Wimbledon men's final drew 11 million viewers

BBC garnered 11 million viewers as Roger Federer beat Andy Roddick in a five-set victory during the Wimbledon men's final on Sunday.

According to an article on HollywoodReporter.com, "The final scored even more viewers than the semifinal between Roddick and hot-favorite British contender Andy Murray, which drew 10 million viewers two days before."

The finals gave BBC its highest viewership for the championships that its had in five years.

The HollywoodReporter.com article went on to say, "The Wimbledon final saw Federer lift the coveted All England Club trophy for a record sixth time, but the five-set game -- which was eventually won 18 games to 16 in the marathon final set -- played havoc with BBC schedules as the match ran well over the anticipated time."

In order to avoid any breaks in the coverage of the game, BBC ran both its early-evening news and the Sunday evening edition of "Antiques Roadshow" on BBC2.

Federer, who is a Swiss professional tennis player, holds several men's singles records such as winning 16 Grand Slam titles. He has played an unprecedented 20 Grand Slam finals. Federer was also named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for four consecutive years (2005–2008.) He is currently ranked No. 1 in the world having previously held the number one position for a record 237 consecutive weeks.