The history of the Australian Open, one of the four Grand Slams, is truly rich while the current format and structure only enhance the tournament’s appeal.
It is surprising that a game like tennis, which is hugely popular around the world, only has four major tournaments with the Australian Open being one of them. The French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open are the remaining three; these together form the Grand Slam events.
Amongst these tournaments, the Australian Open takes precedence because it is the first of the four. The Australian Open history goes back to 1905 when the tournament began at the Warehouseman’s Cricket Ground in Melbourne.
ORIGINS
It was originally known as the Australasian Championships before taking on the name as the Australian Championships for several years. It was not until 1969 the name Australian Open came about. Even though it is exclusive to Australia alone, the tournament has taken place outside the country. New Zealand has played host to two Australian Open titles in the past with the most iconic coming in the 1912 season. Initially, the Australian Open schedule took the tournament to various cities like Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane. It was later decided that Melbourne would be the one and only host city.
This decision was taken primarily because Melbourne was the only city attracting a large crowd on a consistent basis. It was decided in 1972 that the tournament would be played in front of more than 140,000 spectators, but the Australian Open tennis schedule took off to new heights only after the move to the Melbourne Park in 1988. Incredibly, the move to Melbourne Park brought about spectacular results since the attendances saw an incredible 90% jump almost immediately.
The Australian Open has always been held in January, but 1977 was the only year when the tournament was held twice in one calendar year. This was due to a shift in the Australian Open draw and the subsequent tournament to December. As a result, there were two tournaments in 1977 and the December schedule the continued until 1987 when normality was restored.
MODERN HISTORY SHAPED BY MOVE TO MELBOURNE PARK
A major shift in a new direction came in 1988 when the decision was taken to abandon grass courts. Since its inception, the Australian Open results have been determined only when playing on courts with grass. These were replaced with blue hard courts and it has become a signature of the Australian Open.
Like every other major tournament, the Australian Open has also been won by a select number of superstars on multiple occasions. Novak Djokovic is the reigning hero when it comes to the Australian Tennis Open results after having won the title six times. He shares this record with Roy Stanley Emerson. Before the emergence of Djokovic, Emerson held the record of six Australian Open victories for a long period. All of his victories, though, came in consecutive years with the first coming in 1963. Such unparalleled domination for six years has led to Emerson being known as the legend of the Australian Open.
The central court and main stadium at Melbourne Park are named after eleven-time Grand Slam champion, Rod Laver, who is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.
Structure Of The Australian Open
| Event | W | F | SF | QF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singles | Men | 2000 | 1200 | 720 | 360 |
| Women | 2000 | 1300 | 780 | 430 | |
| Doubles | Men | 2000 | 1200 | 720 | 360 |
| Women | 2000 | 1300 | 780 | 430 | |
| Event | 4R | 3R | 2R | 1R | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singles | Men | 180 | 90 | 45 | 10 |
| Women | 240 | 130 | 70 | 10 | |
| Doubles | Men | 180 | 90 | 0 | – |
| Women | 240 | 130 | 10 | – | |
| Event | Q | Q3 | Q2 | Q1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singles | Men | 25 | 16 | 8 | 0 |
| Women | 40 | 30 | 20 | 2 | |
| Doubles | Men | – | – | – | – |
| Women | – | – | – | – | |
The Australian Open is a straightforward Grand Slam and it involves seeding and qualification. The singles qualification event will be going on for a couple of days at the start of the tournament. It is during this period when bookmakers make significant changes to the odds depending upon the predictions for the Australian Open tennis results. Once the qualification phase is over, it is the start of the first round of singles’ games. These mark the start of the knockout stages and the tournament will be proceeding for the next few days before it reaches the quarter-finals. While the quarter-finals and semifinals for the singles tournament proceeds, games for the doubles’ game also takes place. Friday usually marks the beginning of the singles semifinals while the final will be scheduled on a Sunday.
Australian Tennis Open draw is structured in such a way that the women’s final takes place on Saturday rather than a Sunday. The women’s doubles final takes place on Friday – the same day when the men’s semi-finals take place. In fact, the doubles final for the women’s game is the first final of the Australian Open.
The mixed doubles final and the men’s singles final will mark the end of the tournament. A total of 2000 points is awarded to the winner of the event and it is irrespective of gender. The men’s finalists receive 1200 points while the women’s finalist will receive 1300 points. The points structure is similar to the doubles game. The substantial number of points being awarded to the ATP rankings is a huge bonus; it explains the reason behind tennis results Australian Open being keenly watched by bookmakers and punters.
RECORDS AND STATISTICS
Australian Open
| Record | Player(s) | Count | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men after 1968 | ||||
| Winner of most Men’s Singles titles |  Novak Djokovic | 6 | 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 | |
| Winner of most consecutive Men’s Singles titles | Novak Djokovic | 3 | 2011, 2012, 2013 | |
| Winner of most Men’s Doubles titles |  Bob Bryan Mike Bryan | 6 | 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 | |
| Winner of most consecutive Men’s Doubles titles | Bob Bryan Mike Bryan | 3 | 2009, 2010, 2011 | |
| Winner of most Mixed Doubles titles – Men | Jim Pugh | 3 | 1988, 1989, 1990 | |
 Leander Paes | 3 | 2003, 2010, 2015 | ||
 Daniel Nestor | 3 | 2007, 2011, 2014 | ||
| Multiple champions – Men |  Roger Federer | 6 | 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2017, 2018 | |
| Novak Djokovic | 6 | 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 | ||
 Roy Emerson | 6 | 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967 | ||
| Women after 1968 | ||||
| Winner of most Women’s Singles titles | Serena Williams | 6 | 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015 | |
| Winner of most consecutive Women’s Singles titles |  Margaret Court | 13 | competed in 13 women’s doubles finals and won eight titles | |
| Thelma Coyne Long | 12 | won 12 doubles titles at the Australian Championships | ||
 Martina Navratilova | 8 | won the title eight times, seven of those together with Pam Shriver. | ||
| Winner of most Women’s Doubles titles |  Sara Errani Roberta Vinci | 6 | 2013, 2014 | |
| Winner of most consecutive Women’s Doubles titles | Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver | 7 | 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989 | |
| Winner of most Mixed Doubles titles – Women | Jana Novotna | 2 | 1988, 1989 | |
 Larisa Savchenko Neiland | 2 | 1994, 1996 | ||
 Martina Hingis | 2 | 2006, 2015 | ||
| Multiple champions – Women | Margaret Smith Court | 11 | 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973 | |
| Serena Williams | 7 | 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017 | ||
| Nancye Wynne Bolton | 6 | 1937, 1940, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1951 | ||
