The 2023 Australian Open ended with victories for Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka. The Serbian phenomenon conquered his tenth title at Melbourne Park, hooking Rafael Nadal at the top of the all-time Grand Slam rankings and returning to the top of the ATP rankings.
Apart from Nole’s records, it was certainly not a memorable tournament in terms of emotions. The 35-year-old from Belgrade met the predictions of the eve without losing a single set in the second week, which removed any uncertainty about the outcome of the first Major of the season.
In the past few hours, the Australian broadcaster ‘Channel 9’ – which holds the television rights of the Australian Open – has announced that the 2023 edition of the Happy Slam has lost 3 million viewers compared to a year ago (40% in less).
The most watched match on TV was between Novak Djokovic and Alex de Minaur, which did not go beyond 730,000 viewers. There are several causes for this decline: the definitive withdrawals of Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Ash Barty, the very painful forfeits of Nick Kyrgios and Carlos Alcaraz, without forgetting the premature elimination of the outgoing champion Rafael Nadal.
Colin Vickery slams Nole Djokovic
“We know Novak Djokovic really isn‘t a ratings drawcard in my mind so the fact of him being part of it this year, I think doesn’t make any difference,” TV expert Colin Vickery said to the Herald Sun.
“The world of tennis is lacking TV ratings drawcards at the moment, it is in a transition phase. The drawcards who are reliable like Ash Barty, Federer, they have gone and there are very few coming through right at this moment”.
Novak Djokovic’s coach Goran Ivanisevic recently shared some behind-the-scenes details of the Serb’s journey leading up to his historic Australian Open win. “You know when a President visits a foreign country and they give him a list of 37,000 things to do, meeting etc.
Novak had 37,000 therapies and treatments. All of those emotions came to the surface after he won. I mean, the guy spent more time in his car than in his previous 16 Australian Open tournaments combined. Incredible medical team, incredible,” Ivanisevic said.
“I still cannot believe what he has been able to do. I can only be proud of the opportunity to work with such a man, because I can always learn something new, something crazy. It’s great that we are both temperamental, emotional,” Ivanisevic said.
