Open of Australia

The Open of Australia is a tournament of Tennis of the category of the Grands Slams organized in Australia since 1905.

Present

With the Tournament of Roland Garros, the Tournament of Wimbledon and the US Open, the Open one of Australia east one of the four tournaments which constitute the Grand Slam. These four tournaments are since 1983 (first year when systematically the majority of the best tennis players of the world dispute these four competitions) the four greater tests of the circuit tennistic. Organized these last years during second half of January, the Open one of Australia east thus chronologically the first great appointment tennistic of the season. Among these tournaments it is the only one which profits from a sliding roof on the exchange, used in the event of bad weather or of strong heats.

History

New Zealand and the states of Australia are the direct descendants of the British colonies in Australasia (entity gathering Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and the islands neighborhood): before the first championships of Australasia are not organized in November 1905, it is decided that the tournament would dispute alternatively in all the states of Australia like in New Zealand. Into 1927 the tournament changes name and becomes the championships of Australia. From the edition of 1972 (December 26th 1971 - January 2nd, 1972) the championships settles in a permanent way in the town of Melbourne. In addition to this city (with 50 editions) the championships proceeded with Sydney (17 times), Adélaïde (14 times), Brisbane (8 times), Perth (3 times) and in New Zealand (2 times) in 1906 with Christchurch and 1912 with Hastings.

Because of its geographical distance this tournament is been sulky a long time by the foreigners (in the years 1920 it takes approximately 45 days to go from the Mediterranean to Australia by the sea and the first tennis players who travel by the plane to go to Melbourne are the players of the United States, in November 1946, which comes to dispute the challenge-round of Coupe Davis. Until 1968 the tournament can be comparable almost with a national championship amateur. In the first years this tournament is very right a championship of the State where it takes place. For example the editions with Perth attracts at the time only the players of the surroundings: those of the east coast (Sydney, Melbourne) having to cross nearly 3000 km in the train do not make displacement. Idem for the championships with Brisbane, etc… In New Zealand in 1906 in a table of ten players alone two Australian made displacement. The 1st tournament ever organized in Australasia is the championship of the colony of Victoria (become with the independence of Australia the championship of the state of Victoria), disputed in Melbourne, in 1880 (two editions this year) which becomes in fact the most important tournament of Australasia until including at the time of the first championships of Australasia: at the time the two best players of the southern hemisphere, Australian the Norman Brookes which gave its name to the cut given to the winner of the simple Sirs, and the New Zealander Anthony Wilding scorns the Australasian championship: the first will dispute this championship only once and in 1911 will gain it, and the second will come twice with as much success in 1906 and 1909. To regulate their problem of supremacy the two players prefer to play the championship of Victoria where they meet twice finally in 1906 and 1909. Wilding does not even take part in the championships of Australasia organized in its own country in New Zealand in 1912 whereas this year it has gained Wimbledon for the 3rd consecutive time (working in London for several years it cannot allow long displacement and expensive (this is clean at the time: Norman Brookes, victorious from Wimbledon in 1907, and working in Melbourne, does not return any more to Wimbledon before 1914 and incidentally to gain the tournament) . Thus much of large players dispute never or seldom this tournament: some like the Renshaw brothers, the Doherty brothers, William Larned, Maurice McLoughlin, Beals Wright, Bill Johnston, Bill Tilden, Rene Lacoste, Henri Cockerel, Bobby Riggs, Jack Kramer, Ted Schroeder, Pancho Gonzales, Budge Patty, Manual Santana, Jan Kodes and others still never come while Brookes, Ellsworth Vines, Donald Budge, Jaroslav Drobny, Manuel Orantes, Ilie Năstase at 35 years spent, Bjorn Borg dispute the tournament only once. From 1969 date of the first Open one of Australia, organized on Milton Courts of Brisbane, the tournament is opened with all the players and in particular to the professional players, prohibited before. Nevertheless if one excludes 1969 and 1971 the tournament suffers from the absence of the best players of the world until 1982 included (for example this year the best player of the table, Johan Kriek, is classified only 12th with the ATP): because of the distance, dates of the tournament (festivals of Christmas and New Year's Day) as well as too weak prices offered (in 1970 the promoter of Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Andres Gimeno, Pancho Gonzales, Roy Emerson and Fred Stolle does not authorize its players to dispute the Open one of Australia because the guarantees suggested are insufficient).

In 1983 a change takes place, Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe is registered with the tournament and Mats Wilander having to exploit the final of the Coupe Davis the site of International of Australia (stage Kooyong of Melbourne) a few days after the tournament, decides to be registered with the championships to involve itself (the drive succeeds beyond any hope since the Swede gains the tournament): as from 1983 the Open one of Australia starts to deserve its name of tournament of the Grand Slam because the majority of the best players of the world dispute from now on the tournament. Nevertheless under the pressure of the International federation, the site of Kooyong become too decayed, is abandoned with the profit of a stage much larger and more modern: Flinders Park (famous since Melbourne Park) in 1988. The tournament disputes from now on on a synthetic surface into hard, the Rebound Ace, similar to the Decoturf of the US Open but slower. From 1995, year when Andre Agassi takes part for the first time in this championship, none the best players of the world is sulky this tournament which consequently becomes truly one of the four greater competition of tennis, only the wounds or the suspensions explain the absences.

Before being established in Melbourne Park the sudden tournament, in addition to the changes of sites, many changes of date in particular first years according in particular to the seasons of the various cities or of catastrophes like the war: the edition 1919 takes place in January 1920 and the edition 1920 in March of the same year; in Brisbane an edition takes place in August 1923 during the less hot and less wet season. After a first edition 1977 played horse on 1976 and 1977, the organizers decide to advance the next tournament of a few days: an 2nd edition concludes on December 31st, 1977 thus but this mini measurement does not allure any large player. In 1982 the edition is brought back of at the end of December to mid-December: this last date is preserved until 1985. This time the organizers decide to move back one month (mid-January) the next edition which thus takes place only in January 1987. Consequently the edition 1986 does not take place (what compensates for the " surplus" from 1977).

Some first

In 1908, the American Fred Alexander becomes the first not-Australasian one to triumph in the tournament over the simple Sirs and in 1928 Jean Borotra becomes the first French victorious championship as simple Sirs (it is besides with his compatriots Christian Boussus and Jacques Brugnon the first tennis player French of foreground to be gone to Australia).

The competition opens to the women only starting from 1922.

Premiums and points ATP

Prize list

  • Simple ladies
  • Simple Double Sirs
  • ladies
  • Double Double Sirs
  • mixed

Many titles by nations as Simple Sirs

  • Australia: 50 titles

  • the United States: 16 titles
  • Sweden: 6 titles
  • the United Kingdom: 4 titles
  • : 3 titles
  • Swiss: 3 titles
  • : 2 titles
  • South Africa: 2 titles
  • Argentinian: 2 titles
  • Germany: 2 titles
  • Ireland: 1 title
  • France: 1 title
  • : 1 title
  • Russia: 1 title

Many titles by nations as Simple Mesdames

  • Australia: 43 titles

  • the United States: 19 titles
  • Germany: 4 titles
  • Serbia: 3 titles
  • Swiss: 3 titles
  • : 2 titles
  • France: 2 titles
  • : 1 title

The most titrated champions

Men

Women

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External bonds

  • Official site of the tournament
  • on Wikimapia

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