Australian Open History
History - Important Facts - Schedule - Winners - Results
The Australian Open was first held in 1905 at the Warehouseman's Cricket Ground in St Kilda Road, Melbourne. It was originally organized by the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia. The women's singles tournament was added in 1922.
The sixties were a golden age for Australian tennis with Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Margaret Smith winning sixteen of a possible twenty men's and women's titles between them. Margaret Smith went on to win eleven Australian titles in all.
In 1969 the Australian Open era was born and the event's name changed again to the Australian Open. Traditionally, the Australian Open had been held in January. In 1977, it was moved to December, which resulted in there being two tournaments that year. This lasted until 1987 when the event moved back to January.
The eighties saw European dominance in the men's event from Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg. The ladies' game saw thrilling clashes between Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert who won three and two titles each respectively.
In 1996 the Australian Open court was expanded and renamed Melbourne Park. Since the early nineties, the balance of power in the men's competition has moved to America, with seven titles from shared between Jim Courier, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.
The Australian Open is perhaps the most adaptive of the Grand Slams, and as it enters its second century there are sure to be many new additions and memories created at one of the world's most special sporting events.
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