Australian Open

This article is about the Australian Open tennis tournament. For the Australian Open golf tournament, see Australian Open (golf). For the squash tournament, see Australian Open (squash). For the snooker tournament, see Australian Goldfields Open.
Australian Open
Official website
Founded 1905
Location Melbourne
Australia
Venue Melbourne Park
Surface Grass (1905–87)
Rebound Ace (1988–2007)
Plexicushion (2008–present)
Prize money A$40,000,000 (2015)[1]
Men's
Draw 128S / 128Q / 64D
Current champions Novak Djokovic (singles)
Simone Bolelli / Fabio Fognini (doubles)
Most singles titles 6
Roy Emerson
Most doubles titles 10
Adrian Quist
Women's
Draw 128S / 96Q / 64D
Current champions Serena Williams (singles)
Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Lucie Šafářová (doubles)
Most singles titles 11
Margaret Court
Most doubles titles 12
Thelma Coyne Long
Mixed Doubles
Draw 48
Current champions Martina Hingis / Leander Paes
Most titles (male) 4
Harry Hopman
Colin Long
Most titles (female) 4
Daphne Akhurst Cozens
Nell Hall Hopman
Nancye Wynne Bolton
Thelma Coyne Long
Grand Slam
Last Completed
2015 Australian Open

The Australian Open is a major tennis tournament held annually over the last fortnight of January in Melbourne, Australia. First held in 1905, the tournament is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of the year – the other three being the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. It features men's and women's singles; men's, women's, and mixed doubles and junior's championships; as well as wheelchair, legends and exhibition events. Prior to 1988 the tournament had been played on grass. Since 1988 two types of hard court surfaces have been used at Melbourne Park – green Rebound Ace to 2007 and blue Plexicushion from 2008.[2]

The Australian Open typically has high attendance, second only to the US Open. It was also the first Grand Slam tournament to feature indoor play during wet weather or extreme heat with its three primary courts, the Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena and the newly refurbished Margaret Court Arena equipped with retractable roofs.

History

Inside Rod Laver Arena prior to an evening session in 2007

The Australian Open is managed by Tennis Australia, formerly the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia (LTAA), and was first played at the Warehouseman's Cricket Ground in Melbourne in 1905. This facility is now known as the Albert Reserve Tennis Centre.[3]

The tournament was first known as the Australasian Championships and then became the Australian Championships in 1927 and the Australian Open in 1969.[4] Since 1905, the Australian Open has been staged in five Australian and two New Zealand cities as follows: Melbourne (55 times), Sydney (17 times), Adelaide (14 times), Brisbane (7 times), Perth (3 times), Christchurch (in 1906), and Hastings (in 1912).[4] Though started in 1905, the tournament was not designated as being a major championship until 1924, by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) in a 1923 meeting. The tournament committee changed the structure of the tournament to include seeding at that time.[5] In 1972, it was decided to stage the tournament in Melbourne each year, at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, because Melbourne attracted the biggest patronage of any Australian city.[3] The tournament was played at the Kooyong club from 1972 until the move to the new Melbourne Park complex in 1988.

The new facilities at Melbourne Park (formerly Flinders Park) were envisaged to meet the demands of a tournament that had outgrown Kooyong's capacity. The move to Melbourne Park was an immediate success, with a 90 percent increase in attendance in 1988 (266,436) on the previous year at Kooyong (140,000).[6]

Because of Australia's geographic remoteness, very few foreign players entered this tournament in the early 20th century. In the 1920s, the trip by ship from Europe to Australia took about 45 days. The first tennis players who came by boats were the US Davis Cup players in November 1946.[6] Even inside the country, many players could not travel easily. When the tournament was held in Perth, no one from Victoria or New South Wales crossed by train, a distance of about 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) between the east and west coasts. In Christchurch in 1906, of a small field of 10 players, only two Australians attended, and the tournament was won by a New Zealander.[7]

Margaret Court Arena at the Australian Open with the old Rebound Ace surface. Rod Laver Arena, the centre court, in the background

The first tournaments of the Australasian Championships suffered from the competition of the other Australasian tournaments. Before 1905, all Australian States and New Zealand had their own championships, the first organised in 1880 in Melbourne and called the Championship of the Colony of Victoria (later the Championship of Victoria).[8] In those years, the best two players – Australian Norman Brookes (whose name is now written on the men's singles cup) and New Zealander Anthony Wilding – almost did not play this tournament. Brookes came once and won in 1911, and Wilding entered and won the competition twice (1906 and 1909). Their meetings in the Victorian Championships (or at Wimbledon) helped to determine the best Australasian players. Even when the Australasian Championships were held in Hastings, New Zealand, in 1912, Wilding, though three times Wimbledon champion, did not come back to his home country. It was a recurring problem for all players of the era. Brookes went to Europe only three times, where he reached the Wimbledon Challenge Round once and then won Wimbledon twice. Thus, many players had never played the Austral(as)ian amateur or open championships: the Doherty brothers, William Larned, Maurice McLoughlin, Beals Wright, Bill Johnston, Bill Tilden, René Lacoste, Henri Cochet, Bobby Riggs, Jack Kramer, Ted Schroeder, Pancho Gonzales, Budge Patty, Manuel Santana, Jan Kodeš and others, while Brookes, Ellsworth Vines, Jaroslav Drobný, Manuel Orantes, Ilie Năstase at 35 years old, and Björn Borg came just once.

Beginning in 1969, when the first Australian Open was held on the Milton Courts at Brisbane, the tournament was open to all players, including professionals who were not allowed to play the traditional circuit.[9] Nevertheless, except for the 1969 and 1971 tournaments, many of the best players missed this championship until 1982, because of the remoteness, the inconvenient dates (around Christmas and New Year's Day), and the low prize money. In 1970, George MacCall's National Tennis League, which employed Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Andrés Gimeno, Pancho Gonzales, Roy Emerson, and Fred Stolle, prevented its players from entering the tournament because the guarantees were insufficient, and the tournament was ultimately won by Arthur Ashe.[10]

In 1983, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, and Mats Wilander entered the tournament. Wilander won the singles title[11] and both his Davis Cup singles rubbers in the Swedish loss to Australia at Kooyong shortly after.[12] Following the 1983 Australian Open, the International Tennis Federation prompted the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia to change the site of the tournament, because the Kooyong stadium was then inappropriate to serve such a big event, and in 1988 the tournament was first held at Flinders Park (later renamed Melbourne Park) on Rebound Ace.[13] The change of the venue also lead to a change of the court surface from grass to a hard court surface known as Rebound Ace. Mats Wilander was the only player to win the tournament on both grass and hard courts. In 2008, after being used for 20 years, the Rebound Ace was replaced by a cushioned, medium-paced,[14] acrylic surface known as Plexicushion Prestige. Roger Federer and Serena Williams are the only players to win the Australian Open on both Rebound Ace and Plexicushion Prestige. The main benefits of the new surface are better consistency and less retention of heat because of a thinner top layer. This change was accompanied by changes in the surfaces of all lead-up tournaments to the Australian Open. The change was controversial because of the new surface's similarity to DecoTurf, the surface used by the US Open.[15]

Rafael Nadal vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber at the 2010 Australian Open.

Before the Melbourne Park stadium era, tournament dates fluctuated as well, in particular in the early years because of the climate of each site or exceptional events. For example, the 1919 tournament was held in January 1920 (the 1920 tournament was played in March) and the 1923 tournament in Brisbane took place in August when the weather was not too hot and wet. After a first 1977 tournament was held in December 1976 – January 1977, the organisers chose to move the next tournament forward a few days, then a second 1977 tournament was played (ended on 31 December), but this failed to attract the best players. From 1982 to 1985, the tournament was played in mid-December. Then it was decided to move the next tournament to mid-January (January 1987), which meant there was no tournament in 1986. Since 1987, the Australian Open date has not changed. However, some top players, including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, have said that the tournament is held too soon after the Christmas and New Year holidays, thus preventing players from reaching their best form, and expressed a desire to shift it to February.[16] Such a change, however, would move the tournament outside the summer school holiday period, potentially impacting attendance figures.

Another change of venue was proposed in 2008, with New South Wales authorities making clear their desire to bid for hosting rights to the tournament once Melbourne's contract expires in 2016.[17] In response, Wayne Kayler-Thomson, the head of the Victorian Events Industry Council, was adamant that Melbourne should retain the event, and, in a scathing attack of the New South Wales authorities, said, "It is disappointing that NSW cannot be original and seek their own events instead of trying to cannibalise other Australian cities."[18] Since the proposal was made, a major redevelopment of Melbourne Park has been announced, which is expected to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Melbourne Park will include upgraded and increased seating in major venues, a roof over Margaret Court Arena, improved player facilities, a new headquarters for Tennis Australia, and a partly covered "town square" area featuring large televisions showing current tennis play.[19] A year later, these plans were largely approved, with former Premier of Victoria John Brumby confirming the state government's willingness to commit A$363 million to complete the renovations, a move which guaranteed there will be no change of venue until at least beyond 2036.[20]

Television coverage

In Australia, the Australian Open has been broadcast by Seven Network since 1973. Between 2003 and 2009, it was co-broadcast by Fox Sports. In 2011, Fox Sports began to co-broadcast the tournament again. In the United States, the tournament is broadcast with both live and pre-recorded coverage on ESPN2, ESPN3 and the Tennis Channel.[21] The championship matches are televised live on ESPN. In Europe the tournament is broadcast on Eurosport. In the United Kingdom, the BBC broadcasts the men's and women's finals live on BBC Two.[22] Internationally, the tournament is broadcast on ESPN International in Central and Latin America, ESPN Star Sports in Pan-Asia, Wowow in Japan and Shanghai TV in China. The Australian Open is the least televised Grand Slam event because of the time zone differences between Australia and the large population of North and South America. The men's/women's finals start at 7pm local time on Sunday/Saturday which is 3am EST Saturday/Sunday. The Australian Open Final for men is traditionally one of the most watched sports events in Australia.[23]

Recent attendances

Prize money and trophies

The prize money awarded in the men's and women's singles tournaments is distributed equally. The total prize money for the 2015 tournament is AUD $40,000,000. In 2015 the prize money is to be distributed as follows:[35]

Event W F SF QF 4R 3R 2R 1R Q3 Q2 Q1
Singles Prize money $3,100,000 $1,550,000 $650,000 $340,000 $175,000 $97,500 $60,000 $34,500 $16,000 $8,000 $4,000
Doubles Prize money* $575,000 $285,000 $142,500 $71,000 $39,000 $23,000 $14,800
Mixed Doubles Prize money* $142,500 $71,500 $35,600 $16,300 $8,200 $4000

* per team

Note: All amounts in Australian dollars. (The winner's prize money approximates to GBP £1,686,000; EUR €2,195,000; USD $2,547,000.)

On 4 October 2011, when they launched Australian Open 2012, the tournament director announced that the prize money was increased to A$26,000,000. It is the highest prize money for a tennis tournament. It was announced the prize money will be increased to AUD $40 million from 2015 onwards.

The names of the tournament winners are inscribed on the perpetual trophy Cups.

Ranking points

Ranking points for the men (ATP) and women (WTA) have varied at the Australian Open through the years but presently singles players receive the following points:

Event W F SF QF 4R 3R 2R 1R Q Q3 Q2 Q1
Singles Men 2000 1200 720 360 180 90 45 10 25 16 8 0
Women 2000 1300 780 430 240 130 70 10 40 30 20 2
Doubles Men 2000 1200 720 360 180 90 0
Women 2000 1300 780 430 240 130 10

Champions

Past champions

Australian Open champions listed by event:

Current champions

Event Champion Runner-up Score
2015 Men's Singles Serbia Novak Djokovic United Kingdom Andy Murray 7–6(7–5), 6–7(4–7), 6–3, 6–0
2015 Women's Singles United States Serena Williams Russia Maria Sharapova 6–3, 7–6(7–5)
2015 Men's Doubles Italy Simone Bolelli
Italy Fabio Fognini
France Pierre-Hugues Herbert
France Nicolas Mahut
6–4, 6–4
2015 Women's Doubles United States Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Czech Republic Lucie Šafářová
Chinese Taipei Chan Yung-jan
China Zheng Jie
6–4, 7–6(7–5)
2015 Mixed Doubles Switzerland Martina Hingis
India Leander Paes
France Kristina Mladenovic
Canada Daniel Nestor
6–4, 6–3

Records

Unlike the other three Grand Slam tournaments, which became open in 1968, the Australian tournament opened to professionals in 1969. Thus, the records here break at the 1969 tournament. Citations for these records.[36]

Record Open Era* Player(s) Count Years
Men since 1905
Winner of most
Men's Singles titles
Before 1969: Australia Roy Emerson 6 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967
After 1968: Serbia Novak Djokovic 5 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015
Winner of most
consecutive
Men's Singles titles
Before 1969: Australia Roy Emerson 5 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967
After 1968: Serbia Novak Djokovic 3 2011, 2012, 2013
Winner of most
Men's Doubles titles
Before 1969: Australia Adrian Quist 10 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950
After 1968: United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
6 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013
2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013
Winner of most
consecutive
Men's Doubles titles
Before 1969: Australia Adrian Quist 10 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950[37]
After 1968: United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
3 2009, 2010, 2011
2009, 2010, 2011
Winner of most
Mixed Doubles titles -
Men
Before 1969: Australia Harry Hopman
Australia Colin Long
4 1930, 1936, 1937, 1939
1940, 1946, 1947, 1948
After 1968: United States Jim Pugh 3 1988, 1989, 1990
Winner of most
Championships (total:
singles, men's doubles,
mixed doubles) – Men
Before 1969: Australia Adrian Quist 13 1936–1950 (3 singles, 10 men's doubles, 0 mixed doubles)
After 1968: United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
6 2006–2013 (6 men's doubles)
2006–2013 (6 men's doubles)
Women since 1922
Winner of most
Women's Singles titles
In Total: Australia Margaret Court 11 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973
Before 1969: Australia Margaret Court 7 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
After 1968: United States Serena Williams 6 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015
Winner of most
consecutive
Women's Singles titles
Before 1969: Australia Margaret Court 7 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
After 1968: Australia Margaret Court
Australia Evonne Goolagong Cawley
Germany Steffi Graf
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Monica Seles
Switzerland Martina Hingis
3 1969, 1970, 1971
1974, 1975, 1976
1988, 1989, 1990
1991, 1992, 1993
1997, 1998, 1999
Winner of most
Women's Doubles titles
Before 1969: Australia Thelma Coyne Long 12 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1956, 1958
After 1968: United States Martina Navratilova 8 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989
Winner of most consecutive
Women's Doubles titles
Before 1969: Australia Thelma Coyne Long
Australia Nancye Wynne Bolton
5 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940
1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940
After 1968: United States Martina Navratilova
United States Pam Shriver
7 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989
1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989
Winner of most
Mixed Doubles titles -
Women
Before 1969: Australia Daphne Akhurst Cozens
Australia Nell Hall Hopman
Australia Nancye Wynne Bolton
Australia Thelma Coyne Long
4 1924, 1925, 1928, 1929
1930, 1936, 1937, 1939
1940, 1946, 1947, 1948
1951, 1952, 1954, 1955
After 1968: Czechoslovakia Jana Novotná
Latvia Larisa Savchenko Neiland
2 1988, 1989
1994, 1996
Winner of most
Championships (total:
singles, women's doubles,
mixed doubles) – Women
Before 1969: Australia Nancye Wynne Bolton 20 1936–1952 (6 singles, 10 women's doubles, 4 mixed doubles)
After 1968: United States Martina Navratilova 12 1980–2003 (3 singles, 8 women's doubles, 1 mixed doubles)
Miscellaneous
Youngest winner Men's singles: Australia Ken Rosewall 18 years and 2 months (1953)
Men's doubles: Australia Lew Hoad 18 years and 2 months (1953)
Women's doubles: Croatia Mirjana Lučić 15 years and 10 months (1998)
Women's singles: Switzerland Martina Hingis 16 years and 4 months (1997)
Oldest winner Men's singles: Australia Ken Rosewall 37 years and 8 months (1972)
Men's doubles: Australia Norman Brookes 46 years and 2 months (1924)
Women's doubles: Australia Thelma Coyne Long 37 years and 7 months (1956)
Women's singles: Australia Thelma Coyne Long 35 years and 8 months (1954)
Mixed doubles (men): Australia Horace Rice 52 years (1923)
Mixed doubles (women): United States Martina Navratilova 46 years and 3 months (2003)

Primary courts

See also

References

  1. "Australian Open 2014 – Get Court Up!". australianopen.com. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  2. Paxinos, Stathi (20 November 2007). "Australian Open court surface is speeding up". The Age (Melbourne).
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Australian Tennis Open History". Jazzsports. Archived from the original on 30 January 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Tristan Foenander. "History of the Australian Open – the Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific". Australian Open. Archived from the original on 20 January 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  5. Unknown (9 November 1923). "Australasian Championships". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Frank Cook (14 February 2008). "Open began as Aussie closed shop". The Daily Telegraph (news.com.au). Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  7. "Anthony Frederick Wilding "Tony"". International Tennis Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
  8. "History of Tennis – From humble beginnings". Tennis Australia. Archived from the original on 31 January 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
  9. "Milton Tennis Centre". Australian Stadiums. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
  10. Nikki Tugwell (14 January 2008). "Hewitt chases amazing slam win". The Daily Telegraph (news.com.au). Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
  11. Alan Trengove. "Australian Open 1983". wilandertribute.com. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
  12. "World Group 1983 Final". Davis Cup. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
  13. "Rebound Ace under review". The Daily Telegraph (news.com.au). 29 January 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
  14. "List of Classified Court Surfaces". itftennis.com.
  15. "Tennis court surfacer serves up two major deals". Boston Business Journal.
  16. Schlink, Leo (17 January 2009). "Rafael Nadal keen to call time on early slam". Herald Sun (Australia). Retrieved 18 September 2009.
  17. "Sydney plans Australian Open bid". news.bbc.co.uk (BBC). 11 October 2008.
  18. Cameron Houston; Jason Dowling (11 October 2008). "NSW in negotiations to transfer Open from Melbourne". www.smh.com.au. Sydney Morning Herald.
  19. "Brumby Government announces Melbourne Park redevelopment". Herald Sun (Australia). 26 January 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  20. "Australian Open Tennis Championships 2010 - News - The Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific - Official Site by IBM". australianopen.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2010.
  21. "2013 Australian Open TV Schedule on ESPN". sportsmediawatch.com.
  22. "BBC Sport - Australian Open 2015 on the BBC". BBC Sport.
  23. Australian Open Finals Coverage
  24. "Australian Open 2015 – The final word from Tennis Australia". 1 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  25. "AO 2014 – The Final Word". 27 January 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  26. "Australian Open 2013 – The Final Word". 28 January 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  27. "Top 10: Memorable AO2012 moments". 29 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-02-01. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  28. "Closing notes: Australian Open 2011". 30 January 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  29. "Federer wins fourth Australian Open, 16th major singles title". 31 January 2010. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  30. "Australian Open 2009 – the final word". australianopen.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009.
  31. "The Australian Open – History of Attendance" (PDF). Australian Open. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 September 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
  32. "AO 2007: The Final Word". Tennis Australia. Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
  33. 33.0 33.1 Australian Open Tennis Attendance History – Altius Directory
  34. "Safin credits Lundgren for resurgence". Sports Illustrated (CNN). 30 January 2005. Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
  35. "Prize Money". AustralianOpen.com. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  36. "Australian History and Records". TennisTours.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  37. From 1941 through 1945, no Australian Championships were held because of World War II

External links

Preceded by
US Open
Grand Slam Tournament
January
Succeeded by
French Open

Coordinates: 37°49′18″S 144°58′42″E / 37.82167°S 144.97833°E