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ennis has been named the most popular sport among female fans in Australia, according to data from a survey by Nielsen FanLinks.

Australian Rules Football is still the overall number one sport in Australia according to the survey, with 46% of the total respondents expressing an interest in it.

Cricket came in second place with 43%, tennis third with 41%, and sports including swimming, rugby league, basketball, football/soccer, and athletics trailed behind them.

However, among female respondents, tennis ranked the highest with 42%, followed by Australian Rules Football and swimming.

Nielsen Sports managing director of international, Marco Nazzari, said a few weeks ago there are important commercial lessons to be learnt from this data.

“With the Australian Open tennis tournament getting underway next week, marketers seeking to up their games with females would be well served to take note of this fact,” Nazzari said.

Nielsen also revealed data relating to the consumer behaviour of fans, with female tennis fans in Australia 16% more likely than the average Australian woman to switch health insurance companies in the next 12 months.

They are also 12% more likely than the average Australian woman to buy a car in the next 12 months.

Nielsen Sports head of Pacific, Scott Gillham, said the marketing opportunities are exciting.

“Rights owners, brands and agencies can leverage our insights on consumers’ path to purchase behaviours to plan their marketing activities to specific targeted audiences that are passionate about tennis,” Gillham said.

The Australian Open was also found to be the sporting tournament that generates the most positive ‘buzz’ among Australians, YouGov data revealed.

Cricket’s Big Bash League trailed behind, in a survey that measured which competition created the most engagement over a four-week period.