Known as the ‘Happy Slam’, the Australian Open has a history stretching back to 1905. It was then known as the Australasian Championships and then the Australian Championships, before becoming the Australian Open in 1969. The tournament has been staged in five Australian and two New Zealand cities before finding its current home in Melbourne in 1972, when it was played at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club before moving to Melbourne Park in 1988. This was when the event switched from grass to its current surface of hard courts.

Melbourne Park’s main stadium is the Rod Laver Arena, seating nearly 15,000 people and equipped with a retractable roof. The Margaret Court and Hisense Arenas round out the major stages at the tournament.

Almost every legend of tennis, past and present, has lifted either the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup or the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy at the Australian Open. Until recently, Roy Emerson held the record for most men’s titles, winning his first of six titles in 1961 before dominating the tournament with five consecutive titles between 1963 and 1967, but he was joined in 2016 by Novak Djokovic when he claimed his sixth title (2008, 2011-13, 2015-16). Djokovic already held the record for most consecutive titles won in the Open Era. Roger Federer tied Emerson and Djokovic for six Australian Open titles in 2018, backing up his stunning comeback triumph of 2017 when he beat great rival Rafael Nadal in the final with a five-set victory over Marin Cilic in the final of 2018.

In 2019, Djokovic became the all-time record holder for Australian Open titles when he won his seventh, beating Nadal in straight sets in the final. The Serb extended his supremacy in Melbourne in 2020, defeating Federer in the Semi-Finals and Dominic Thiem in the final to claim an eighth title. Djokovic is unbeaten in Australian Open Semi-Finals and finals.

On the women’s side, Margaret Court won the Australian Open an incredible 11 times, including four times in the Open Era, finishing in 1973. 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, with her six Australian Open titles (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2015), holds the record for most women’s titles in the Open Era, while Margaret Court (1969, 1970, 1971), Evonne Goolagong Crawley (1974, 1975, 1976), Steffi Graf (1988, 1989, 1990), Monica Seles (1991, 1992, 1993) and Martina Hingis (1997, 1998, 1999) are tied for the most consecutive Open Era titles.

The last Australian to win the men’s title was Mark Edmonson in 1967, while Chris O’Neil in 1978 holds the honour for the women.

The Australian Open is broadcast live around the world. From 1973 to 2018, the Seven Network served as the host broadcaster before the Nine Network acquired the rights in 2019. The tournament is currently broadcast on 13 different networks around the world. Australian Open matches are also available to watch and bet on live via bookmakers bet365.

With a history that stretches all the way back to 1905 (when it was first played at the Warehouseman’s Cricket Ground in Melbourne), the Australian Open has gradually grown in prestige to become the global juggernaut it is today – one of the four biggest prizes in tennis.

First branded as the Australasian Championships, and then later the Australian Championships in 1927 and finally the Australian Open in 1969, the tournament was not recognised as a major tennis event until 1924. The Australian Open’s rich history has seen it contested across two countries and seven cities, including Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Christchurch and Hastings.

Due to its geographic isolation from the rest of the world, the Australian Open suffered in terms of attracting the superstars of tennis in its initial years. Many of the game’s greats such as Pancho Gonzales and Manuel Santana never played any form of the Australian Open, while more modern-day legends like Bjorn Borg and Ilie Nastase only competed once. Inconvenient scheduling around the Christmas and New Year period was also a factor in players opting to remain in Europe and America during the early stages of the Australian Open.

It wasn’t until well after the establishment of the ‘Open Era’ in 1968 – the date where Grand Slam tournaments agreed to allow professional players to complete alongside amateurs – that the Australian Open really began to take off as a worldwide juggernaut. The Australian Open moved to the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in 1972 and was played on grass until it was moved to Flinders Park (later renamed as Melbourne Park) in 1988. The ever-growing Melbourne Park precinct remains the location for the Australian Open today.

The Australian Open was played on green Rebound Ace courts until 2008, when tournament organisers opted to switch to blue Plexicushion, which is the surface still in play to this day. It was also the first Grand Slam tournament to feature indoor play due to wet weather or extreme heat, with the Australian Open leading the way with its three primary courts – Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena and Margaret Court Arena – all equipped with retractable roofs.

For the better part of the last decade now, the Australian Open has been consistently referred to by players and fans alike as the ‘Happy Slam’. Why is this the case? There’s a combination of factors, including the feel-good vibe and nature of Melbourne in January, the top-notch and state-of-the-art facilities of Melbourne Park – the home of the Australian Open – and its easy-to-access location, with Melbourne Park located just a short walk from the central business district, allowing players and spectators smooth transport from the heart of the city to the tennis centre.

Roger Federer actually coined the term ‘Happy Slam’ during a pre-match interview a few years ago. This is because the general feeling amongst the majority of players is that the Australian Open is their favourite Grand Slam, with tournament officials genuinely listening to players concerns and wishes and acting accordingly to execute them, whether it be an increase in prize money or demands to build more stadiums with a roof, which allows players to compete when it’s raining or in scorching temperatures.

Also, being the first Grand Slam of the season also means that players are arriving in Melbourne fresh and relaxed after a much-deserved off-season, while it’s also the first time all the leading men and women are in the same place at once for the season – which in turn contributes to more feel-good vibes and a overall relaxed atmosphere.

Almost all of the biggest names in the history of tennis have won the Australian Open title.

Until recently, there was a three-way tie at the top of the men’s honour roll with Roy Emerson, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic each having won six titles. But Djokovic’s 2019 triumph saw him take the overall lead with an all-time record of seven Australian Open titles, followed by Emerson and Federer on six – a lead that Djokovic extended in 2020 when he won an eighth Australian Open title.

Federer has won a record 100 singles matches at the Australian Open.

Other multiple-time winners of the tournament include Jack Crawford, Ken Rosewall, Andre Agassi, Rod Laver, Mats Wilander, Jim Courier, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, John Newcombe and Guillermo Vilas.

Margaret Court owns the record for the most titles on the women’s side with a staggering 11 triumphs in the Amateur and Open Era, with Serena Williams not too far behind with seven. Victoria Azarenka is the only other current active female player with multiple Australian Open titles, winning back-to-back in 2012-13, while legends such as Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Monica Seles, Steffi Graf and Martin Hingis have all reigned supreme at Melbourne Park over the years.

Longest men’s match (time) – Australian Open 2012 final: Novak Djokovic def. Rafael Nadal 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7(5) 7-5 in five hours and 53 minutes.

Longest women’s match (time) – Australian Open 2011 R16:  Francesca Schiavone def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6–4 1–6 16–14.

Longest men’s match (total games: 84) – Australian Open 2017 first round: Ivo Karlovic def. Horacio Zeballos 6-7(6) 3-6 7-5 6-2 22-20.

Longest women’s match (total games: 48) – Australian Open 1996 quarter-finals: Chanda Rubin def. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 6-4 2-6 16-14 and Australian Open 2018 third round: Simona Halep def. Lauren Davis 4-6 6-4 15-13

Hottest tournament: 2009 – the 2009 Australian Open was the warmest on record, with an average daily maximum of 34.7 degrees Celsius, 9 degrees above normal.