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French Open Semifinal is the Most-Watched Match in Tennis Channel History

Novak Djokovic (L) of Serbia shakes hands with Rafael Nadal (R) after dethroning the 13-time Roland Garros champion at the French Open. Djokovic won in four sets. EPA-EFE/YOAN VALAT
Tennis Channel’s coverage of the 2021 French Open led to the most-watched match in network history. 

The men’s singles semifinal between future Hall of Famers Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal on Friday, June 11th, generated 511,000 viewers on the channel (Nielsen Live+SD, P2+). This surpassed the previous most-watched match, a 2019 Australian Open contest between Roger Federer – another future Hall of Famer – and Taylor Fritz, which led to 448,000 viewers.

Three other French Open matches this year ranked among Tennis Channel’s top 20 of all time:
No. 10: Maria Sakkari vs. Elise Martens, third round, Saturday, June 5 – 404,000 viewers
No. 15: Serena Williams vs. Irena-Camelia Begu, first round, Monday, May 31 – 394,000      viewers (first French Open night session)
No. 20: Rafael Nadal vs. Cameron Norrie, third round, Saturday, June 5 – 370,000 viewers.

Tennis Channel’s 15th year of comprehensive French Open coverage took place May 30-June 13, all 15 days of tennis’ second major tournament and the world’s most prestigious clay-court competition.

It included daily televised and streamed matches; all-night encores; additional exclusive competition produced for parent-company Sinclair Broadcast Group’s regional sports networks; special features and reports in and about the event’s host city of Paris; and an on-air team with Hall of Famers Martina Navratilova, Jim Courier and Lindsay Davenport.