Australian Open

The Australian Tennis Open was first held in 1905 on the grass courts at Kooyang, in the city of Melbourne. Since the tournament was first played, it has been staged in five different Australian cities before moving to its current venue Melbourne Park (formerly known as Flinders Park) in 1988. The tournament played in January is the first of four grand slams to take place in the tennis calendar. Until the early 1980's many of the world's elite players did not even consider making the journey to Australia over the Christmas holiday and the Australian Open was even considered to be dropped as part of the Grand Slam circuit, with popular venues in Japan and Germany keen to press their claim for Grand Slam status. However, in 1983 Australian officials had a rethink over the structure of the tournament which led to the the men and ladies tournaments brought together again and offering prize money which was in line with that offered at Wimbledon, Roland Garros and the US Open. This coincided with big name stars such as Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe and Mats Wilander travelling to Australia in 1983 to play in the Davis Cup final, which was played at the same site as the Australian Open only days later. This was the defining moment of the Australian Open and led the International Tennis Federation to prompt the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia to change the venue, since Kooyang was unable to cope with demands and increasing attendances of the tournament.

The current Rebound Ace (hard-court) surface used at Melbourne Park, which has been in place for more than twenty years is to be replaced in 2008 with a new cushioned acrylic surface known as Plexicushion. The new surface will provide better consistency and less heat retention. The Austrlian Open is played in the middle of the Australian summer and is famous for its notoriously hot days. There are two main courts used at Melbourne Park which are the Rod Laver Arena and the Vodafone Arena, which feature retractable roofs and can be shut in case of rain or extreme heat. The new tennis centre, was originally called Flinders Park but changed in 1996 in order to giver Melbourne greater worldwide recognition. The crowds have continued to grow year-on-year and reached a record of 550,550 in 2006, when Roger Federer beat Marcos Baghdatis in the final.

The Australian Open was held in December from 1977 through to 1985, returning to its original date in January in 1987. In 1986, because of the return to January, no tournament was held. Since 1995, when Andre Agassi first entered the competition no top player has ever missed the tournament unless they have been injured or suspended. The Austrlian Open has continued to flourish in recent years and in January 2008 it named its strongest field in its 103-year history with all of the top 100 men and 99 of the top 100 women entering the tournament. The only omision was Russia's Vera Dushevina, ranked 44th, who was forced to withdraw due to a foot injury.