The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam of the tennis season and this year will mark the 113th edition of the tournament, which will again be staged at Melbourne Park.
The Australian Open gets underway on Sunday, January 12 at Melbourne Park and comes to a conclusion a fortnight later with the women’s final set for Saturday, January 25 and the men’s singles final taking place on Sunday, January 26.
It will be the 113th time that the tournament has taken place while this year’s event is the 57th edition in the Open Era.
This year will also be only the second time in history that the Australian Open starts on a Sunday following the switch last year with opening round matches taking place over three days instead of two.
Qualifying, though, starts on Monday, January 6 with the final round taking place on January 10.
Melbourne Park – situated in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct where the Melbourne Cricket Ground and AAMI Park are also housed – has been the venue of the Australian Open since 1988.
Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club – also in Melbourne – hosted the major before that while the likes of Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth as well as Christchurch and Hastings in New Zealand have also played host in the past.
The tournament is played on outdoor hard courts, but it was played on grass before moving to Melbourne Park.
Rod Laver Arena – named after the all-time great – is the major showcourt and can host 14,820 spectators while, John Cain Arena (10,300) and Margaret Court Arena (7,500) are the other big venues. All three courts have modern-day retractable roofs.
The Kia Arena (5,000) was opened in 2002 while Show Court 3 and 1573 Arena can each host 3,000 spectators.
There was a bit of a shock – although not that earthquake-like – on the men’s side as Jannik Sinner defeated Novak Djokovic in the semi-final and then came from two sets down in the final to beat Daniil Medvedev 3–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–3 and lift his maiden Grand Slam trophy.
Aryna Sabalenka successfully defended the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup as she beat first-time major finalist Zheng Qinwen, 6–3, 6–2.
With Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray retiring last year, Novak Djokovic is the last member of the Big Four in the 2025 draw. There haven’t been any big-name withdrawals on the men’s side just yet, but there are doubts over Grigor Dimitrov, Jack Draper and Nick Kyrgios’ fitness.
The women’s draw will be without reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova due to a back injury while former world No 1s Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki are also out.
There are also injury concerns over Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu with the former retiring from the Auckland final while Raducanu skipped the event due to injury.
Seedings will be based on the ATP and WTA Rankings as of 6 January 2025 and the top 20 has been set with Jannik Sinner leading Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud, Novak Djokovic, Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev, Grigor Dimitrov, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Tommy Paul, Holger Rune, Ugo Humbert, Jack Draper, Lorenzo Musetti, Frances Tiafoe, Hubert Hurkacz, Karen Khachanov and Arthur Fils.
On the women’s side, Aryna Sabalenka will be the top seed and she is followed by Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini, Zheng Qinwen, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro, Daria Kasatkina, Barbora Krejcikova, Danielle Collins, Paula Badosa, Diana Shnaider, Anna Kalinskaya, Mirra Andreeva, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Jelena Ostapenko, Marta Kostyuk, Donna Vekic and Madison Keys.
The draw is scheduled for Thursday, January 9 at 14:30 AEDT, which is 03:30 GMT.
Play gets underway at 11:00am (0:00 GMT) on the outer courts while showcourts action starts an hour later. The night sessions on the big courts start at 19:00 (08:00 GMT).
Both women’s and men’s finals will start at 19:30 (08:30 GMT).
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Prize money for the season-opening Grand Slam has increased by 11.5 per cent with the total pool now standing at A$96.5 million ($59.90m).
A record $75 million in prize money will be handed out in 2024, which is a 15% increase from the previous year.
The men’s and women’s singles champions will each walk away with a A$3,500,000 cheque while the runners-up will earn A$1,900,000.
Round 1: A$132,000
Round 2: A$200,000
Round 3: A$290,000
Round 4: A$420,000
Quarter-Final: A$665,000
Semi-Final: A$1,100,000
Final: A$1,900,000
Champion: A$3,500,000
Eurosport is the broadcaster in the United Kingdom and Ireland as well as mainland Europe while the BBC offers radio commentaries on 5 Live and Sports Extra, BBC Sounds, plus the Sport website and app.
ESPN and Tennis Channel covers the United States, TNS and RDS will show the season-opening major in Canada and ESPN is the broadcaster in Latin America and Mexico.
WOWOW airs the event in Japan, beIN Sports has the rights in the Middle East and North Africa; and SuperSport have the rights in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Nine Network is the host broadcaster for Australia and Sky will show the event in New Zealand.
