ESPN Gets Highest Overnight Ratings Ever For US Open Women’s Tennis, Thanks To Serena Williams Upset

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The upset by Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu over superstar Serena Williams at the US Open Women’s tennis tournament propelled the network to a 2.7 overnight rating for its three-hour telecast. That’s ESPN’s best for the event and up 13% from a 2.4 year ago, the previous high.

The two-hour match portion, which saw Andreescu triumph 6-3, 7-5, earned a 3.0, and the rating peaked at a 3.9 rating from 5:45-6:00 p.m. ET, during the closing moments of the second set.

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The 2.7 is tied for ESPN’s highest all-time US Open rating with a telecast of quarterfinal action September 8, 2015, the first year ESPN had exclusivity and aired the entire tournament. That evening’s matches included Serena Williams playing Venus Williams.

For the tournament to date, ESPN is averaging a 1.0 overnight rating across ESPN and ESPN2, up 25% from a 0.8 at this point a year ago.

Later today in the men’s tournament, Rafael Nadal, the #2 seed, will aim for his 19^th Major title – just one behind leader Roger Federer – against #5 Daniil Medvedev (ESPN, 4 p.m.). The men’s championship: coverage will be preceded at 3 p.m. by a one-hour US Open Men’s Championship Preview Special presented by Spectrum. The 33-year-old Nadal from Spain will be looking to ice 23-year-old Russian Medvedev’s hot summer, reaching the final in Washington and Canada and winning Cincinnati.

The US Open Women’s Doubles Championship will be aired today at 1 PM ET on ESPN. Two-time Major singles winner Victoria Azarenka teams with Ash Barty (who will be the top-ranked singles player as of Monday) to face Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka. Barty won last year’s doubles crown at the US Open, partnered with CoCo Vandeweghe.

US Open Schedule

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