Wimbledon men's final draws most viewers since 2019

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — Jannik Sinner’s victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon men’s final earned a 31% increase over last year’s title match, after the semifinals were the most-watched since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal met for the final time in 2019, ESPN said Tuesday.

The final between the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the men’s rankings averaged nearly 2.9 million viewers. That came after semifinal Friday, when Sinner beat Novak Djokovic and Alcaraz ousted Taylor Fritz, averaged 1.3 million viewers, up 34% from last year.

The semifinal viewership was the highest since Federer beat Nadal in their 40th matchup, before Djokovic outlasted him in a fifth-set tiebreaker in a match between two of tennis’ greatest champions.

The network also said the women’s semis, which included American Amanda Anisimova upsetting No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, averaged 897,000 viewers, the most since 2015, when Serena Williams was part of the final four.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis