Tennis - Australian Open

The Australian Open is the first of the 4 annual Grand Slam tournaments. It is held in January at Melbourne Park. The show court is named the Rod Laver Arena, after the former champion and all-time tennis legend.

Hard-Court Surface

The first championships were held in 1905. Until 1988 they were played on grass, however since then they have been played on a synthetic hard-court surface.

One of the most challenging features of the tournament is the extreme conditions. It is played at the height of the Australian summer, and thus matches are often contested in extreme heat. In recent times an 'extreme-heat-policy' has been used to suspend play when conditions become dangerous.

Record Spectators

The Australian Open is renowned for attracting large numbers of spectators. The 2010 Championships set a record for the largest crowd for a days play at a Grand Slam tennis tournament, with 77,043 spectators for the day/night sessions on January 23rd. A record number of total spectators saw the 2010 championships - a whopping 653,860.

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