The Australian Open is an annual tennis tournament in Melbourne Park in Australia in the last two weeks of January. The tournament is the first of the 4 Grand Slam tennis tournaments that precede the French Open, Wimbledon, and the American Open every year.
Itincludes men’s and women’s singles; men’s tournaments, women’s, and mixed doubles, wheelchair championships, and friendly exhibitions. It has been played on grassy courts since 1988, but since that time there have been three different forms of hardcourt: the green-colored Rebound Ace until 2007, the blue Plexicushion until 2019, and the blue GreenSet since 2020.
The tournament was initially foundedas the AustralasianChampionships, then in 1927, it was changed to the Australian Championships. The name Australian Open has officially been in use ever since1969. The Australian Open has been staged in fiveAustralian towns since 1905: Adelaide, Brisbane,Melbourne, Sydney, Perth.
A general view of Rod Laver Arena at sunset in 2019. (Getty)
Australian Open: How and where to watch in the UK?
Thefirst Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open 2021, to be playedfrom February 8 to 21,at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, will be broadcasted onEurosport, Eurosport Playerin the United Kingdom. In fact, Eurosport has been airing the Australian Open inthe UK for more than 25 years, since 1995.
In 2015, Eurosports’ rights with the Australian Openwere extended to 2021, with exclusive live rights for main warm-up tournaments on all screens.Thanks to this tournament,Eurosport showed a year-on-year rise of 35% in its uniquevisitors. The Australian Open coverage for Eurosport 1 rose 4% in 2019 with a +18% rise in the UK.
In compliance with the regulatory requirements of Australian public health and Immigration authorities, the Australian Open men’s qualification is held in Doha from 10-13 January and the allotted dates from 15-31 January will allow the players to travel in Melbourne and the support staff to undergo 14 days of quarantine.
