Wimbledon men's final between Sinner and Alcaraz on ESPN draws most viewers since 2019
ESPN said Sunday's match averaged 2.9 million viewers, a 31% increase over last year's final and its best performance since about 3.8 million watched Djokovic win a fifth-set tiebreaker in a match between two of tennis' greatest champions.
The network also said Tuesday that ratings were up for the both the men's and women's semifinals. The women's semis, which included American Amanda Anisimova upsetting No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, averaged 897,000 viewers, the most since 2015, when Serena Williams was part of the final four. The men's average of 1.31 million was the highest since 2019.
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For her, it was all about football. The saying goes that some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth, but in her case she was born with a ball. It was her obsession. 'One of the times we visited Laia's aunt in Switzerland, we walked near a very large football field in the town of Sonceboz. There were children playing football and she stayed there watching. The coach came up to her and asked if she wanted to join them. She started playing and the coach came over to tell us to move there because he wanted to sign her up. 'When she played for L'Ampolla and won a match, which was rare, she always said she wanted to go and play in the Bundesliga (in Germany) and that the national team would call her. I didn't want to discourage her, but I let her know it was very difficult. But she always insisted, and look, sometimes dreams do come true.' Balleste has played for several clubs: Valencia B, Deportivo Alaves, DUX Logrono, Rayo Vallecano, Sporting Huelva and Espanyol. 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