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The History of The Australian Open Championships

The Australian Open Championships is one of the major events in the tennis calendar. Here are some of the key events in the history of The Australian Open Championships:

1905: This was the first year of the Championships, which were organised by the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia (now known as Tennis Australia). They began as The Australasian Championships, and the first event was held at the Warehouseman's Cricket Ground, St. Kilda Road, Melbourne. Only Men's Singles and Men's Doubles matches were played The first winner of the Men's Singles title was Rodney Heath, and the Doubles title was won by Randolph Lycett and Tom Tachell. After this year, the Championships were held at different venues across Australia, including Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. On two occasions, they were held in New Zealand.

1906: The Australian Open Championships were held in New Zealand. Tony Wilding won the event.

1908: American tennis player Fred Alexander became the first overseas player to win the Men's Singles title. He also won the Men's Doubles title together with the man he had defeated in the Singles Final, and who the Men's Singles trophy is now named after, Norman Brookes.

1912: The Australian Open Championships were again moved to New Zealand this year, where James Parke won the title.

1922: This was a significant year in the history of the Australian Open as it saw the introduction of the Women's Singles, Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles championships. Margaret Molesworth won the Women's Singles event, and the Women's Doubles event was won by Esna Boyd and Marjorie Mountain. Esna Boyd also won the Mixed Doubles title together with John Hawkes.

1923: An Australian Open record was set when Margaret Molesworth became the first player to retain a Singles title, beating Esna Boyd for the second year in a row in the final, 6-1, 7-5.

1925: James Anderson set an Australian Open record when he became the first player to win the Men's Singles event two years in a row, by beating Gerald Patterson in the final. It was also the first year in which Australian Daphne Akhurst won the Ladies Single's title, an event which she was to win a further four times (the fifth under her married name of Cozens). Akhurst died aged only 29 in 1933, and she is still remembered through the Women's Singles trophy, which is named the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.

1927: This was another key year in the history of the event, as its name was changed from The Australasian Championships to The Australian Championships.

1928: This was a year for France to celebrate when Jean Borotra became the first overseas player to win the “treble” of the Men's Singles title, the Men's Doubles title (with Jacques Brugnon) and the Mixed Doubles title (with Daphne Akhurst).

1934: This was a significant year in Australian Open history as it was the first time that the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup was awarded to the winner of the Men's Singles competition. The trophy, which was won this year by Fred Perry, is named after the Australian tennis player, nicknamed The Wizard. Brookes won the Men's Singles title at the Australian Open in 1911, and he was also the first overseas player to win the Men's Singles title at Wimbledon, when he beat Arthur Gore in the final.

1935: British tennis player Dorothy Round made history by becoming the first overseas player to win the Australian Open Women's Singles title.

1953: Two records were set at this year's Australian Open. Ken Rosewall became the youngest man to win the Men's Singles Championship at the age of 18. Maureen Connolly's Ladies' Singles win helped her to become the first woman to win the tennis Grand Slam.

1938: Don Budge won the Australian Open Men's Singles title, and also made history by becoming the first player to achieve the tennis Grand Slam.

1966: Margaret Smith made history this year when she won her seventh successive Australian Open. Her record still stands.

1967: Roy Emerson won his fifth successive Australian Open Men's Singles title, a record that remains unbroken today.

1969: This was one of the most significant years in the history of the Australian Open, because the tournament, which was previously only open to amateur players, became open to everyone. The name of the event was therefore changed from The Australian Championships to The Australian Open, and the first event was held in Brisbane.

1973: Another key year in Australian Open history. The Australian Open had been finding it difficult to establish itself as a major Grand Slam event because many professionals were making the decision to stay on the European circuit rather than make the long journey to Australia. In order to try to establish the tournament as a major event in the tennis calendar, Tennis Australia decided to host future Australian Opens in the same venue each year, rather than moving it to a different city each time as had been tradition. Melbourne was chosen as the permanent home of the Australian Open, and Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club became its first long-term home.

1976: Mark Edmondson became the first unseeded player to win the Men's Singles title when he beat John Newcombe in the final, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1.

1977: This year saw a major change when The Australian Open was moved from its traditional date in January to December, meaning that there were two championships held this year.

1978: Chris O'Neill became the first unseeded player to win the Women's Singles title when she beat Betsy Nagelson in the final, 6-3, 7-6.

1987: Another major change took place when the Australian Open was moved back to its original January scheduling. As a result no tournament was held in 1986.

1988: This was a key year in the history of the Australian Open, as it moved to a new venue at Flinders Park, which had been constructed in order to provide a larger capacity to meet the needs of the event, which was rapidly growing in popularity.

1996: The Flinders Park venue was expanded and renamed Melbourne Park. It is still the home of The Australian Open today.

2005: This was a significant year because not only was it the centenary of the Australian Open Championships, but it was also the first year in which night matches (beginning at 7.30 p.m.) were introduced. The popularity of these matches has resulted in further night matches being planned for the 2006 Australian Open.

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