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]
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"
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.
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 CupSydney 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]
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]
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