Few Watch Nadal-, Federer-Less Australian Open Final

Neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal reached the final of the Australian Open. Not surprisingly, ratings suffered.

“The Novak Djokovic/Andy Murray Men’s Final drew a 0.4 and 563,000 viewers on ESPN2 early Sunday morning, down 33 percent in ratings and 31 percent in viewership from last year (Federer/Murray: 0.6, 817K), and down 50 percent and 43 percent, respectively, from 2009 (Nadal/Federer: 0.8, 982K).”

However, that’s not the most concerning part.

In 2008, neither Federer nor Nadal reached the final, but almost 700,00 people watched Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga battle it out Down Under. While the ratings weren’t Nadal-Fed numbers, they were significantly better than the 2011 final. Should ESPN be worried interest in the Aussie Open is declining?

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