Tennis in Australia explained

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] 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

See main article: Australian Open Series.

Current champions

Jannik Sinner, 2024 men's singles champion. It was his first major title.File:Sabalenka WM18 (3) (30063199288).jpgAryna Sabalenka, 2024 women's singles champion. It was her second major title and her second at the Australian Open.File:Bopanna WM19 (7) (48521871331).jpg Rohan Bopanna was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. It was his first major title.File:Ebden RG22 (54) (52144570795).jpgMatthew Ebden was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. It was his second major title and first at the Australian Open.File:Elise Mertens (2023 US Open) 09 (cropped).jpgElise Mertens was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles team. It was her fourth major title and second at the Australian Open.File:Hsieh WM19 (22) (48521999377).jpgHsieh 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.File:Zielinski MCM23 (29) (52883593913).jpgJan Zieliński was part of the 2024 winning mixed doubles team. It was his first major title.

Most recent finals

width=1302024 Eventwidth=170Championwidth=170Runner-upwidth=220Score
Men's singles Jannik Sinner Daniil Medvedev3–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–3
Women's singles6–3, 6–2
Men's doubles Rohan Bopanna
Matthew Ebden
Simone Bolelli
Andrea Vavassori
7–6(7–0), 7–5.
Hsieh Su-wei
Elise Mertens
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

width=130Tournamentwidth=170Categorywidth=145Current championwidth=145Current runner-upwidth=100Score
United Cup Germany

Alexander Zverev

Angelique Kerber

Laura Siegemund

Poland

Iga Świątek

Hubert Hurkacz

2–1
Brisbane International2024 Brisbane International – Men's singles ATP 250 Grigor Dimitrov Holger Rune7–6(7–5), 6–4
2024 Brisbane International – Women's singles WTA 500 Elena Rybakina Aryna Sabalenka6–0, 6–3
2024 Adelaide International – Men's singles ATP 250 Jiří Lehečka Jack Draper4–6, 6–4, 6–3
2024 Adelaide International – Women's singles WTA 500 Jeļena Ostapenko Daria Kasatkina6–3, 6–2
Hobart International2024 Hobart International – Singles WTA 250 Emma Navarro Elise Mertens6–1, 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]

TournamentPointsMost RecentChampionRunner-upScore
Canberra Tennis International125January, 2024 Dominik Koepfer Jakub Menšík6–3, 6–2
Burnie International75January, 20246–2, 6–7(2–7), 6–3
75February, 2024 Dane Sweeny6–2, 7–6(7–4)
75October, 2023 James Duckworth7–5, 7–5
NSW Open Challenger75October, 2023 Taro Daniel Marc Polmans6–2, 6–4

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.

Highest ranked players

Number 1 Ranked Players

John Newcombe
ATP Singles #1
8 weeks 1974File:Patrick Rafter 2015.jpg
Pat Rafter
ATP Singles #1
1 week 1999File:Lleyton Hewitt (14422206685).jpg
Lleyton Hewitt
ATP Singles #1
80 weeks 2001–03File:Evonne Goolagong (1971).jpg
Evonne Goolagong Cawley
WTA Singles #1
2 weeks 1976File:Ashleigh Barty Sydney 2019.jpg
Ashleigh Barty
WTA Singles #1
121 weeks 2019–22File:Flickr - Carine06 - Paul McNamee.jpg
Paul McNamee
ATP Doubles #1
3 weeks 1981File:White paper.jpg
John Fitzgerald
ATP Doubles #1
40 weeks 1991–92File:Woodbridge Wimbledon 2004.jpg
Todd Woodbridge
ATP Doubles #1
205 weeks 1992–01File:Mark Woodforde2010.jpg
Mark Woodforde
ATP Doubles #1
83 weeks 1993–01File:Ebden RG19 (28) (48199366722).jpg
Matthew Ebden
Current ATP Doubles #1 File:RENNAE STUBBS (3248207965).jpg
Rennae Stubbs
WTA Doubles #1
3 weeks 2000File:Sam Stosur (5598281778).jpg
Samantha Stosur
WTA Doubles #1
61 weeks 2006–07File:Sanders RG19 (29) (48199112197).jpg
Storm Hunter
WTA Doubles #1
12 weeks 2023–24

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]

PlayerRankingDate reached top 10ATP Tour
HighCurrentTurned ProRetiredTitles
1N/A1973, 23 August1967198141
1N/A1997, 8 September1991200211
1N/A2000, 15 May1998201620
2N/A1973, 23 August1956198014
3N/A1973, 23 August1963197972
4N/A1984, 10 September198219976
7N/A1981, 6 July197419875
772024, January 820159
8N/A1975, 26 July1963197946
8N/A1975, 21 October196719857
8N/A1999, 29 March1994200811

Women's Singles

Source[6]

PlayerRankingDate reached top 10WTA Tour
HighCurrentTurned ProRetiredTitles
Evonne Goolagong Cawley1N/A1975, November 31967198386
Ashleigh Barty1N/A2019, April 12010202215
Wendy Turnbull3N/A1977, November 271975198911
Hana Mandlikova3N/A1980, June 9 1978199027
Dianne Fromholtz4N/A1976, September 14197319908
Margaret Court5N/A1975, November 31960197792
Jelena Dokic4N/A2001, October 8199820146
Samantha Stosur4N/A2010, March 22199920239
Kerry Melville7N/A1975, November 31963197922
Alicia Molik8N/A2005, January 31199620115

Doubles

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

Men

PlayerRanking No.ATP Tour
HighCurrentTurned ProRetiredTitles
1N/A1973198823
1N/A1980199730
1N/A1988200583
1N/A1984200067
11200611
245201124
3N/A1974198719
3N/A1975198734

Women

PlayerRanking No.WTA Tour
HighCurrentTurned ProRetiredTitles
1N/A1992201160
1N/A1999202327
1420138
3N/A200220187
5N/A1982199736
5N/A2010202212

Performance timelines since 2000

Men's singles

Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open4RSF2R4R4RF3R3R4R2R4R3R4R2R2RQF4R3R4R3R4R3R4R4R4R0 / 25
French Open4RQF4R3RQF2R4R4R3R3R3R1R2R2R2R3R3R2R1R3R2R2R2R3RQF0 / 25
WimbledonFFWFQFSFQF4R4RQF4RQF1R4RQF4R4R1R3R3RNH3RF3R1 / 23
US OpenSFWSFQFFSFQF2R2R3R2R2R3R4R3R3R3R3RQF4RQF3RQF4R1 / 24
Year-end championship
ATP FinalsRRWWDNQFADid not qualify2 / 4

Women's singles

Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024SR
Australian Open3R3R2R4R4RQF4R3R4RQF4R3R2R2R4R2R4R4R3RQFSFQFW2R3R1 / 25
French Open2R3R3R2R2R2R3R3R3RSFF3RSF3R4R3RSF4R3RW2R2R3R2R1R1 / 25
WimbledonSF2R1R3R4R2R3R2R3R3R4R3R2R3R2R3R2R2R3R4RNHWQF1R1 / 23
US Open4R3R2R3R2R2R2R2R2R3RQFWQF2R4R4R2R3R4R4R1R3RQF2R1 / 23
Year-end championship
WTA FinalsDid not qualifySFSFRRDid not qualifyWNHDid not qualify1 / 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

ResultYearVenueSurfaceDivisionPlayer(s)Opponent(s)Score
BronzeSeoul, South KoreaHardWomen's doubles Elizabeth Smylie Wendy Turnbulln/an/a
Bronze1992ClayWomen's doubles Rachel McQuillan Nicole Provisn/an/a
Gold1996Atlanta, Georgia, US (3)HardMen's doubles Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde Neil Broad Tim Henman6–4, 6–4, 6–2
4th Place2000Sydney, AustraliaHardWomen's singles Jelena Dokic Monica Seles1–6, 4–6
bgcolor=silverSilver2000Sydney, AustraliaHardMen's doubles Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde Sébastien Lareau Daniel Nestor7–5, 3–6, 4–6, 6–7
Bronze2004Athens, GreeceHardWomen's singles Alicia Molik Anastasia Myskina6–3, 6–4
Bronze2020Tokyo, JapanHardMixed doubles Ashleigh Barty John Peers Novak Djokovic Nina Stojanovićw/o

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

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: A History of Australian Tennis . 2024-02-14 . Google Arts & Culture . en.
  2. Web site: History of the Australian Open – the Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific. Tristan Foenander. Australian Open. 22 January 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080120114020/http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/event_guide/history.html. 20 January 2008 . live.
  3. Web site: History of Tennis . 2012-08-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120508031741/http://library.thinkquest.org/10615/no-frames/tennis/history.html . 2012-05-08 .
  4. Web site: Australian Pro Tour Pro Tournaments Tournaments . 2024-02-14 . Tennis Australia . en-AU.
  5. Book: ATP Media . Media Guide 2024 . 25 December 2023 . ATP .
  6. Book: WTA Media . Media Guide 2024 . WTA Media . 2023.
  7. Web site: Duke . Jennifer . 2018-06-24 . Nine secures rights to the 2019 Australian Open tennis from Seven . 2024-02-15 . The Sydney Morning Herald . en.
  8. Web site: Tennis Australia signs historic Nine Network rights extension AO . 2024-02-15 . ausopen.com . en.
  9. Web site: Duke . Jennifer . 2018-03-28 . Nine nabs tennis broadcasting rights from Seven . 2024-02-15 . The Sydney Morning Herald . en.
  10. Web site: How to watch Australian Open 2024 live and free . 2024-02-15 . wwos.nine.com.au . en.
  11. Web site: Channel Nine is the new and exclusive broadcaster of Roland-Garros in Australia - Roland-Garros - The official site . 2024-04-02 . www.rolandgarros.com . en-us.
  12. Web site: Mediaweek . 2019-05-08 . Roland Garros 2019 to be shown live on SBS . 2024-04-02 . Mediaweek . en-AU.
  13. Web site: 2010-07-16 . Channel Nine to bet its bank on footy . 2024-02-15 . PerthNow . en.
  14. Web site: Mediaweek . 2015-07-24 . Fox Sports’ unprecedented Wimbledon coverage . 2024-02-15 . Mediaweek . en-AU.
  15. Web site: Stan Sport pounces on Wimbledon, Roland Garros . 2024-02-15 . wwos.nine.com.au . en.
  16. Web site: Nine grabs US Open . 2024-04-02 . Nine for Brands . en-AU.
  17. Web site: Mediaweek . 2019-09-03 . TV Guide: How to watch US Open live on SBS . 2024-04-02 . Mediaweek . en-AU.
  18. Web site: 2021-12-16 . WTA Tour buoyed by beIN extension in Australia, France and Turkey . 2024-02-15 . SportBusiness . en-US.