Australian Open
The Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments to be held each year. It is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 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 era 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 1988 with a shift to Melbourne Park (then called Flinders Park), a new (Rebound Ace) hardcourt venue next to the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the southern fringe of the central business district. Mats Wilander was the only player to win the tournament both on grass and on Rebound Ace.
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.
Trophies and prize money
Names of the winners are inscribed on the perpetual trophy Cups.
- The Women's Singles winner is presented with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.
- The Men's Singles winner is presented with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.
In 2008 the prize money awarded in the Men's and Women's singles tournaments was equal and distributed as follows:
1st Round: A$19,400
2nd Round: A$30,250
3rd Round: A$50,000
4th Round: A$85,625
Quarter finalist: A$171,250
Semi finalist: A$342,500
Runners-up: A$685,000
Winners: A$1,370,000 (US$1,197,739.20)
Champions