Emma Raducanu’s victory in the 2021 US Open tennis final was watched by almost 10 million viewers on TV last night.
18-year-old Emma Raducanu made her first Grand Slam final appearance against Canadian Leylah Fernandez in the match.
Emma made history as the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles final since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977.
Coverage aired free-to-air on Channel 4 on TV after a last minute deal with Amazon Prime Video.
The match between 9:15PM and 11:15PM was watched by an average of 7.6 million and peaked with an audience of 9.2 million.
Once online viewers are included the number is sure to easily pass 10 million.
Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer Ian Katz said: “Moments like this are what Channel 4 was made for – it’s a perfect example of the kind of nimble, uncommercial, but profoundly valuable public service broadcasting that a purpose-driven Channel 4 can deliver.”
Yesterday Channel 4 announced a last-minute deal with Amazon to air the final on TV.
Channel 4 said: “We didn’t know we’d secured the deal until late on Friday night and so many people have gone above and beyond to make it happen.
“But Channel 4 is all about finding ways to let our viewers share great national moments, whether it’s Bake Off or big sporting events like the cricket World Cup final or US Open final.”
Alex Green, managing director of Prime Video Sport Europe added: “Emma’s journey from qualification through to the US Open final at the age of 18 is a truly magical story for British sport and we think it’s important that we extend our coverage to as many people as possible to support her in this historic moment for women’s tennis.”