Tennis in Australia

Tennis in Australia refers to the sport of tennis played in Australia. Tennis in Australia has been administered by Tennis Australia (formerly the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia (LTAA)) since 1904.^[1]

Melbourne Park - Home to the Australian Open since 1988

Australia hosts the first of the four Grand Slam events of the year, the Australian Open. The Australian Open is managed by Tennis Australia and was first played in Melbourne in 1905. The tournament was first known as the Australasian Championships and then became the Australian Championships in 1927 and the Australian Open in 1969.^[2]

History

In the 1950s, Australia became a tennis power, and Australian men won the Davis Cup 15 times from 1950 to 1967, led by outstanding players such as Frank Sedgman, Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad, Roy Emerson, and Ashley Cooper.^[3]

Rod Laver has twice achieved the Grand Slam in men's singles, in 1962 and 1969, the only tennis player to have accomplished this feat. Fellow Australian tennis player Margaret Smith Court also achieved the Grand Slam in women's singles in 1970, Margaret Court also holds the record for the greatest number of women's singles Grand Slams won and is one of only three players ever to have won a career Grand Slam "boxed set"

Major tournaments and current champions

Main article: Australian Open Series

Australian Open

Current champions

2024 Australian Open

Jannik Sinner, 2024 men's singles champion. It was his first major title. Aryna Sabalenka, 2024 women's singles champion. It was her second major title and her second at the Australian Open. Rohan Bopanna was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. It was his first major title. Matthew Ebden was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. It was his second major title and first at the Australian Open. Elise Mertens was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles team. It was her fourth major title and second at the Australian Open. Hsieh Su-wei was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles and mixed doubles team. It was her seventh major title in women's doubles and first major title in mixed doubles. Jan Zieliński was part of the 2024 winning mixed doubles team. It was his first major title.

Most recent finals

2024 Event	Champion	Runner-up	Score
Men's singles	Jannik Sinner	Daniil Medvedev	3–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–3
Women's singles	Aryna Sabalenka	Zheng Qinwen	6–3, 6–2
Men's doubles	Rohan Bopanna Matthew Ebden	Simone Bolelli Andrea Vavassori	7–6(7–0), 7–5.
Women's doubles	Hsieh Su-wei Elise Mertens	Lyudmyla Kichenok Jeļena Ostapenko	6-1, 7-5
Mixed doubles	Hsieh Su-wei Jan Zieliński	Desirae Krawczyk Neal Skupski	6–7(5–7), 6–4, [11–9]

Pre–Australian Open

Tournament	Category	Current champion	Current runner-up	Score
United Cup	2024 United Cup	Germany Alexander Zverev Angelique Kerber Laura Siegemund	Poland Iga Świątek Hubert Hurkacz	2–1
Brisbane International	2024 Brisbane International – Men's singles ATP 250	Grigor Dimitrov	Holger Rune	7–6(7–5), 6–4
	2024 Brisbane International – Women's singles WTA 500	Elena Rybakina	Aryna Sabalenka	6–0, 6–3
Adelaide International	2024 Adelaide International – Men's singles ATP 250	Jiří Lehečka	Jack Draper	4–6, 6–4, 6–3
	2024 Adelaide International – Women's singles WTA 500	Jeļena Ostapenko	Daria Kasatkina	6–3, 6–2
Hobart International	2024 Hobart International – Singles WTA 250	Emma Navarro	Elise Mertens	6–1, 4–6, 7–5

Lower Tier Tournaments

ATP Challenger Tour

The ATP Challenger Tour is the second tier of professional tennis tournaments run by the Association of Tennis Professionals. These tournaments offer up to 175 rankings points with five Challenger events currently held in Australia, Canberra in the first week of the tour, back-to-back events in Burnie, Tasmania in the fortnight following the Australian Open and in Playford, South Australia then Sydney, New South Wales in the fortnight following the ATP Tour's Asian Swing.^[4]

Tournament	Points	Most Recent	Champion	Runner-up	Score
Canberra Tennis International	125	January, 2024	Dominik Koepfer	Jakub Menšík	6–3, 6–2
Burnie International	75	January, 2024	Omar Jasika	Alex Bolt	6–2, 6–7(2–7), 6–3
Burnie International II	75	February, 2024	Adam Walton	Dane Sweeny	6–2, 7–6(7–4)
City of Playford Tennis International	75	October, 2024	Rinky Hijikata	Yuta Shimizu	6–4, 7–6(7–4)
NSW Open Challenger	75	October, 2024	Thanasi Kokkinakis	Rinky Hijikata	6–1, 6–1

WTA 125 Tournaments

The WTA 125 Tournaments is the second tier of WTA events with each event worth 125 points. There are 20 WTA 125 Tournaments, one of which is held in Canberra, simultaneously with the ATP Challenger event.

Tournament	Points	Most Recent	Champion	Runner-up	Score
Canberra Tennis International	175	January, 2024	Nuria Párrizas Díaz	Harriet Dart	6–4, 6–3

ITF Tour

The lowest tier of professional tennis tournaments are the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour and the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). These tournaments serve as entry level events for the ATP and WTA tours and offer points and prize money.

Men's ITF Tournaments

All tournaments are played on hard courts with the exception of Mildura and Swan Hill which are played on Grass.

Tournament	Points	Most Recent	Champion	Runner-up	Score
Traralgon, Victoria	25	February, 2024	Omar Jasika	Li Tu	7–6(7–1), 6–2
Traralgon II, Victoria	25	February, 2024	Li Tu	Alex Bolt	6–4, 6–2
Mildura, Victoria	25	March, 2024	Alex Bolt	Luke Saville	6–2, 6–2
Swan Hill, Victoria	25	March, 2024	Alex Bolt	Rio Noguchi	6–1, 6–2
Darwin, NT	25	September, 2024	Omar Jasika	Jake Delaney	7–5, 7–5
Darwin II, NT	25	September, 2024	Omar Jasika	James Watt	1–6, 6–3, 6–4
Cairns, QLD	25	September, 2024	Rio Noguchi	Blake Ellis	6–7(5–7), 6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Cairns II, QLD	25	October, 2024	Omar Jasika	Marc Polmans	6–3, 6–4
Brisbane, QLD	25	November, 2024
Caloundra, QLD	25	November, 2024
Gold Coast, QLD	25	November, 2024

Women's ITF Tournaments

Tournament	Points	Most Recent	Champion	Runner-up	Score
Burnie International	75	January, 2024	Priscilla Hon	Sara Saito	6–3, 6–0
Burnie International II	75	February, 2024	Maya Joint	Aoi Ito	1–6, 6–1, 7–5
Traralgon, Victoria	35	February, 2024	Amarni Banks	Naho Sato	6–3, 6–3
Traralgon II, Victoria	35	February, 2024	Lanlana Tararudee	Ma Yexin	6–4, 7–5
Mildura, Victoria	35	March, 2024	Maddison Inglis	Tina Nadine Smith	6–4, 6–1
Swan Hill, Victoria	35	March, 2024	Gabriella Da Silva-Fick	Emerson Jones	3–6, 6–3, 6–1
Perth Tennis International	75	September, 2024	Talia Gibson	Maddison Inglis	6–7(5–7), 6–1, 6–3
Perth Tennis International II	75	September, 2024	Talia Gibson	Eri Shimizu	6–2, 6–4
Cairns, QLD	35	September, 2024	Talia Gibson	Lizette Cabrera	6–2, 7–6(7–2)
Cairns II, QLD	35	October, 2024	Destanee Aiava	Maddison Inglis	6–2, 4–6, 7–5
City of Playford Tennis International	75	October, 2024	Maddison Inglis	Himeno Sakatsume	7–6(9–7), 5–7, 6–1
NSW Open	75	October, 2024	Emerson Jones	Taylah Preston	6–4, 7–6(7–3)
Brisbane QTC Tennis International	50	November, 2024
Caloundra, Australia	50	November, 2024
Gold Coast Tennis International	50	November, 2024

Highest ranked players

Number 1 Ranked Players

Men's Singles

Player	#	Start Date	End Date	Weeks	Total Weeks
John Newcombe	2	Jun 3, 1974	Jul 28, 1974	8	8
Pat Rafter	17	Jul 26, 1999	Aug 1, 1999	1	1
Lleyton Hewitt	20	Nov 19, 2001	Apr 27, 2003	75	80
		May 12, 2003	Jun 15, 2003	5

Women's Singles

Player	#	Start Date	End Date	Weeks	Total Weeks
Evonne Goolagong Cawley	2	Apr 26, 1976	May 9, 1976	2	2
Ashleigh Barty	27	Jun 24, 2019	Aug 11, 2019	7	121
		Sep 9, 2019	Mar 22, 2020	28
		Aug 10, 2020	Apr 3, 2022	86

Men's Doubles

Player	#	Start Date	End Date	Weeks	Total Weeks
Paul McNamee	7	May 25, 1981	Jun 14, 1981	3	3
John Fitzgerald	24	Jul 8, 1991	Feb 23, 1992	33	1
		Mar 2, 1992	Mar 8, 1992	1	40
		May 4, 1992	Jun 14, 1992	6
Todd Woodbridge	25	Jul 6, 1992	Jul 19, 1992	2	205
		Aug 17, 1992	Sep 13, 1992	5
		Nov 2, 1992	Nov 15, 1992	2
		Jun 14, 1993	Oct 17, 1993	18
		Nov 8, 1993	Nov 8, 1993	1
		Sep 11, 1995	Oct 29, 1995	7
		Nov 6, 1995	Mar 29, 1998	125
		Jun 12, 2000	Oct 29, 2000	20
		Jan 8, 2001	Jul 8, 2001	26
Mark Woodforde	27	Nov 16, 1992	Jan 31, 1993	11	83
		Apr 3, 1995	Jun 11, 1995	10
		Oct 14, 1996	Oct 12, 1997	52
		Oct 30, 2000	Jan 7, 2001	10
Matthew Ebden	62	Feb 26, 2024	Mar 3, 2024	1	9
		Apr 15, 2024	May 5, 2024	3
		Jun 10, 2024	Jul 14, 2024	5

Women's Doubles

Player	#	Start Date	End Date	Weeks	Total Weeks
Rennae Stubbs	14	Aug 21, 2000	Sep 10, 2000	3	3
Samantha Stosur	21	Feb 6, 2006	Jul 6, 2006	22	61
		Jul 7, 2006	Apr 8, 2007	39
Storm Hunter	48	Nov 6, 2023	Jan 28, 2024	12	12

Top 10 Ranked Players

The lists include Australian players who have had a ranking inside the ATP or WTA top 10. The rankings were introduced in 1973 (men) and 1975 (women).

Men's Singles

Source^[5]

Player	Ranking	Date reached top 10	ATP Tour
	High		Turned Pro	Retired	Titles
John Newcombe	1	1973, 23 August	1967	1981	41
Pat Rafter	1	1997, 8 September	1991	2002	11
Lleyton Hewitt	1	2000, 15 May	1998	2016	20
Ken Rosewall	2	1973, 23 August	1956	1980	14
Rod Laver	3	1973, 23 August	1963	1979	72
Pat Cash	4	1984, 10 September	1982	1997	6
Alex de Minaur	6	2024, January 8	2015	Active	9
Peter McNamara	7	1981, 6 July	1974	1987	5
Tony Roche	8	1975, 26 July	1963	1979	46
John Alexander	8	1975, 21 October	1967	1985	7
Mark Philippoussis	8	1999, 29 March	1994	2008	11

Women's Singles

Source^[6]

Player	Ranking	Date reached top 10	WTA Tour
	High		Turned Pro	Retired	Titles
Evonne Goolagong Cawley	1	1975, November 3	1967	1983	86
Ashleigh Barty	1	2019, April 1	2010	2022	15
Wendy Turnbull	3	1977, November 27	1975	1989	11
Hana Mandlikova	3	1980, June 9	1978	1990	27
Dianne Fromholtz	4	1976, September 14	1973	1990	8
Margaret Court	5	1975, November 3	1960	1977	92
Jelena Dokic	4	2001, October 8	1998	2014	6
Samantha Stosur	4	2010, March 22	1999	2023	9
Kerry Melville	7	1975, November 3	1963	1979	22
Alicia Molik	8	2005, January 31	1996	2011	5

Doubles

The lists include the 5 best ranked Australian players. The rankings were introduced in 1976 (men) and 1984 (women).

Men

Player	Ranking No.	ATP Tour
	High	Turned Pro	Retired	Titles
Paul McNamee	1	1973	1988	23
John Fitzgerald	1	1980	1997	30
Todd Woodbridge	1	1988	2005	83
Mark Woodforde	1	1984	2000	67
Matthew Ebden	1	2006	Active	11
John Peers	2	2011	Active	28
Peter McNamara	3	1974	1987	19
Mark Edmondson	3	1975	1987	34

Women

Player	Ranking No.	WTA Tour
	High	Turned Pro	Retired	Titles
Rennae Stubbs	1	1992	2011	60
Sam Stosur	1	1999	2023	27
Storm Hunter	1	2013	Active	8
Casey Dellacqua	3	2002	2018	7
Elizabeth Smylie	5	1982	1997	36
Ashleigh Barty	5	2010	2022	12

Performance timelines since 2000

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Men's singles

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	SR
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	4R	SF	2R	4R	4R	F	3R	3R	4R	2R	4R	3R	4R	2R	2R	QF	4R	3R	4R	3R	4R	3R	4R	4R	4R	0 / 25
French Open	4R	QF	4R	3R	QF	2R	4R	4R	3R	3R	3R	1R	2R	2R	2R	3R	3R	2R	1R	3R	2R	2R	2R	3R	QF	0 / 25
Wimbledon	F	F	W	F	QF	SF	QF	4R	4R	QF	4R	QF	1R	4R	QF	4R	4R	1R	3R	3R	NH	3R	F	3R	QF	1 / 24
US Open	SF	W	SF	QF	F	SF	QF	2R	2R	3R	2R	2R	3R	4R	3R	3R	3R	3R	QF	4R	QF	3R	QF	4R	QF	1 / 25
Year-end championship
ATP Finals	RR	W	W	DNQ	F	A	Did not qualify																			2 / 4

Women's singles

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	SR
Australian Open	3R	3R	2R	4R	4R	QF	4R	3R	4R	QF	4R	3R	2R	2R	4R	2R	4R	4R	3R	QF	SF	QF	W	2R	3R	1 / 25
French Open	2R	3R	3R	2R	2R	2R	3R	3R	3R	SF	F	3R	SF	3R	4R	3R	SF	4R	3R	W	2R	2R	3R	2R	1R	1 / 25
Wimbledon	SF	2R	1R	3R	4R	2R	3R	2R	3R	3R	4R	3R	2R	3R	2R	3R	2R	2R	3R	4R	NH	W	QF	1R	2R	1 / 24
US Open	4R	3R	2R	3R	2R	2R	2R	2R	2R	3R	QF	W	QF	2R	4R	4R	2R	3R	4R	4R	1R	3R	QF	2R	2R	1 / 25
Year-end championship
WTA Finals	Did not qualify										SF	SF	RR	Did not qualify						W	NH	Did not qualify				1 / 4

Davis Cup

See: Australian Davis Cup Team

Titles - 28 (1907, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1914, 1919, 1939, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1973, 1977, 1983, 1986, 1999, 2003).

Runners-up - 21 (1912, 1920, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1936, 1938, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1954, 1958, 1963, 1968, 1990, 1993, 2000, 2001, 2022, 2023).

Billie Jean King Cup

Formerly named Fed Cup

See: Australia Fed Cup team

Titles - 7 (1964, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974)

Runners-up - 11 (1963, 1969, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1993, 2019, 2022)

Olympic Medals

Result	Year	City	Surface	Division	Player(s)	Opponent(s)	Score
Bronze	1988	Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Women's doubles	Elizabeth Smylie Wendy Turnbull	n/a	n/a
Bronze	1992	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Women's doubles	Rachel McQuillan Nicole Provis	n/a	n/a
Gold	1996	Atlanta, Georgia, US	Hard	Men's doubles	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	Neil Broad Tim Henman	6–4, 6–4, 6–2
4th	2000	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Women's singles	Jelena Dokic	Monica Seles	1–6, 4–6
Silver	2000	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Men's doubles	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	Sébastien Lareau Daniel Nestor	7–5, 3–6, 4–6, 6–7
Bronze	2004	Athens, Greece	Hard	Women's singles	Alicia Molik	Anastasia Myskina	6–3, 6–4
Bronze	2020	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Mixed doubles	Ashleigh Barty John Peers	Novak Djokovic Nina Stojanović	w/o
Gold	2024	Paris, France	Clay	Men's doubles	Matthew Ebden John Peers	Austin Krajicek Rajeev Ram	6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–1), [10–8]

Broadcasting

Australian Open

From 1973 until 2018, the Australian Open was broadcast in Australia on the Seven Network. In March, 2018 it was announced that rival network, the Nine Network had won the rights to televise the tournament for $60 million per year, for five years between 2020 and 2024. While the contract was not to begin until 2020, the Nine Network, incumbent rights holders the Seven Network and Tennis Australia negotiated to bring this forward by one year allowing Nine to telecast the Australian Open from 2019.^[7] In 2022 the Nine Network and Tennis Australia agreed to a further five years with Nine paying $85 million per year to telecast the event from 2025 until 2029.^[8] In addition to the Australian Open, Nine have the exclusive rights to televise the Australian-held lead in events including the United Cup, Brisbane International, Adelaide International and formerly the Hopman Cup, ATP Cup Sydney International and temporary Melbourne events held in 2021.^[9]

Presently Nine dedicate two linear broadcast channels to the Australian Open, the main channel Channel 9 and secondary channel 9Gem with the tennis moving to 9Go! during the hour long Nine News bulletin between 6pm and 7pm. Furthermore, all matches, on all courts are available to stream for free through Nine's live stream, video on demand and catch-up TV service 9Now with matches also available without commercials and on demand through Nine's subscription sports streaming service Stan Sport.^[10]

French Open

Since 2021, the Nine Network is the Australian broadcast holder with coverage on secondary channel 9Gem. Additional courts are available to stream via Stan Sport, a pay for view streaming service owned by Nine.^[11] Previously, subscription television service Foxtel had the rights to the French Open with SBS Australia simulcasting World-feed coverage from 10:30pm AEST.^[12]

Wimbledon

The Nine Network broadcast the Wimbledon Championships for over 40 years until losing the rights to rivals Seven Network following the 2010 tournament at the time citing declining ratings.^[13] While Seven had the Wimbledon rights, there was also an agreement with subscription television service Foxtel who had rights to televise select matches until the quarterfinals with Seven getting first pick at two daily matches they would be able to televise exclusively.^[14] In late 2020 Nine regained exclusive rights to the Championships signing a three-year contract to broadcast the championships until 2023. In addition to what was televised via their terrestrial free-to-air channel (either Channel 9 or secondary channel 9Gem), all matches are able to be streamed via Stan Sport, a pay for view streaming service owned by Nine.^[15]

US Open

The Nine Network is the current broadcast holder of the US Open having gained the rights to the event from 2022 making the Nine Network the home of Australian tennis with all four Grand Slams and Australian Open lead in events as well as all Australian rubbers of the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup.^[16] Matches are televised on 9Gem with additional courts able to be stream via Stan Sport, a pay for view streaming service owned by Nine. Prior to Nine, subscription channel ESPN Australia broadcast the US Open simulcasting coverage from their American counterparts with localised coverage occurring for matches involving Australian players. Additionally, between 2019 and 2021 SBS Australia simulcast coverage of the Quarterfinals onwards using the World Feed.^[17]

Davis Cup

Australian ties are broadcast on the Nine Network with other ties on subscription service BeIN Sports Australia.

Billie Jean King Cup

Australian ties are broadcast on the Nine Network with other ties on subscription service BeIN Sports Australia.

ATP Tour Events

Since 2021 all ATP Masters 1000 tournaments and ATP 500 tournaments as well as ATP 250 tournaments with the exception of the Brisbane and Adelaide Internationals, are broadcast on BeIN Sports a subscription service available through Amazon Prime Video and through BeIN Sports directly. Prior to 2021, ATP Masters 1000 and 500 tournaments were televised on ESPN Australia with non-Australian ATP 250 tournaments on Fox Sports Australia.

WTA Tour Events

All Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour events, with the exception of the Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart Internationals are televised on BeIN Sports a subscription service available through Amazon Prime Video and through BeIN Sports directly. In 2021, BeIN Sports signed a deal with the WTA giving them broadcast rights until 2026.^[18]

See also

• Category:Australian tennis players
• List of Australia Davis Cup team representatives
• List of Australia Fed Cup team representatives

References

1. "A History of Australian Tennis". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
2. Tristan Foenander. "History of the Australian Open – the Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific". Australian Open. Archived from the original on 20 January 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
3. "History of Tennis". Archived from the original on 2012-05-08. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
4. "Australian Pro Tour | Pro Tournaments | Tournaments". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
5. ATP Media (25 December 2023). Media Guide 2024. ATP.
6. WTA Media (2023). Media Guide 2024. WTA Media.
7. Duke, Jennifer (2018-06-24). "Nine secures rights to the 2019 Australian Open tennis from Seven". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
8. "Tennis Australia signs historic Nine Network rights extension | AO". ausopen.com. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
9. Duke, Jennifer (2018-03-28). "Nine nabs tennis broadcasting rights from Seven". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
10. "How to watch Australian Open 2024 live and free". wwos.nine.com.au. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
11. "Channel Nine is the new and exclusive broadcaster of Roland-Garros in Australia - Roland-Garros - The official site". www.rolandgarros.com. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
12. Mediaweek (2019-05-08). "Roland Garros 2019 to be shown live on SBS". Mediaweek. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
13. "Channel Nine to bet its bank on footy". PerthNow. 2010-07-16. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
14. Mediaweek (2015-07-24). "Fox Sports' unprecedented Wimbledon coverage". Mediaweek. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
15. "Stan Sport pounces on Wimbledon, Roland Garros". wwos.nine.com.au. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
16. "Nine grabs US Open". Nine for Brands. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
17. Mediaweek (2019-09-03). "TV Guide: How to watch US Open live on SBS". Mediaweek. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
18. "WTA Tour buoyed by beIN extension in Australia, France and Turkey". SportBusiness. 2021-12-16. Retrieved 2024-02-15.

External links

• Tennis Australia official site
• Australian Open official site
• Tennis in pictures, a history of tennis in Australia on Culture Victoria