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]
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"
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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] |
Tournament | Category | Current champion | Current runner-up | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Cup | 2024 United Cup | Germany | Poland | 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 |
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, 2023 | James Duckworth | Coleman Wong | 7–5, 7–5 |
NSW Open Challenger | 75 | October, 2023 | Taro Daniel | Marc Polmans | 6–2, 6–4 |
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 |
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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).
Source [5]
Player | Ranking | Date reached top 10 | ATP Tour | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
High | Current | Turned Pro | Retired | Titles | ||
John Newcombe | 1 | N/A | 1973, 23 August | 1967 | 1981 | 41 |
Pat Rafter | 1 | N/A | 1997, 8 September | 1991 | 2002 | 11 |
Lleyton Hewitt | 1 | N/A | 2000, 15 May | 1998 | 2016 | 20 |
Ken Rosewall | 2 | N/A | 1973, 23 August | 1956 | 1980 | 14 |
Rod Laver | 3 | N/A | 1973, 23 August | 1963 | 1979 | 72 |
Pat Cash | 4 | N/A | 1984, 10 September | 1982 | 1997 | 6 |
Peter McNamara | 7 | N/A | 1981, 6 July | 1974 | 1987 | 5 |
Tony Roche | 8 | N/A | 1975, 26 July | 1963 | 1979 | 46 |
John Alexander | 8 | N/A | 1975, 21 October | 1967 | 1985 | 7 |
Mark Philippoussis | 8 | N/A | 1999, 29 March | 1994 | 2008 | 11 |
Alex de Minaur | 9 | 11 | 2024, January 8 | 2015 | 8 |
Source [6]
Player | Ranking | Date reached top 10 | WTA Tour | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
High | Current | Turned Pro | Retired | Titles | ||
Evonne Goolagong Cawley | 1 | N/A | 1975, November 3 | 1967 | 1983 | 86 |
Ashleigh Barty | 1 | N/A | 2019, April 1 | 2010 | 2022 | 15 |
Wendy Turnbull | 3 | N/A | 1977, November 27 | 1975 | 1989 | 11 |
Hana Mandlikova | 3 | N/A | 1980, June 9 | 1978 | 1990 | 27 |
Dianne Fromholtz | 4 | N/A | 1976, September 14 | 1973 | 1990 | 8 |
Margaret Court | 5 | N/A | 1975, November 3 | 1960 | 1977 | 92 |
Jelena Dokic | 4 | N/A | 2001, October 8 | 1998 | 2014 | 6 |
Samantha Stosur | 4 | N/A | 2010, March 22 | 1999 | 2023 | 9 |
Kerry Melville | 7 | N/A | 1975, November 3 | 1963 | 1979 | 22 |
Alicia Molik | 8 | N/A | 2005, January 31 | 1996 | 2011 | 5 |
The lists include the 5 best ranked Australian players. The rankings were introduced in 1976 (men) and 1984 (women).
Player | Ranking No. | ATP Tour | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
High | Current | Turned Pro | Retired | Titles | |
Paul McNamee | 1 | N/A | 1973 | 1988 | 23 |
John Fitzgerald | 1 | N/A | 1980 | 1997 | 30 |
Todd Woodbridge | 1 | N/A | 1988 | 2005 | 83 |
Mark Woodforde | 1 | N/A | 1984 | 2000 | 67 |
Matthew Ebden | 1 | 2 | 2006 | 11 | |
John Peers | 2 | 45 | 2011 | 24 | |
Peter McNamara | 3 | N/A | 1974 | 1987 | 19 |
Mark Edmondson | 3 | N/A | 1975 | 1987 | 34 |
Player | Ranking No. | WTA Tour | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
High | Current | Turned Pro | Retired | Titles | |
Rennae Stubbs | 1 | N/A | 1992 | 2011 | 60 |
Sam Stosur | 1 | N/A | 1999 | 2023 | 27 |
Storm Hunter | 1 | 3 | 2013 | 8 | |
Casey Dellacqua | 3 | N/A | 2002 | 2018 | 7 |
Elizabeth Smylie | 5 | N/A | 1982 | 1997 | 36 |
Ashleigh Barty | 5 | N/A | 2010 | 2022 | 12 |
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
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 | |
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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 | 0 / 24 | ||
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 | 1 / 23 | ||
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 | 1 / 24 | ||
Year-end championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ATP Finals | RR | W | W | DNQ | F | A | Did not qualify | 2 / 4 |
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 | 1 / 24 | |
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 | 1 / 23 | |
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 | 1 / 23 | |
Year-end championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WTA Finals | Did not qualify | SF | SF | RR | Did not qualify | W | NH | Did not qualify | 1 / 4 |
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).
Formerly named Fed Cup
Titles - 7 (1964, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974)
Runners-up - 11 (1963, 1969, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1993, 2019, 2022)
Result | Year | Venue | Surface | Division | Player(s) | Opponent(s) | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bronze | 1988 | Seoul, South Korea | Hard | Women's doubles | Elizabeth Smylie | n/a | n/a |
Bronze | 1992 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Women's doubles | Rachel McQuillan | n/a | n/a |
Gold | 1996 | Atlanta, Georgia, US (3) | Hard | Men's doubles | Todd Woodbridge | Neil Broad | 6–4, 6–4, 6–2 |
4th Place | 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 | Sébastien Lareau | 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 | Novak Djokovic | w/o |
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]
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]
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]
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 occuring for matches involving Australian players. Additionally, between 2019 and 2021 SBS Australia simulcast coverage of the Quarterfinals onwards using the World Feed. [17]
Australian ties are broadcast on the Nine Network with other ties on subscription service BeIN Sports Australia.
Australian ties are broadcast on the Nine Network with other ties on subscription service BeIN Sports Australia.
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.
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]
The French Open, also known as Roland-Garros, is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and venue are named after the French aviator Roland Garros. The French Open is the premier clay court championship in the world and the only Grand Slam tournament currently held on this surface. It is chronologically the second of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments, occurring after the Australian Open and before Wimbledon and the US Open. Until 1975, the French Open was the only major tournament not played on grass. Between the seven rounds needed for a championship, the clay surface characteristics, and the best-of-five-set men's singles matches, the French Open is widely regarded as the most physically demanding tournament in tennis.
The Nine Network is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia.
Eurosport is a French group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, and streams on Max and Discovery+, which boths superseded Eurosport Player.
Todd Andrew Woodbridge, OAM is an Australian former professional tennis player and current personality of the Nine Network, working as a broadcaster for Wide World of Sports and host of game show Tipping Point Australia.
Nine's Wide World of Sports is a long running sports anthology brand on Australian television that airs on the Nine Network and streaming service Stan. All major sports, events and series covered by the network are broadcast under this brand, the flagship sports being rugby league, rugby union and Grand Slam tennis and spring horse racing. Previous sporting rights include the Australian rules football, Australian Cricket Team home season, autumn horse racing, swimming until 2008, and golf since 2018.
Tennis Channel is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Sinclair Television Group subsidiary of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. It is devoted to events and other programming related to the game of tennis, along with other racquet sports such as badminton, pickleball, and racquetball. Launched on May 15, 2003, the channel is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and produces its programming out of an HD-capable broadcast center in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City. Ken Solomon serves as the network's Chief Executive Officer.
Among the sports broadcasters in Brazil are the subscription channels ESPN, SporTV, BandSports and NSports; the pay-per-view channels Premiere FC, Combate and Nosso Futebol; and the subscription video streaming services Max, Star+, DAZN and Eleven Sports.
Sports broadcasting contracts in Canada include:
In the United States, sports are televised on various broadcast networks, national and specialty sports cable channels, and regional sports networks. U.S. sports rights are estimated to be worth a total of $22.42 billion in 2019, about 44 percent of the total worldwide sports media market. U.S. networks are willing to pay a significant amount of money for television sports contracts because it attracts large amounts of viewership; live sport broadcasts accounted for 44 of the 50 list of most watched television broadcasts in the United States in 2016.
The 2010 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 114th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 23 May through 6 June 2010.
The Washington Open is an annual professional outdoor hardcourt tennis tournament played at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. The event is categorized as an ATP 500 event on the ATP Tour and a WTA 500 event on the WTA Tour. The tournament is owned and managed by Mark Ein in partnership with IMG.
Tennis on NBC is the de facto branding used for broadcasts of major professional tennis tournaments that are produced by NBC Sports, the sports division of the NBC television network in the United States. The network has broadcast tennis events since 1955.
Tennis on USA is a television program produced by the USA Network that broadcasts the main professional tennis tournaments in the United States.
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group, and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It has played a major role in the increased commercialisation of British sport since 1991, and has sometimes played a large role inducing organisational changes in the sports it broadcasts, most notably when it encouraged the Premier League to break away from the Football League in 1992.
This page covers all the important events in the sport of tennis in 2012. Primarily, it provides the results of notable tournaments throughout the year on both the ATP and WTA Tours, the Davis Cup, and the Fed Cup.
Jason Goodall is an international sports broadcaster, specialising in tennis commentary and analysis. He is also a tennis coach who has worked with some of the best players in the world and is a former British number two professional tennis player.
beIN Sports is a Qatari multinational network of sports channels owned and operated by the Qatari media group beIN. The network has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its CEO is Yousef Obaidly.
This is a timeline of the notable events in the televising of tennis in the United Kingdom.
Amazon first acquired sports rights in April 2017, when they signed a $50 million deal for the non-exclusive rights to stream portions of the NFL's Thursday Night Football games during the 2017 NFL season to Prime subscribers, replacing a previous deal with Twitter. Since then Amazon has acquired exclusive sports rights in 10 countries, including Australia, Canada, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. Premier rights include the Copa do Brasil in Brazil, Ligue 1 and the French Open in France, the UEFA Champions League in the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy, the Premier League in the United Kingdom and Thursday Night Football in the United States.