HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS

A Long Tradition
The Australian Open is managed by Tennis Australia, formerly the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia (LTAA), and was first played at the Warehouseman's Cricket Ground in St Kilda Road, Melbourne. 2003 was the 91st staging of the event (98th year due to interruption of the War years).

The tournament was first played in 1905 as The Australasian Championships, became the Australian Championships in 1927 and the Australian Open in 1969. Since 1905, The Championships have been staged at six different venues as follows: Melbourne [46 times], Sydney [17 times] Adelaide [14 times], Brisbane [eight times], Perth [three times] and New Zealand [twice] in 1906 & 1912.

In 1972, it was decided to stage the Tournament in the one city each year, as opposed to visiting various states across the nation, and the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club was selected due to Melbourne attracting the biggest patronage.

Melbourne Park (formerly Flinders Park) was constructed in time for the 1988 Open to meet the demands of the evolving tournament that had outgrown Kooyong's capacity. The move to Flinders Park was an immediate success, with a 90 per cent increase in attendance in 1988 (266,436) on the previous year at Kooyong (140,000).

Youngest Champions
Men's singles: Ken Rosewall (18 years, 2 months) in 1953
Women's singles: Martina Hingis (16 years, 3 months) in 1997
Men's doubles: Lew Hoad (18 years, 2 months) in 1953
Women's doubles: Mirjana Lucic (15 years, 10 months) in 1998
Mixed doubles: Venus Williams (17 years, 7 months) in 1998

Oldest Champions
Men's singles: Ken Rosewall (37 years, 2 months) in 1972
Women's singles: Thelma Long (35 years, 8 months) in 1954
Men's doubles: Norman Brookes (46 years, 2 months) in 1924
Women's doubles: Thelma Long (37 years, 7 months) in 1956

Most successive singles
Men: Roy Emerson (5) 1963-1967
Women: Margaret Smith (7) 1960-1966

Most successive doubles
Men: Adrian Quist (10) 1935-1950
Women: Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver (7) 1983-1989

Triples
(singles, doubles, mixed doubles)Men: John Hawkes 1926; Jean Borotra 1928; Jack Crawford 1932
Women: Daphne Akhurst 1925 / 1928 / 1929; Nancye Wynne Bolton 1940 / 1947 / 1948; Thelma Long 1952; Margaret Smith 1963


Junior and Senior Champions
(singles champions who previously won junior singles title)Men: Jack Crawford, Vivian McGrath, Adrian Quist, John Bromwich, Dinny Pails, Frank Sedgman, Ken McGregor, Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad, Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Stefan Edberg
Women: Joan Hartigan, Emily Westacott, Thelma Long, Beryl Penrose, Mary Carter-Reitano, Kerry Reid, Evonne Cawley, Chris O'Neil

Left-handed Singles Champions
Men: Horace Rice (1907), Norman Brookes (1911), John Hawkes (1926), Mervyn Rose (1954), Rod Laver (1960 / 1962 / 1969), Jimmy Connors (1974), Guillermo Vilas (Dec. 1978 / 1979), Roscoe Tanner (1977), Petr Korda (1998)
Women: Martina Navratilova (1981 / 1983 / 1985), Monica Seles (1991 / 1992 / 1993 / 1996)

Biggest Gap between First and Last Singles Titles
Men: Ken Rosewall (20 years) 1953-1972
Women: Nancye Wynne Bolton (15 years) 1937-1951

Whitewash Result
Men: (6-0 6-0 6-0)
Recorded by six men - James Anderson (first round 1925), Fred Perry (quarter final 1935), John Bromwich (first round 1949), Neale Fraser (first round 1953), Martin Mulligan (first round 1960), Richard Russell (first round 1966)
Women: (6-0 6-0)
Recorded by 13 women, including four in 1998 (Mary Pierce achieving the feat twice)
Margaret Court achieved the feat four times and Wendy Turnbull three times

Unseeded Champions
Men: Mark Edmondson (1976)
Women: Chris O'Neil (1978)

Champions Abroad but not at Home
(Six former Australian players who won Grand Slam singles titles overseas but failed to capture their native crown):Neale Fraser: three-times Australian runner-up (Wimbledon and US champion)
Fred Stolle: twice Australian runner-up (French and US champion)
Mal Anderson: twice Australian runner-up (US champion)
Tony Roche: Australian semi finalist (French champion)
Lesley Turner Bowrey: twice Australian runner-up (French champion)
Pat Cash: twice Australian runner-up (Wimbledon champion)


Interesting Facts
John Newcombe won three Wimbledon titles and one US crown before winning the Australian Open at Melbourne in 1973

Rhys Gemmell (1921 men's singles champion) is the only Australian-born champion not to have played Davis Cup for his country

The 1998 Australian Open saw two of the five senior titles won by wildcards - Martina Hingis / Mirjana Lucic in the women's doubles and Justin Gimelstob / Venus Williams in the mixed doubles


Tournament Facts

Prize money: $A 18.1 million.

Surface: Rebound Ace.

Official ball: Slazenger Hydroguard UV.

Sessions of play: 13 days, 10 nights and one Twilight Session.

The Top Players
Sixteen of the world’s top 20 men and 17 of the world’s top 20 women contested Australian Open 2003. At the time of the official draw, the men’s cut off was 120 and the women’s was 112. The qualifying event cut-offs were 499 for the men and 230 for the women.

The People Behind the Success
Making the tournament another huge success were over 3,900 members of staff, including 235 ballpersons, 320 umpires, 200 courtesy car drivers and 65 statisticians.

Expanding Coverage
The Australian Open was by far the biggest single electronic news and sports story across Australia over the fortnight with over 12,500 separate items broadcast. Host broadcaster Seven Network’s audience figures were up nationally almost 30 per cent on 2002.

Domestic press coverage of the event generated almost $18 million worth of exposure, up 58 per cent on 2002 and more than double 2001. The total number of articles appearing increased 79 per cent with significant increases in the major metropolitan newspapers in each state - in most cases at least double - underlining the Australia-wide interest in the tournament.

Promoting Australia Worldwide
With 1264 accredited media attending the tournament from 42 countries, international interest was also high.

Over 3,400 hours of action from Melbourne Park were broadcast to 173 territories across the globe, reaching an amazing 471 million homes.

Asia was again the dominant market taking 46 per cent of all coverage with the home reach in the region increasing 18 per cent to 188 million.

Household reach in the North American region topped the 150 million mark for the first time, with the women’s semi-final matches registering in the USA as ESPN2’s highest-rated tennis program in history.

Coverage in Europe also increased 12 per cent with 12 more territories added in 2003.

Record Website Visits
The official Australian Open website (www.AustralianOpen.com) powered by IBM, achieved record figures with more than 1.7 million different tennis fans from around the world logging on during the fortnight (up more than 53 per cent on 2002), staying for an average of 1 hour 20 minutes. On average, these fans visited the site just over five times each.

Increasing Merchandise Sales
On-site sales of Official Australian Open merchandise increased by 10 per cent compared to last year.The most popular single item was the giant Slazenger tennis ball with almost 5,000 being sold during the two weeks of the event, closely followed by ‘Bounce’ the inflatable mascot who clocked up 3,000 sales.

A Long Tradition
2003 was the 91st staging of the event (98th year due to interruption of war years).

It was first played in 1905 as The Australasian Championships, and became the Australian Championships in 1927 and the Australian Open in 1969.

Since 1905, the championships have been staged at six different venues as follows: Melbourne 47; Sydney 17; Adelaide 14; Brisbane eight; Perth three and New Zealand two (in 1906 & 1912).

Tennis Legends Honoured
Former Wimbledon champion, Pat Cash, was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Rod Laver Arena on Australia Day, Sunday 26 January.

Also honoured during the tournament was the most prolific Grand Slam winner in tennis history, Margaret (Smith) Court (62 titles - 24 singles, 19 doubles and 19 mixed) with the re-naming of Show Court One as Margaret Court Arena. The achievements of Margaret and Rod Laver were also recognised during the tournament with the issue of special Australian Legends stamps by Australia Post.

Growing the Tournament
The Australian Open is managed by Tennis Australia, formerly the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia (LTAA), and was first played at the Warehouseman’s Cricket Ground in St Kilda Road, Melbourne.

In 1972, it was decided to stage the tournament in the one city each year, as opposed to visiting various states across the nation, and the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club was selected due to Melbourne attracting the biggest patronage.

Melbourne Park (formerly Flinders Park) was constructed in time for the 1988 Open to meet the demands of the evolving tournament that had outgrown Kooyong’s capacity.

Stage One construction commenced in 1986, and the venue further expanded with the Stage Two addtions for 1996.

The official opening of Rod Laver Arena (formerly Centre Court) was on 16 January 2000. The official opening of Vodafone Arena was on 27 July 2000.

The move to Flinders Park was an immediate success, with a 90 per cent increase in attendance in 1988 (266,436) on the previous year at Kooyong (140,000).

This year’s figure of 512,225 fans through the gates at Melbourne Park saw the fourth year in succession that the tournament had broken the magic half-million visitors mark with attendance up on last year in over half the day sessions.

2003 also saw the city’s new cultural and civic precinct, Federation Square, successfully established as the ‘Gateway to the Australian Open’, providing a scenic link between the city centre and nearby Melbourne Park.

Bringing a Benefit Year on Year
The most recent economic impact survey, conducted following Australian Open 2002, found the tournament brought an estimated gross economic benefit to the Victorian economy that year of $189 million including creating 3,530 full year equivalent employment positions and generating over 303,000 additional visitor nights.

World Class Facilities at Melbourne Park
Rod Laver Arena - stadium with retractable roof and a seating capacity of 15,000.
Vodafone Arena - stadium with a retractable roof and a seating capacity of 10,000.
Margaret Court Arena (formerly Show Court 1) - seating capacity of 6,000.
Show Court 2 - seating capacity of 3,000.
Show Court 3 - seating capacity of 3,000.
Outside match and practice courts - 19.
Indoor practice courts - four.
The Draw
For a second year, there were 32 seeds in the men’s and women’s singles draw with players able to use the better of their singles or doubles ranking for entry into the men’s doubles for the first time.
Men’s Singles - 128 Players.
Women’s Singles-128 Players.
Men’s Doubles - 64 Pairs.
Women’s Doubles - 64 Pairs.
Mixed Doubles - 3 2 Pairs.
Did you know?
Over 2,545 rackets were strung using over 28km of string.
The fastest serves for men and women were recorded by Andy Roddick (226km/h) and Venus Williams (201km/h).
The most popular player profiles on www.AustralianOpen.com during the tournament were Daniela Hantuchova among the women and Andy Roddick topping the men.
The fleet of 75 official Kia cars made over 22,000 journeys transporting players, officials and guests to and from Melbourne Park, clocking up over 295,000km.
Patrons devoured over 159,000 ice-creams, 18,000 burgers, 17,000 units of sushi, 119,000 coffees, 18,500 sausages, 4,000 curries, 12,900 portions of noodles, 250,000 Heinekens and 126,000 bottles of Evian water.
Kia Motors became the major sponsor of the Australian Open in 2002 and in 2003 announced an extention of their sponsorship up to and including the 2008 tournament in what is the largest sports sponsorship in Australian history.
Australian Open 2004 Dates
Melbourne Park, MELBOURNE

19 January - 1 February

Making History

The men’s singles quarter final saw the longest fifth set in Grand Slam history when Andy Roddick defeated Younes El Aynaoui 21-19 in their five-hour match. This match was also the longest men’s singles match played at the Australian Open since the introduction of the tiebreak in 1971.
Serena Williams captured the ‘Serena Slam’, winning her fourth consecutive Grand Slam and becoming only the fifth female player in history to do so.
Andre Agassi, competing in his 50th Grand Slam, became the first non-Australian - and the first player in the Open Era - to win a fourth Australian Open men’s singles title.
2003 Results
Draws
Men's Singles [2] Andre Agassi (USA) d [31] Rainer Schuettler (GER) 62 62 61
Women's Singles [1] Serena Williams (USA) d [3] Venus Williams (USA) 76(4) 36 64
Men's Doubles [8] Michael Llodra (FRA)/Fabrice Santoro (FRA) d [1] Mark Knowles (BAH)/Daniel Nestor (CAN) 64 36 63
Women's Doubles [1] Serena Williams (USA)/Venus Williams (USA) d [2] Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP)/Paolo Suarez (ARG) 46 64 63
Mixed Doubles Leander Paes (IND)/Martina Navratilova (USA) d Todd Woodbridge (AUS)/Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) 64 75
Juniors
Boy's Singles [1] Marko Bagdhatis (CPY) d [6] Florin Mergea (ROM) 64 64
Girl's Singles [1] Barbora Strycova (CZE) d [9] Viktoria Kutuzova (UKR) 06 62 62
Boys's Doubles [2] Scott Ousema (USA)/Phillip Simmonds (USA) d [1] Florin Mergea (ROM)/Horia Tecau (ROM) 64 64
Girls's Doubles Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/Adriana Szili (AUS) d Petra Cetkovska (CZE)/Barbora Strycova (CZE) 63 44 ret.
Legends
Legend's Doubles [1] Mark Woodforde (AUS)/Peter McNamara (AUS) d [2] John Lloyd (GBR)/John McEnroe (USA) 36 63 10/6
Legend's Mixed Nicole Bradtke (AUS)/Tony Roche (AUS) d Diane Balestrat (AUS)/Fred Stolle (AUS) 62 63
Wheel Chair Classic 8's
Men's Singles [1] David Hall (AUS) d Robin Ammerlaan (NED) 61 76(5)
Mens' Doubles [1] Martin Legner (AUT)/Satoshi Saida (JPN) d [2] David Hall (AUS)/Michael Jeremiasz (FRA) 26 62 10/6
Women's Singles [1] Esther Vergeer (NED) d Daniela Di Toro (AUS) 26 60 63
Womens's Doubles [2] Esther Vergeer (NED)/Sonja Peters (NED) d [1] Maaike Smit (NED)/Daniela Di Toro (AUS) 57 62 10/8

Most time Runner-up in Singles
Men: John Bromwich (five)
Women: Esna Boyd (six)

Most number of Games in Final
Men's singles: 71 games: Gerald Patterson d. John Hawkes 3-6 6-4 3-6 18-16 6-3 in 1927 (Melbourne)
Women's singles: 38 games: Daphne Akhurst d. Sylvia Harper 10-8 2-6 7-5 in 1930 (Melbourne)
Men's doubles: 87 games: Roy Emerson / Fred Stolle d. John Newcombe / Tony Roche 7-9 6-3 6-8 14-12 12-10 in 1966 (Sydney)
Women's doubles: 37 games: Esna Boyd / Meryl O'Hara Wood d. Daphne Akhurst / Marjorie Cox 6-3 6-8 8-6 in 1926 (Adelaide)
Mixed doubles: 45 games: Jack Crawford / Marjorie Cox Crawford d. Ellsworth Vines / Margorie Van Ryn 3-6 7-5 13-11 in 1933 (Melbourne)

Least Number of Games in Final
Men's singles: 23 games: Pat O'Hara Wood d. CB St John 6-1 6-1 6-3 in 1923 (Brisbane); John Hawkes d. Jim Willard 6-1 6-3 6-1 in 1926
Women's singles: 14 games: Margaret Smith d. Jan Lehane 6-0 6-2 in 1962 (Sydney); Steffi Graf d. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 6-0 6-2 in 1994 (Melbourne)
Men's doubles: 20 games: Roy Emerson / Rod Laver d. Fred Stolle / Ken Rosewall 6-4 6-4 in 1969 (Brisbane); Tony Roche / Arthur Ashe d. Charlie Pasarell / Erik van Dillen 6-4 6-4 in Jan. 1977 (Melbourne)
Women's doubles: 12 games: Margaret Court / Evonne Goolagong d. Lesley Hunt / Joy Emerson 6-0 6-0 in 1971 (Sydney)

Most Number of Titles
(* includes one shared title)Men: Years: Singles: Doubles: Mixed: Total
Adrian Quist 1936-1950 3 10 0 13
Jack Crawford 1929-1935 4 4 3 11
John Bromwich 1938-1950 2 8 1 11
Roy Emerson 1961-1969 6 3 0 9
John Newcombe 1965-1976 2 5 1* 8

Women: Years: Singles: Doubles: Mixed: Total
Margaret Court 1960-1973 11 8 3* 21
Nancye Wynne Bolton 1926-1951 6 10 4 20
Thelma Long 1936-1958 2 12 4 18
Daphne Akhurst 1924-1930 5 4 4 13
Evonne Cawley 1971-1983 4 5 0 9
Martina Navratilova 1975-2003 3 8 1 12

Winning Countries
Men's singles: 23 games: Pat O'Hara Wood d. CB St John 6-1 6-1 6-3 in 1923 (Brisbane); John Hawkes d. Jim Willard 6-1 6-3 6-1 in 1926
Women's singles: 14 games: Margaret Smith d. Jan Lehane 6-0 6-2 in 1962 (Sydney); Steffi Graf d. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 6-0 6-2 in 1994 (Melbourne)
Men's doubles: 20 games: Roy Emerson / Rod Laver d. Fred Stolle / Ken Rosewall 6-4 6-4 in 1969 (Brisbane); Tony Roche / Arthur Ashe d. Charlie Pasarell / Erik van Dillen 6-4 6-4 in Jan. 1977 (Melbourne)
Women's doubles: 12 games: Margaret Court / Evonne Goolagong d. Lesley Hunt / Joy Emerson 6-0 6-0 in 1971 (Sydney)

The singles titles have been won by the following nationalities:
Country: Men: Women:
Australia 50 43
USA 17 21
Sweden 6 0
New Zealand 2 0
Argentina 2 0
Czech Republic
(incl. Czechoslovakia) 3 2
France 1 1
Germany 2 4
Yugoslavia 0 3
South Africa 2 0
Switzerland 0 3
Russia 1 0

Performance of Top Seeds
The Tournament went Open for the first time in 1969, so it is worth noting the performance of the top seeds since then: (NB: No tournament was held in 1986, due to the switch of the Tournament from December to January)Year: Men's Singles: Women's Singles:
1969 Rod Laver won Billie Jean King lost F to Margaret Smith Court
1970 Tony Roche lost QF to Roger Taylor Margaret Smith Court won
1971 Rod Laver lost 3R to Mark Cox Margaret Smith Court won
1972 John Newcombe lost QF to Mal Anderson Evonne Goolagong lost F to Virginia Wade
1973 Ken Rosewall lost 2R to Karl Meiler Margaret Smith Court won
1974 John Newcombe to QF to Ross Case Chris Evert lost F to Evonne Goolagong
1975 Jimmy Connors lost F to John Newcombe Margaret Smith Court lost QF to Martina Navratilova
1976 Ken Rosewall lost SF to Mark Edmondson Evonne Cawley won
1977 Guillermo Vilas lost F to Roscoe Tanner Dianne Fromholtz lost F to Kerry Reid
1978 Vitas Gerulaitis won Evonne Cawley won
1978 Guillermo Vilas won Sue Barker lost QF to Diane Evers
1979 Guillermo Vilas won Virginia Ruzici lost 1R to Mary Sawyer
1980 Guillermo Vilas lost QF to Kim Warwick Martina Navratilova lost SF to Wendy Turnbull
1981 Guillermo Vilas lost 3R to Hank Pfister Chris Evert lost F to Martina Navratilova
1982 Johan Kriek won Martina Navratilova lost F to Chris Evert
1983 Ivan Lendl lost F to Mats Wilander Martina Navratilova won
1984 Ivan Lendl lost 4R to Kevin Curren Martina Navratilova lost SF to Helena Sukova
1985 Ivan Lendl lost SF to Stefan Edberg Chris Evert lost F to Martina Navratilova
1987 Ivan Lendl lost SF to Pat Cash Martina Navratilova lost F to Hana Mandlikova
1988 Ivan Lendl lost SF to Pat Cash Steffi Graf won
1989 Mats Wilander lost 2R to Ramesh Krishnan Steffi Graf won

1990 Ivan Lendl won Steffi Graf won
1991 Stefan Edberg lost SF to Ivan Lendl Steffi Graf lost QF to Jana Novotna
1992 Stefan Edberg lost F to Jim Courier Monica Seles won
1993 Jim Courier won Monica Seles won
1994 Pete Sampras won Steffi Graf won
1995 Pete Sampras lost F to Andre Agassi Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario lost F to Mary Pierce
1996 Pete Sampras lost 3R to Mark Philippoussis Monica Seles won
1997 Pete Sampras won Steffi Graf lost 4R to Amanda Coetzer
1998 Pete Sampras lost QF to Karol Kucera Martina Hingis won
1999 Marcelo Rios withdrew prior to the start of the tournament (injury) Lindsay Davenport lost SF to Amelie Mauresmo
2000 Andre Agassi won Martina Hingis lost F to Lindsay Davenport
2001 Gustavo Kuerten lost 2R to Greg Rusedski Martina Hingis lost F to Jennifer Capriati
2002 Lleyton Hewitt lost 1R to Alberto Martin Jennifer Capriati won
2003 Lleyton Hewitt lost 4R to Younes El Aynaoui Serena Williams won

Championships won from Match Point Down
Margaret Molesworth survived a match point at 5-6 in final set of semifinal against Sylvia Lance
Gerald Patterson saved four match points at 12-13 and one at 15-16 in fourth set before beating John Hawkes in final
Dinny Pails saved a match point at 5-6 in fifth set against John Bromwich in finals
Mary Carter survived a match point in defeating Thelma Long in final
Rod Laver at 4-5 in fourth set saved a match point to defeat Neale Fraser in final
John Newcombe defeated Tony Roche in semifinal after Roche held two match points at 5-2 and one more at 8-7; Newcombe defeated Jimmy Connors in the final
Johan Kriek survived match point in semifinal against Paul McNamee at 3-5 in fifth set before going on to defeat Steve Denton in final
Stefan Edberg saved two match points in the fourth round against Wally Masur before defeating Mats Wilander in final
Monica Seles defeated Mary Joe Fernandez in semifinal after saving a match point at 5-6 30-40 in third set; Seles defeated Jana Novotna in the final
(2002) Jennifer Capriati saved three match points in the final against Martina Hingis and then went on to claim the women's singles title
Longest Singles Match
Number of games: 93 games: In 1970 Dennis Ralston d. John Newcombe in QF 19-17 20-18 4-6 6-3 in a match lasting 281 minutes
Duration: 311 minutes: Boris Becker d. Omar Camporese in 3R 7-6 7-6 0-6 4-6 23-21 in 1991

Longest Doubles Match
Duration: 329 minutes: In 1990 Pieter Aldrich / Danie Visser d. Scott Davis / Robert Van't Hof 6-4 4-6 7-6 4-6 23-21, the deciding set lasting 173 minutes

Most Dominant Male Champion
Tony Wilding, in winning the 1909 title in Perth won 73 games and conceded only 11 in recording four straight sets victories

Champions without loss of a set
Men: Tony Wilding (1909), Rodney Heath (1910), Pat O'Hara Wood (1923), Donald Budge (1938), John Bromwich (1939), Roy Emerson (1964), Ken Rosewall (1971)
Women: Margaret Molesworth (1922), Daphne Akhurst (1926, 1928), Coral Buttsworth (1932), Joan Hartigan (1934, 1936), Dorothy Bundy (1938), Emily Westacott (1939), Nancye Bolton (1946, 1947, 1948, 1951), Maureen Connolly (153), Thelma Long (1954), Shirley Fry (1957), Angela Mortimer (1958), Mary Carter-Reitano (1959), Margaret Court (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1970, 1973), Nancy Richey (1967), Billie Jean King (1968), Virginia Wade (1972), Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1975, 1976, Dec. 1977), Chris O'Neil (1978), Steffi Graf (1988, 1989, 1994), Martina Hingis (1997), Lindsay Davenport (2000)

First to retain title
Men: James Anderson 1925
Women: Margaret Molesworth 1923

First Overseas Champions
Men: Fred Alexander 1908 (Sydney)
Women: Dorothy Round 1935 (Melbourne)

Current Grand Slam venues:
Australian Open - Melbourne Park, MELBOURNE
French Open - Stade Roland Garros, PARIS
All England Championships - Wimbledon, LONDON
US Open - Flushing Meadows, NEW YORK