Barty has been continuously setting viewership records at the tournament, with each match improving on the previous record. The average figures for her previous three matches in Melbourne were: Semifinal (vs Madison Keys) - 2.06 million, quarterfinal (vs Jessica Pegula) - 1.71 million and fourth round (vs Amanda Anisimova) - 1.6 million.
All three matches had higher TV ratings than the 2021 Australian Open men's final between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev (1.5 million on average).
The 2022 Australian Open men's doubles final also broke viewership records
The Australian public were just as thrilled about the men's doubles final which took place after Ashleigh Barty's match. The encounter between the wildcard pairing of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis and the unseeded duo of Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden became the highest-rated Australian Open men's doubles final in OzTAM history.
A national average of almost 2.3 million Australians witnessed Kokkinakis/Kyrgios defeat Ebden/Purcell 7-5, 6-4. At its peak, 3.15 million people watched the duo win their first Grand Slam title.
From Wildcards to Winners!
Thanasi Kokkinakis & Nick Kyrgios defeat fellow Aussies Matthew Ebden & Max Purcell, 7-5, 6-4 to lift the men's doubles trophy at the #AusOpen.
With the win, the duo becomes the 1st all-Australian pair to take the title since the Woodies won in 1997. https://t.co/Vcwj4Kalii
The pair became the first wildcard team to win the tournament in the Open Era. They defeated four seeded teams along the way, including No. 1 seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in the second round