The Happy Slam: A History of the Australian Open

Watching the Australian Open light up as the Southern Hemisphere’s largest sporting event each January, it’s hard to imagine the record-breaking event – now attracting just under 800,000 spectators – ever existed in any other home than in the state-of-the-art Melbourne Park precinct. In reality, though, the tournament has been played at more than a dozen sites in its 114-year history, switching between Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth (at the Perth Zoo, no less, in 1909!) in its early years. It has even been played in New Zealand. The two New Zealand cities – Christchurch in 1906 and Hastings in 1912 – reflect the tournament’s early beginnings. Known as the Australasian Championships when it was first staged at the Warehouseman’s Cricket Ground at Albert Park (now known as Albert Reserve) in 1905, it was initially a joint venture between Australia and New Zealand. A year previously, the six Australian state associations and the governing body of tennis in New Zealand had merged to form the Lawn Tennis Association of Australasia; the new organisation determined a national tournament would help showcase tennis. 

In 1923, the International Lawn Tennis Federation’s decision to “recognise the Australasian Championships on the same footing as those of the United States, England and France”. It was therefore recognised as a major tournament. Soon there was another change, the tournament officially becoming the Australian Championships in 1927 when New Zealand no longer had an organisational involvement. The only other name change occurred in 1969 when the first “open” Australian Open was contested at Milton Tennis Centre in Brisbane. It followed the birth of the Open era at the 1968 French Open, ensuring that players who’d competed on professional tours could also return to Grand Slam tournaments. Becoming an enduring symbol to a new golden era, that Australian Open also marked the first leg of Rod Laver’s second calendar-year Grand Slam.  

A custom-built tennis complex, on the edge of Melbourne’s central business district, created a new world of possibilities. The centre court roof – the first of its kind at any tennis venue globally – was its crowning glory; so too were the sparkling facilities, with a record 244,859 fans attending the 1988 Australian Open, the first staged at the new Flinders Park venue. Night tennis became a feature, giving rise to many classics that have shaped the tournament’s most recent history. 

The turn of the century also marked a new chapter for Melbourne Park, with the opening of the second stadium court that is now known as Melbourne Arena. Making the venue the first facility in the world to have two roofed stadiums, it seated 10,500 patrons. 

In 2010, the Victorian Government announced the multi-million dollar investment that would ensure the Australian Open remains in Melbourne until at least 2036. Glittering symbols of that progress soon became tangible: the National Tennis Centre opened in 2013, and the Tennis HQ building became home to Tennis Australia and MOPT teams three years later. The redevelopment of Margaret Court Arena saw a roof added to that stadium. Most futuristic of all was the state-of-the-art Player Pod, which set a new standard in world tennis and in sport when it opened in January 2019. Grand in its structure and spectacular in its detail, it offered premier facilities for players and a stunning new entrance for spectators. 

The new Tanderrum Bridge, first used at Australian Open 2017, connects the Melbourne Park precinct to the city’s edge. Birrarung Marr is the home of the AO Festival – where the AO Live Stage hosts world-class sporting acts and is a must-visit for local music lovers. Reflecting an event that is now considered as much an entertainment event as it is a sporting one, the Australian Open also becomes a foodie’s paradise each January with dining offerings ranging from fine-dining to best street and casual food trucks. There’s also a family focus, with the AO Ballpark further expanding the footprint and transforming the eastern side of the precinct.

The transformation of the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest sporting event continues. The third stage of the Melbourne Park redevelopment, initially announced in 2010, commenced immediately after Australian Open 2019. Soon the venue will boast a new multi-purpose 5000-seat sunken show court, along with new function and media centres, plus broadcast studios. It reflects a vibrant event that is fondly entrenched in tradition, yet undeniably dynamic in its nature.