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AND SO IT BEGINS
Six Australian state tennis associations and the governing body of the game in New Zealand join to form the Lawn Tennis Association of Australasia. -
WELL DONE RODNEY
The inaugural ‘Australasian Championships’ take place on the grass courts at Albert Reserve in Melbourne, on the lawns of the Warehouseman’s Cricket Club. Australian Rodney Heath wins the championship. -
NAME CHANGE
The tournament officially changes it’s name from the 'Australian Championships' to the 'Australian Open'. -
IT'S OFFICIAL
The Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club becomes the adopted home of the Australian Open. -
TV BROADCASTING
The Australian Open is first broadcast by the Seven Network. -
CHANGE OF SCENERY
The tournament changes location to Flinders Park (now called Melbourne Park). With a change of location came a change of court surface. The players now played on hard ‘Rebound Ace’ courts. -
FOUL MOUTH
American John McEnroe loses his cool and after three code violations for swearing towards the umpire and smashing rackets, he was disqualified from the tournament. -
TAKING THE PLUNGE
Jim Courier overcame brutal heat and a hot Stefan Edberg to win back-to- back titles. To cool down, the American took a victory plunge in the silty (not to say filthy) Yarra River. -
HOME HERO
Lleyton Hewitt falls shy of the Australian Open title losing to Russian Marat Safin in the grand final. He is the last Australian player to feature in a grand final to this day. -
HAWK-EYE
Tennis Australia introduces the 'Hawk-Eye' system at Rod Laver Arena where players can challenge an umpire’s line call and have the system confirm or overrule that original call. -
FEELING THE BLUES
Melbourne Park turns blue from a change of surface to 'Plexicushion'. -
SCORCHING SUMMER
The 2009 Australian Open was the hottest on record, recording an average daily maximum temperature of 34.7°C. -
FANS ARE FLOODING
A record 703, 899 fans walked through the gates of a revamped Melbourne Park over the two week tournament.
