Tennis Fans React to Disappointing US Open TV Ratings

Tennis fans were let down by the low television ratings for the US Open.

Taylor Fritz shows his frustration during the men's singles final of the 2024 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York on Sept. 8, 2024. / Robert Deutsch / USA TODAY NETWORK

It has been an exciting summer for American tennis players. The United States was well-represented in the 2024 Paris Olympics and had multiple players competing late into the US Open.

Unfortunately, that did not translate to good television ratings in the last Grand Slam of the season. According to reports, the men's finals between Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner averaged 1.7 million viewers. It was up against the NFL on ABC on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the women's finals between Jessica Pegula and Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday averaged 1.6 million viewers on ESPN.

For additional context, the men's semifinals on Friday night averaged 1.8 million viewers on ESPN while competing against the NFL on Peacock.

Men's US Open finals against NFL on ABC Sunday averaged 1.7m viewers. The men's semis Friday night on ESPN (against NFL on Peacock) averaged 1.8m.

The women's championship on Saturday averaged 1.6m on ESPN.

— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) September 10, 2024

Fans wanting more attention for the sport were left displeased and posited many theories on social media for the low television ratings. One of the most popular explanations was the lack of stars.

On the men's side, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic were knocked out of the US Open much earlier than expected. On the women's side, defending US Open champion Coco Gauff was defeated by Emma Navarro once again.

The second most popular theory fans had for the low ratings was the head-to-head scheduling against the NFL. It would be hard for any event to compete against the first week of the NFL season - especially tennis.

The sport has its work cut out for it, but luckily, there are plenty of promising young stars on the way. Tennis fans can say locked into Sports Illustrated's Serve on SI for all the most important news from the sport.

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• (Interview) Jessica Pegula talks A.I., US Open kits, and NFL hot takes.