The ATP Tour summer's season has seen a boost in
attendance and TV viewer interest. The du Maurier Open in
Toronto drew 119,688 during the week of August 3-9, breaking
the '86 attendance record by nearly 10,000 fans despite the
cancellation of one day due to rain. The event also drew an
all-time session record of 12,434 for a Friday night
quarterfinal between Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. Last
week, at the Great American Insurance ATP Championship in
Cincinnati, there were three more records set, including
10,708 for Saturday night's semifinal between Sampras and
Magnus Larsson. For the ATP Tour's entire summer schedule,
more than 450,000 fans have attended men's events. On
ESPN2, ratings for the Agassi-Sampras semifinal produced the
largest viewership ever for an ESPN2 ATP Tour night
broadcast with a .68 rating, which was the fourth highest
rating of any ESPN2 sports telecast during the week. For
the year, ESPN's ATP Tour ratings for the Mercedes Super 9
broadcast package are up 41% over last year, while ESPN2's
ATP Tour ratings have doubled. The official ATP Tour Web
site, www.atptour.com, attracted more than 600,000 page
visits during the weeks, as it has topped 10 million page
visits since its re-launch in March (ATP Tour).
