Rafael Nadal's epic victory over Roger Federer on Sunday was seen by 13.1million viewers, making it the second most watched sporting event this year, behind only football's Champions League final.

The match was the most popular men's final for more than a decade, with the high audience lured in by the tight fifth set that led to the fall of Federer and because of the rain delays that ensured it finished during prime time on BBC One. Federer's victories failed to generate anything like the same degree of viewer interest - attracting peaks no higher than eight million. This year, in contrast, the average audience throughout the men's singles final was 8.6million.

Lewis Hamilton's victory in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday was watched by six million viewers on ITV1 and the average audience of 4.4million was the second-best for the race in five years.

Andy Murray's fourth-round win over Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon attracted 10.5million as it drew to a close, showing that it is possible for other sports to compete - at least occasionally - with football. Only women's tennis seems to have struggled. The all-Williams final was watched by four million on average, 700,000 more than last year's one-sided affair, in which Venus Williams beat Marion Bartoli, of France, in straight sets.

By comparison, Manchester United's Champions League triumph over Chelsea in May was watched by nearly 17million viewers on ITV1 and Sky, which appears a long way ahead, although had Murray made his way to the Wimbledon final, many more viewers would probably have tuned in.

Nadal's defeat of Federer did surpass the other Spanish success - victory over Germany in the final of Euro 2008 - which attracted 12.9million at the highest point. As for past Wimbledons, the previous men's final to be so popular was Andre Agassi's maiden success, against Goran Ivanisevic in 1992, which was seen by 13.8million.

The men's final record dates back to 1980, when Bjorn Borg hung on to win his fifth consecutive title in a five-set battle with John McEnroe. On that occasion, 17.3 million tuned in, but at the time there were only three channels on British television.

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