Overview
The Australian Open is a two-week tournament of tennis where the best players in the world gather to play at Melbourne Park during the last fortnight of January every year. The first of four Grand Slams in the annual tennis calendar, the Australian Open holds men's and women's singles titles, as well as double and mixed-double, junior, wheelchair and legend's titles.
Day passes are available to the public that allow access to all but the main courts, and many Melburnians drop by during the tennis for half or part of the day. The Australian Open is the largest of the Grand Slams, with attendance during the 2023 Open setting a new record of just over 839,000 across the fortnight-long event.
The 2023 Australian Open title holders are (Women’s Singles) Aryna Sabalenka, (Men’s Singles) Novak Djokovic, (Women’s Doubles) Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova, (Men’s Doubles) Rinky Hijikata/Jason Kubler (Mixed Doubles) Luisa Stefani/Rafael Matos, (Wheelchair Male Singles) Alfie Hewett, (Wheelchair Female Singles) Diede De Groot, and (Wheelchair Quad Singles) Sam Schroder.
The Australian Open dates back to 1905 and has changed its name, playing venue and type of playing surface many times in the 118 years since. The Melbourne Park complex, situated within walking distance of the city centre, consists of six show courts (capacity ranges from 3000–14,000 seats) and 14 smaller courts. All courts consist of an acrylic Plexicushion surface.
