Open viewers feast on bruising battle for the ages

One in two of Australia’s ­TV-watching public tuned into the epic Australian Open showdown on Sunday night,

 

One in two of Australia’s ­TV-watching public tuned into the epic Australian Open showdown between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on Sunday night, scoring the Seven Network its highest ratings for a men’s final in a decade and the third most-watched open event ever.

About 4.4 million Australians tuned in at the peak of the broadcast with the match averaging 3.6 million viewers across rural and metropolitan audiences.

The showdown easily won the Sunday night ratings battle, pulling in an audience share of 50.6 per cent to beat Nine’s 12.4 per cent and Ten’s 13.1 per cent.

Only two matches have out-rated Sunday’s showdown: the 2006 final between Federer and Marcos Baghdatis, which attracted 3.859 million viewers, and the previous year when 5.56 million watched Marat Safin beat Lleyton Hewitt.