About 36.1 million people worldwide tuned in to watch the 2016 China Open women's tournament, making it the most watched female tennis competition in the world last year, a viewership report revealed on Friday.

The report by SMG Insight, a sports industry consultancy, found that global viewership figures were up 4 percent year-on-year for the event, which is one of the four premier mandatory tournaments on the Women's Tennis Association's professional tour.

Since 2013, SMG Insight has worked with the WTA to provide extensive media evaluations of its events every year.

Last year was the second time that the China Open, a WTA and Association of Tennis Professionals combined event, was the most-viewed tournament on the women's side?- it also took the crown in 2015.

On Oct 7, 6.1 million people worldwide tuned in to watch the four women's quarterfinals at the event, making it the most-viewed match day of the tour last year.

A record 7,393 hours of the 2016 China Open, both men's and women's events, was broadcast to 179 countries and regions, according to the report.

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