Rafael Nadal's Australian Open 2022 triumph draws TV rating of 3.14 million viewers
Rafael Nadal's sensational five-set comeback during the Australian Open final on Sunday raked in some big-time TV ratings in both Australia and the United Kingdom, as per the latest figures released by sports television network moguls like Wide World of Sports, Eurosport and BBC.
Nadal won a record-breaking 21st Major title in Melbourne in emphatic fashion, coming back from two-sets-to-love down to thwart World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev's hopes of back-to-back Grand Slam wins. The match, which lasted well over five hours, has since received rich plaudits from a large majority of tennis fans and pundits.
Nadal's fighting spirit, in particular, made the championship match in Melbourne worth watching, so much so that a peak audience of 3.14 million had tuned in at one point. Overall, an average of 1.61 million viewers watched the men's singles final, while 1.05 million viewers watched the trophy ceremony.
It should also be noted that the highlights of the championship bout between Nadal and Medvedev received 1.14 million views, which accounted for the highest viewership in that category.
Most viewed 2022 tournament videos on Australian Open Youtube channel at the moment https://t.co/VnzP91HpaD
Chris Brown, media personnel for IMG, later took to Twitter to disclose that nearly 1 million viewers watched Nadal win his 2nd Australian Open title on Eurosport, one of the biggest TV sports networks in Europe.
He also added that the title match was the most-watched program across all British households on Sunday afternoon. BBC also garnered a peak rating of 1.5 million viewers for their highlights reel of the men's final, according to Brown's report.
Almost 1 million watched Rafa Nadal's winning moment live on Eurosport yesterday afternoon. I can't remember such high numbers for ES!
It was actually the most watched programme across ALL British TV channels at 2pm yesterday.
The BBC highlights also peaked at 1.5 million!
Rafael Nadal's Australian Open triumph still second to Ashleigh Barty's ratings success
The men's singles final ratings, however, were beaten by TV consumption figures for the women's singles final between Ashleigh Barty and Danielle Collins earlier on Saturday. Barty's third Major triumph smashed TV records in the country. 4.26 and 4.5 million viewers tuned in for the title clash and the trophy presentation respectively.
An Australian playing in the finals would have been a major contributing factor to the viewership numbers. With her win, Barty became the first Australian to lift the trophy in Melbourne in 44 years.
It should also be noted that the annual attendance at this year's Happy Slam was at a mediocre 346,468 due to restrictions in place for the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that a majority of local fans who followed the 2022 Australian Open watched the matches on TV.
Having said that, the crowd cap was increased from 50 to 80 percent for the men's and women's singles finals, which played a big role in boosting the annual attendance.