Wimbledon 2026 was historic; not only did it see the return of Serena Williams on the grandest stage, but it also delivered the first Grand Slam title to Linda Noskova, marking the 10th different winner of the women’s competition in 10 years. The men’s competition saw Janik Sinner beat Alexander Zverev after dropping the first set.

Despite there not being an American in the finals of any competition, ESPN set record-breaking numbers. The broadcaster recorded its second-most successful coverage since the 2019 edition, signaling the importance of the fortnight at SW19 to the American audience.

Across the two weeks of the tournament, ESPN averaged 853,000 viewers. The marquee clash was the women’s singles final. The all-Czech contest between Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova saw an average of 1.9 million viewers, the highest for a women’s singles final at Wimbledon in ESPN’s history. The viewership for the women’s final increased by 48 percent from last year, which featured American tennis player Amanda Anisimova and Iga Swiatek. Safe to say the reason was how much more interesting the final this year was as the two Czech stars battled it out for three sets, with Noskova taking away the win and winning her maiden Grand Slam.

The semifinals and quarterfinals of the competition saw a distinct increase from last year’s numbers as well, with the semifinal between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova averaging 1.3 million viewers, a 15 percent increase from last year. The quarterfinals saw an even steeper jump, with overall viewership increasing by 23 percent, mostly due to the five-hour classic between Novak Djokovic and Felix Auger-Aliassime, which averaged 1.1 million viewers.

Singular players have had a significant say on coverage numbers over the years, and the comeback of Serena Williams at Wimbledon this year saw the highest viewership numbers for the early rounds, as 734,000 viewers tuned in during the first two days of the Championships, the highest average stat for the competition in the first round. The first-round match between Serena Williams and Maya Joint drew an average of 1.8 million viewers, with peak viewership exceeding 2.1 million.

On the flip side, the absence of Carlos Alcaraz hurt the individual numbers of the men’s matches from last year. The Spaniard is popular amongst the American public, and his rivalry with Jannik Sinner is the headline clash in men’s tennis at the moment. The men’s final at Wimbledon this year saw a 16 percent drop, while the men’s singles semifinals saw a 10 percent drop, which could also be due to the absence of American players in the men’s draw.

ESPN faced the wrath of fans during this year’s Wimbledon, but the network’s high viewership numbers suggest the audience still tunes in for a great viewing experience.

ESPN Faced Some Fan Backlash From the Fans During the Wimbledon

During certain periods at Wimbledon, ESPN faced backlash from fans over issues, including increased subscription rates on its streaming platforms. Before Wimbledon, fans were unhappy about having to subscribe to the ESPN Unlimited channel, which would mean higher costs than the ESPN Plus channel, which gave fans the option to select coverage for any match on any showcourt.

However, the change to the subscription plans led to another controversy, as fans could no longer choose which match to watch on ESPN Plus; they had to settle for whatever was on the single stream. Fans were not happy that ESPN was airing the fourth-round match between Novak Djokovic and Roman Safiullin rather than the All-American clash between Iva Jovic and Jessica Pegula.

However, with the current numbers, ESPN will be bullish about its performance at the upcoming US Open, and the broadcaster will hope that the American contingent performs well at Flushing Meadows, especially the men, who over the years have not regularly reached the latter stages in New York.