Jannik Sinner-Carlos Alcaraz Wimbledon final draws biggest ratings in 6 years as tennis' next generation takes over
The final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, which Sinner won 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, drew an average of 2.9 million viewers on ESPN, the network announced Wednesday. The numbers reportedly peaked at 4.0 million viewers at the end of the match.
On the women's side, Iga Swiatek's 6-0, 6-0 double-bageling of Amanda Anisimova in the final averaged only 1.3 million viewers, not a surprise given how non-competitive the match was.
That men's viewership isn't just a 31% increase from last year's final between Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. It's the best number the tournament has seen since the 2019 final between Djokovic and Roger Federer, the last time two members of the sport's previous big 3 squared off at Wimbledon. That 2019 match saw an average of 3.8 million viewers tuned in.
Since then, Wimbledon has seen finals featuring Djokovic against lesser tournaments in 2021 and 2022 and Alcaraz beating Djokovic in 2022 and 2023. The tournament was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tennis needed Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz
From the time Federer and Rafael Nadal began declining more than half a decade ago, tennis has been waiting for a new generation to truly take over after watching three guys win 45 of 59 Grand Slams from 2004 to 2024. Add in Andy Murray and it becomes 48 of 59.
Some talented players have emerged, and even won a Slam in the cases of Daniil Medvedev and Dominic Thiem, but none of them stuck until the 23-year-old Sinner and 22-year-old Alcaraz. Together, the Italian and Spaniard have won every Grand Slam since Djokovic's most recent title at the 2023 US Open and are now entering seemingly every major tournament on a collision course with each other.
It appeared the sport of tennis would be in maybe not a bad place, but a worse place when Djokovic, the previous generation's final standard-bearer, called it a career, which he has been hinting doing at recently. Now, there are two more players on pace for an all-time career, with plenty of tennis ahead of them.
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