Since the Australian Open is held in the middle of summer, matches will sometimes be canceled due to extreme heat. That has not stopped fans from attending, however, since the 2010 tournament had an attendance that was over 650,000. This is certainly a world away from the humble early 20th century origins that the event had.
The Lawn Tennis Association of Australia, which is now known as Tennis Australia, organized the first Australian Open even in 1905. It was held in Melbourne at the Warehouseman’s Cricket Ground. The most recent events have been played on the Prestige version of the Plexicushion material formula.
Some people, however, felt this wasn’t the best idea since the US Open uses a similar surface called DecoTurf. It must not have done too much to dampen the spirits of the tournament, however, since the most recent prizes have totaled up to $25 million in Australian funds.
Interestingly, the Australian Open became open to professionals a year later than the other three. Since the tournament opened in 1969, the record of the most men’s singles titles is tied at four by Roger Federer and Andre Agassi. No one has been able to win more than two of these consecutively since the beginning of the modern era. The twins Bob and Mike Bryan have taken home five double’s titles, three of which were consecutive. In the women’s department, Martina Navratilova has taken home a shocking eight women’s doubles titles, and Serena Williams lays claim to five. To illustrate just how differently the tournament’s competition was before becoming open, Margaret Court took home seven women’s titles consecutively between 1960 and 1966.
Just as there have been a wide variety of records set and broken at the Australian Open, there have been a wide variety of ages that match to those records. Take for example Mirjana Lucic, who won the women’s doubles at age 15. This is in sharp contrast to Martina Navratilova’s mixed doubles title at age 46. Norman Brookes was also 46 when he took a men’s doubles title before the modern era. This tournament has clearly pushed the abilities of every individual involved in it, and shall continue to do so for years to come.
