Australian Open is the first of the four annual professional tennis tournaments known as the grand slam. The Australian Open is held each January in Melbourne. The other three grand slam events, in the order in which they are held, are the French Open, the Championships (Wimbledon), and the US Open.
The first men’s Australian Open tournament was held in 1905, and the first women’s competition in 1922. During its early history, the Open rotated among five Australian cities and two cities in New Zealand. Melbourne became the permanent site in 1972. In 1988, the tournament was moved from the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club to Flinders Park, renamed Melbourne Park in 1996. Competition is now held in the Rod Laver Arena and the Hisense Arena in Melbourne Park. Matches are played on hard courts with a rubber base.
During its early history, the Australian Open did not attract the finest players from Europe and the Americas because of its great distance from those continents. But since the late 1980’s, with the availability of long-distance jet airplane travel, the best international players have played in the Open.
