Everything you need to know for the Australian Open 2024 Tennis tournament.
The tennis year kicks off as it does every year with the first big tournament of the season played down under in Australia. Players have been in Australia for several weeks now playing local tune-up tournaments in different locations around Australia getting ready for the Australian Open to begin, and now opening day is finally here.
The first tennis grand slam of the year is played right in the middle of the Australian summer which is why players try to arrive early to the area to get acclimated to the heat. The days can get quite hot in Australia making for some tough matches that players have said in the past can be physically draining on their bodies. For those just tuning in to this year’s Australian Open Tennis tournament some for the first time, and some longtime fans that tune in every year, we wanted to share the important tournament details for the 2024 tournament and some fun facts that you might not have known.
Australian Open 2024 Tournament information and Fun facts
Australian Open 2024 tournament dates: this year’s Australian Open tennis tournament includes one extra day of play added to the tournament calendar. This was done to eliminate the large number of matches ending late in the evening and sometimes going early into the next morning as happened on more than one occasion in last year’s tournament.
The tournament will start on Sunday January 14th and will conclude on Sunday January 28th, 2024 with the Men’s Final being played on that final Sunday.
Where to Watch the Australian Open 2024: the entire tournament will be shown on ESPN and the Tennis Channel. ESPN will show the main live coverage by day with the Tennis Channel airing coverage in the evenings. The Australian Open is aired live in more than 220 countries around the world. At Melbourne Park where the tournament is played there are just over 165 cameras in use across the facility grounds.
Australian Open tournament Draws: there will be 128 men’s and women’s players in the main draw at the start of this year’s tournament.
Australian Open 2024 Prize Money: the total prize money for the 2024 Australian Open tournament will be AU $86.5 million. The Ladies and Men’s Singles champions will each receive $3.15 million, and runners up will each receive $1,725,000. The Australian Open tennis tournament continues to place an emphasis on supporting players in the early rounds of the tournament. And along those lines, singles players in the main draw losing in the first round will receive $120,000 which is a 13% increase over 2023. Second round players in the main draw will receive $180,000.
Australian Open Courts: there are a total of 39 courts at Melbourne Park where the tournament is held consisting of 33 hard courts and 6 clay courts. The courts in Australia are hard courts known as Plexicushion by Greenset Worldwide which has been the surface of choice since 2009. The color is affectionately known as “true-blue” and this court color can be found on tennis courts across Australia. A little bit of history on the tournament court surface, the Australian Open was a grass court event until 1987, with 1988 being the first year the tournament transitioned to hard courts.
Melbourne Park Tennis facility: the tournament moved permanently to its current location in 1988, then known as Flinders Park. The name was changed in 1996 to Melbourne Park which is how the facility is known today. The venue has undergone a number of renovations and upgrades over the years and is the only Grand Slam tennis venue that features three stadium courts each with a retractable roof.
Australian Open Tennis Balls: Dunlop is the official supplier of tennis balls to the tournament and in 2023 the company signed a new five-year contract to continue as the supplier of choice for the event. At the 2023 tournament, over 71,000 tennis balls were used in play. Used tennis balls were sold in the gift shop to fans with all proceeds going to the Australia Tennis Foundation to support programs for disadvantaged kids. Melbourne Park also recycled 10,000 plastic ball containers at the 2023 tournament.
Australian Open Ball Boys and Girls: the tournament employed 393 ball boys and girls at the 2023 event ranging in age between 12 and 15 years old.
Australian Open Workforce: the tournament in 2023 was staffed by approximately 12,000 workers and volunteers from Tennis Australia, Melbourne and Olympic Parks, and Delaware North.
Australian Open Racket Stringing: the tournament stringing team strung 6,938 tennis rackets at the 2023 tournament. This translates to more than 83 km of string.
Australian Open Souvenirs: the most popular souvenir for fans at the 2023 tournament was the AO Tote Bag which sold more than 12,500 units at the AO shop onsite. Tennis fans know how popular the tennis towels are at the Wimbledon tennis tournament. While still big sellers in Australia, the towels haven’t caught on like they have at the summer Grand Slam in England.
Youngest and Oldest Winners: the youngest winner of the Australian Open is Martina Hingis who won the title as a 16-year-old teenager in 1997 by defeating Mary Pierce 6-2, 6-2 and not dropping a set during the tournament.
Ken Rosewall is an Australian tennis player that holds the distinction of being the youngest and the oldest player to win the Australian Open. He won the Australian Open in 1953 as an 18-year-old teenager, and he also won the Australian Open again in 1972 as a 37-year-old veteran of the tennis tour, and he remains to this day the oldest pro to win a grand slam tennis tournament.