The men’s doubles final will blow past Nine’s 4.30pm expected endtime.
Not sure why they budgeted so short given they knew it wouldn’t start playing until at least 2.40pm (ended up being 2.53pm).
That’s assuming they knew.
The men’s doubles final broadcast finished at 5.02pm AEDT followed by the 5pm news in Sydney and Melbourne.
1 Like
AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 15: ALCARAZ V DJOKOVIC IN MEN’S SINGLES FINAL
GENERATIONAL GIANTS COLLIDE AT 6.30PM AEDT
ON CHANNEL 9 AND 9NOW
A generational clash between two giants of world tennis will come to life, when world no.1 Carlos Alcaraz and 10-time champion Novak Djokovic collide in the 2026 Australian Open men’s singles final on Channel 9 and 9Now.
In coverage tomorrow - Sunday, February 1 from 6.30pm AEDT, with a one hour preshow before a dream men’s final where two titans with an age difference of 16 years meet on Rod Laver Arena.
For 22-year-old Spanish sensation Alcaraz, a win would make him the youngest in history to complete the career grand slam, surpassing the record set by his countryman Rafael Nadal.
While 38-year-old Serbian legend Novak Djokovic, is chasing his 11th Australian Open and has never been beaten in an AO final, plus a record-extending 25th grand slam title, which would make him the oldest grand slam champion in AO history
In two previous grand slam finals it was Alzacaz who prevailed (both at Wimbledon), but the king of Melbourne Park can never be ruled out, just as he proved in a thrilling five set semi-final win over reigning AO champion Jannik Sinner.
Expert commentary will includes Jim Courier, Jelena Dokic, John McEnroe, Todd Woodbridge, Lleyton Hewitt, Sam Stosur, Dylan Alcott, John Millman, Casey Dellacqua, Sam Smith and Alicia Molik.
The Afternoon Serve is live from 4.00pm AEDT when the team wraps up another huge two weeks of grand slam tennis, and a few laughs along the way.
4 Likes
Sorry to take a slightly negative and different angle, but I’ve also noticed this and been happening for some years now, wonder if anyone else has:
Nine got lucky there as the first set after Perth 9Gem window concluded would turn out to be the final set of the match.
They banked a one-hour newscast at 6pm, fully understood the inherent risk. And they survived.
2 Likes
Here comes the champion. About to be interviewed shortly on the 9 set.
1 Like
World feed or Nine exclusive?
Coverage realistically ended 11.04pm AEDT. Part of Djokovic/Sinner will be played out to take us to midnight.
There was only one BO3 match in the night session and Nine couldn’t bother to update the endtime. They kept overbudgeting and ended up having to do this.
1 Like
Normally the champion goes to all the media. So first it’s 9 since they are the Australian/home broadcaster then probably the others like ESPN & Eurosport etc I don’t know the order but the champion generally does an interview with the big 4-5 broadcasters
2 Likes
That (very long) hallway inside the Melbourne Park Media Centre had a lot of studios, when Elena Rybakina was walking to Nine’s studio.
This was a brand new permanent building constructed around the time Kia Arena was built and is around that same re-developed concourse in-between John Cain Arena, Grand Slam Oval, Rod Laver Arena and Garden Square, adjacent to Tennis Australia’s HQ building (also relatively new several years back).
Also where Nine moved their ‘Court 9’ set to and for that reason, easier and quicker access, both crew and talent. Vs where it was for their first few AOs or so outside the then redeveloped Margaret Court Arena and Show Court 1 at the CBD bridge entrance. Was literally the opposite side of Melb Park to JCA and was a logistical nightmare when needing (e.g.) Courier on the panel, but also then in the commentary box and vice-versa.
It replaced the old broadcast compound which was located next to and above Garden Square, also where Seven used to have their studio (AKA a shipping container).
Interestingly all studios over the years have managed to keep RLA and its logo as the back-drop.
I think it was inevitable they were always going to try to play some or all of this tonight, as well as possibly the Alcaraz v Zverev semi and even the Aussie Mixed Doubles championship.
Could keep a few viewers around too, some might’ve gone to bed and woken up to the result or for those who just want to re-watch, especially handy for Qld, Wa and Nt time zones.
1 Like
I looked through the schedules of broadcasters worldwide carrying this final.
All of them set aside 2.5 or 3 hours (starting from 7.30pm). Only Nine did 4.5.
Doesn’t make sense but they apparently can’t do no wrong, right?
surely we are not criticising Nine for allowing an extra hour than other broadcasters?
4 Likes
I think realistically most tennis avids understand how long a set really is.
One set averages 0:40-0:45 so a BO3 match is about 1:20-1:30.
If there’s a final set, it goes up to 2:00-2:15. Tiebreaks can force it to go beyond 2:30.
In previous years a night session had another match after women’s final, which was the men’s doubles final. So a midnight endtime made sense because there was still something to sustain coverage.
The doubles finals are now played in daytime, so there’s only women’s final now. But it’s still blocked at midnight.
And that’s why they ended up having to fill out the slot with a replay. They shouldn’t need to resort to that.
D14 coverage wrapped up at 12:00am AEDT.
Who really cares though that they allocated more time - there’s nothing pressing to go to, other broadcasters around the world sport may have other content to get to but Nine don’t.
Yes but that’s average - a 7-6 6-7 7-6 best of three match is always going to be longer than a 6-0 2-6 6-1 match, so any allocation of time is always going to be at best an educated guess.
No one is in a hurry to get to Chicago Med or an old movie etc. There’s sponsor mentions, certain ad numbers in tennis zones etc that need to be met. Advertisers sponsoring the tennis aren’t paying for their ads to be in the first block of a crusty old movie no one is watching.
3 Likes
