While most of Australia was fast asleep when Lleyton Hewitt slumped to the court after finally finishing off Marcos Baghdatis in the third round of the Australian Open, an incredible 239,000 fans saw the epic to the 4:35am end.
Figures released today, which cover the five major cities and don’t take regional and country towns into account, indicate Australian’s have remarkable staying power when it comes to major sporting events.
Melbournians were the most committed, with 134,000 tuned into Channel Seven at 4:30am, just 13,000 viewers fewer than were tuned in at 2:30am.
The sensational numbers weren’t limited to the wee hours, with Casey Dellacqua’s Sunday night loss to 3rd seed Jelena Jankovic peaking at 2.089 million viewers nationally.
Hewitt is a proven rating’s winner, with his 2005 Australian Open final against Marat Safin the highest rating television event in Australia this decade, outside of the Sydney Olympics.
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