Record TV audience tuned in to watch Ashleigh Barty’s Australian Open victory

Ashleigh Barty’s Australian Open success was watched by a record TV audience as the country shared in the world number one’s triumph.

Barty defeated Danielle Collins 6-3 7-6 (2) to become the first Australian to win a singles title at the tournament since Chris O’Neil back in 1978.

A partisan crowd roared Barty on in Rod Laver Arena but the final also drew huge figures for broadcaster Channel Nine, with Australian media reporting a peak of 4.2million people watched the broadcast and an average of 3.6million.

That made it the most watched women’s singles final in the country since records began in 1999, while the peak audience would have been the highest for any event in 2021 apart from the AFL grand final.

The men’s doubles final that followed, won by Australian stars Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, also attracted a record audience, peaking at 3.15million.

Tennis Australia responded to the home success by announcing 10,000 hours of free court hire would be made available over the next month.

Barty’s triumph cemented her position as the best player in the world and made her only the second active woman other than Serena Williams – and only the fifth across men and women – to have won grand slam titles on three different surfaces.

The 25-year-old said: “I feel very humble to be in such a select group. To be honest, I don’t really feel like I belong with those champions of our sport. I’m still very much learning and trying to refine my craft and try and learn every single day and get better and better.

“It’s amazing to be able to have this experience and this opportunity on three different surfaces and be really consistent across the board.

“Ultimately that was one of the biggest challenges that (childhood coach) Jim