Despite having our very own grand slam competition, Australia is not exactly renowned for breeding top-tier tennis players of late. So, is Alex “the Demon” De Minaur the saving grace that both Australia and the Nine Network have been asking for?
Australia’s last top ten player was the legend that is Ash Barty, who smashed records when she soared to the number one spot a few years ago, considerably increasing interest in the game – particularly the women’s division – and then promptly retiring on a massive high.
Power to the girls for this achievement because the last time a male player appeared in the top ten was all the way back in 2006 when Lleyton Hewitt was still screaming “c’mon” through our television sets. However, that all changed this week as Sydney-born Alex De Minaur entered the top ten in the ATP rankings for the first time after a dominant performance over both Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev at the United Cup last week.
“It was very special, and it’s a moment I’ll cherish forever,” said De Minaur, who attributed his success thus far to his drive. “I see all the reasons why I’m not going to be a good player, why I’m not going to make it or why I’m not going to improve… I store it in the back of my head, and I use it as motivation”.
View this post on Instagram
De Minaur, who is just 24 years old, has been dancing around the top ten for a few years, previously ranking at number 12. He is now officially ranked as world number 10 as he embarks on his Australian Open campaign later this week. While this is undoubtedly a massive achievement for De Minaur and the country as a whole, the big question is what will his success mean for the Nine Network that will be home to all the action of the Australian Open over the tournament’s full two weeks.
Ash Barty’s success saw a massive increase in interest in the game and was a huge win for the Nine Network. The Women’s final between Barty and American Danielle Collins in 2022 attracted a peak viewership of 4.261 million. In contrast, just 1.437 million tuned in to see Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka conquer Kazakhstani Elena Rybakina in 2023.
Overall, numbers for the 2023 tournament were reportedly down 3-4 million on the record-breaking 12.5 million-strong audience from 2022. Media analyst Steve Allen spoke to News Corp about the decrease early last year. He attributed the 30-40 per cent decrease to a lack of recognisable star-studded talent. “There are so many of the global seeded players who do have star power not appearing here, so it was always going to be lower ratings,” Allen said.
“Coming off a year where Ash Barty and the Special Ks [Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis] won, it was always going to be a tough act to follow,” said a spokesperson for Nine to News Corp last year.
So, what does this mean for the Nine Network- can we expect an increase off the back of the Demon’s wins, or will the incredible lack of a Barty Party see ratings plummet again? When approached for comment, Nine made it very clear that they do not speculate about ratings, but they are excited about some of the incredible talent heading into the open this year.
The Australian Open kicks off this Sunday, 14 January, and will run for two weeks with all the action live across the Nine network.
