Published 02/04/2023, 7:41 AM EST
What! Coco Gauff’s French Open final match last year delivered more viewership than Rafael Nadal‘s French Open in the same year. Yes, you read it correctly. And after learning this news, tennis fans share their different perspective regarding the matter.
The 18-year-old last year played her first Grand Slam championship match against Iga Swiatek, the latter lifted her second Grand Slam title after defeating Gauff. While on the other hand, the Spaniard lifted his 22nd Grand Slam title at the Roland Garros. And this year, the Australian Open final, in which Novak Djokovic won, put up a poor show in terms of viewership numbers.
Fans react to Coco Gauff grabbing more attention than Rafael Nadal
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Recently, a Reddit user share the viewership numbers from the French Open final last year and showed how according to NBC, the Casper Ruud and Rafael Nadal match somewhat had the lowest viewership when compared to previous years’ French Open Championship matches. And not only was it the lowest among the men but even the French Open women’s final was able to garner more viewership and leave a mark on the audience.
However, seeing the 18-year-old gaining more TV viewership than the Spaniard left the tennis world pondering. And a lot of tennis fans share their view regarding more viewership in women’s tennis.
A fan believes that the French Open finalist is being ‘marketed’ to be the woman who will follow Serena Williams’ legacy in the sport. And wrote, “Ruud is a nobody to casual viewers. Gauff is marketed as the next Serena. There’s a big difference.”
While another commented in favor of women’s tennis. A fan wrote, “But everyone on this sub seems to repeat everywhere that women’s tennis is boring and has no talent because there isn’t a dominant/predictable winner. All the time here. It drives me absolutely insane.”
While another explained the reason behind less viewership. “It’s 100% due to people cutting cable out of their monthly fees.”
Here are more comments.
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However, a similar incident took place this year when Novak Djokovic played for his 10th Australian Open title against the 24-year-old Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas.
This year’s Australian Open was tagged as the least-watched men’s final
A famous tennis journalist, Ben Rothenberg, shared a fact regarding the viewership of this year’s Australian Open final. Furthermore, Nadal’s early exit and the absence of many tennis stars, including Roger Federer, Serena Williams, might have affected viewership a lot.
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What do you think is the reason behind this viewership decline? Let us know in the comments section below.