Australian Open

The Australian Open tennis tournament, held annually in the last fortnight of January, is the first of the world's four major tournaments which together constitue the Grand Slam. Accomplishing a slam is to win all four majors in a calendar year; recently tennis fans have adopted the shorthand of referring to each of the four parts of the Slam (Australian, French, British and U.S. Opens) as a slam in itself. The Australian Rod Laver was the last man to win complete a Grand Slam in men's singles.

The tournament has been held for 100 years since 1905. Like the other three Grand Slam events, it was contested by top-ranked amateur players and known as the Australian championships until the advent of open tennis in 1968. Originally based at the grass courts at Kooyong in the city of Melbourne's inner south-east, the tournament was in danger of fading into irrelevance before being revived in the 1980s with a shift to Melbourne Park, a new (Rebound Ace) hardcourt venue next to the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the southern fringe of the central business district.

Like all the Grand Slam tournaments, there are men's and women's singles competitions, men's, women's, and mixed doubles, as well as junior and master's competitions.

Two tournaments were held in 1977; the first in January, the second in December. The tournament moved back to January in 1987, so no championship was decided in 1986.

Records

Men's record holders for most wins since 1925:

Last Australian men's singles champion: Mark Edmondson (1976)

Ladies' record holders for most wins since 1925:

Last Australian women's singles champion: Christine O'Neill (1978)