Australian Open

The Australian Open (stylised ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events every year, held before the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

The Australian Open typically starts around the middle of January and continues for two weeks, concluding with the men's final traditionally held on the last Sunday of the month. It features men's and women's singles, men's, women's and mixed doubles, juniors’ championships, wheelchair, legends, and exhibition events.

Formerly played on grass courts, it switched to hard court in 1988. Three types of hardcourt surfaces have been used: green-coloured Rebound Ace (1988–2007), blue Plexicushion (2008–2019), and blue GreenSet since 2020.^[1]

First held in 1905 as the Australasian championships, the Australian Open has grown to become one of the biggest sporting events in the Southern Hemisphere.^[2] Nicknamed "the happy slam",^[3] the Australian Open is the highest attended Grand Slam event, with more than 1,200,000 people attending the 2025 tournament, including qualifying. It was also the first Grand Slam tournament to feature indoor play during wet weather or extreme heat with its three primary courts, Rod Laver Arena, John Cain Arena and the refurbished Margaret Court Arena equipped with retractable roofs.

The Australian Open is known for its fast-paced and aggressive style of play. The tournament has been held at the Melbourne Park complex since 1988 and is a major contributor to the Victorian economy; the 2020 Australian Open injected A$387.7 million into the state's economy, while over the preceding decade, the Australian Open had contributed more than A$2.71 billion in economic benefits to Victoria and generated 1775 jobs for the state, with these jobs being predominantly in the accommodation, hotels, cafés and trade services sectors.^[4]

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