The U.S. Open women's championship showdown between Venus and Serena Williams scored high marks for CBS on Saturday night.
The Williams' sister act drew a 6.8 rating, 13 share for all households and 22.7 million viewers in Nielsen fast national numbers. That represents the highest rating for a U.S. Open women's final since Hana Mandlikova defeated Martina Navratilova in 1985 and generated a 7.3 rating.
It was the first women's final to feature two African-American athletes, and the first time since 1884 that two sisters competed in the final. But the actual match didn't quite meet the build-up: Venus put Serena away in two sets, 6-2 and 6-4, in just 69 minutes.
Meanwhile, the men's final between Lleyton Hewitt and Pete Sampras late Sunday afternoon hit a 5.5/11 in Nielsen overnight ratings. That was the highest-rated U.S. Open men's final since the 1996 match between Sampras and Michael Chang, which scored a 7.2 rating.
- Richard Tedesco
