The five-set showdown between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal delivered a television ratings windfall as Australians tuned in to watch what could have possibly been the last grand slam showdown between the great rivals.
Nationally, across metropolitan cities and regional, the Australian Open men's singles final averaged 3.6 million viewers, peaking at 4.4 million.
It was the highest ratings performance for the final since 2006 and well above last's year match up, which averaged 2.2 million viewers.
On the final day of the Melbourne-based tennis tournament, Seven West Media recorded 1.4 million online streams of Australian Open content and more than 10 million minutes streamed.
"It was certainly one for the ages," Seven head of programming Angus Ross told The Australian Financial Review.
"It's a very solid number for tennis. It's the biggest number in a decade, which I think shows that sport stills performs and it still surprises."
As key top seeds, such as Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were knocked out of the tournament, fans began to believe the dream final between the rivalry that has come to be known as Fedal could spark up one more time.
"To get this dream result, everyone is ecstatic," Mr Ross said.
The final caps off a strong weekend and fortnight for Seven West Media during the Australian Open; it reached 12 million television viewers over the two week tournament, 8.2 million streams and 57.4 million minutes streamed.
"The great thing about the Australian Open tennis is it really reaches into our key female demographics," Mr Ross said.
Seven has used the Australian Open to heavily promote its 2017 television schedule, much like its rivals Ten and Nine have done with the Big Bash League and international cricket respectively.
"We're obviously launching My Kitchen Rules this evening and Bride & Prejudice. Were also launching 800 words this week, we've got a new show from Seven News, called Murder Uncovered, that launches next week," Mr Ross said.
"The tennis is always the final push for us. All our promos say after the Tennis. Everyone knows seven kicks off the day after the men's final."
The men's final follows the women's final from Saturday night which saw the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, duke it out for the title.
Nationally, the showdown between the Williams sisters, across the country, averaged 1.8 million viewers, down from 2.1 million viewers from last year's Australian Open women's final.
It came up against the Big Bash League final between the Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers, which nationally, including metro and regional, the final averaged 1.3 million viewers, down from last year which averaged 1.7 million.
Tennis Australia's current deal for all free-to-air, pay television and digital rights runs out after the 2019 Australian Open. Discussions are expected to take place around 18 months to two years before the end of the deal.
Tennis Australia is being investigated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission around conflicts of interest inside the sporting authority's boardroom during the last TV rights negotiations.
