Williams Sisters Reach Second Week of French Open

Those of us who spent a life-time on courts, traveled from coast to coast with our kids in USTA Juniors Tournaments and paid for countless hours of time with pros are not interested in attendance numbers.Neither are we interested in the ESPN talking heads and WSJ staff writers who try to create kings and queens in tennis.History tells us that the Roman Colosseum was routinely filled to watch savages kill each other. If there’s no one worth watching does it really matter who wins? The bottom line is that I will only spend money to attend the Opens where I can watch and interact with people that I respect and admire.Hopefully the other grand slams will shape up better.BTW, that usually includes box seats and all access passes.

Like them or not these two women have dominated ladies tennis ( which will become gender neutral or at least compete as you might prefer tennis.)

Their retirement will indeed be a day of celebration for unadoring tennis fans as well as opponents with two sex determining chromosomes which are both X.

@Chris Niebergall

You're wasting your money on the WSJ subscription, "Serena Williams' impact at U.S. Open felt far and wide." 

"Ticket sales show sports fans agree.

The 2015 Open was the first in history in which the women’s final sold out before the men’s, and the first time since 2009 that attendance exceeded 300,000 throughout the tournament’s first five days. The first week in New York also saw five consecutive sellout sessions, and interest has grown as the tournament continues.

According to ticket resale web site SeatGeek, by the time Serena beat her big sister Venus to get to the semifinals, average ticket prices for Saturday’s final tripled from where they were at the start of the tournament, from $587 to $1,529."

...

@Chris Niebergall Continued from above, “'In addition to our broadcast coverage and higher ratings,' Lew said, “I think all the additional news coverage that is happening outside of our broadcast, whether it be on ESPN Sports Center or on the national network news shows, it’s just put a bigger spotlight on the Open, creating more attention for us. It’s helping with some of our ground pass sales, with people who maybe wouldn’t have come out in the past.'

ESPN owns sole broadcast rights to the Open for the first time this year, and Williams has proved to be a huge ratings pull.

That quarterfinal matchup between the sisters Tuesday night earned a 4.8 rating, peaking at 5.6. The entire telecast, which included Djokovic’s win over Feliciano Lopezin the quarterfinals, was the second-highest rated tennis broadcast in ESPN history, according to the network."