The 106. Australian Open are also the 50th Australian Open. Edition of the tournament since the Open-Era and the 200th edition. Grand Slam tournament. It takes place from 15. until 28. January 2018 in Melbourne. Here you will find all the important information about the first Grand Slam tournament of the year: dates, schedule, TV programme, prize money, ticket prices, record winners and favourites.
In addition to the French Open, US Open and Wimbledon, the Australian Open is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments and thus one of the absolute highlights in tennis. The tournament has been held in Melbourne since 1987 and traditionally opens the Grand Slam season in January. The tournament is played on hard court.
Before 1969, the tournament was called Australasian Championships and initially served only as a championship between Australia and New Zealand. In 1922 New Zealand withdrew and the name changed to Australian championships. After several changes of venue, the final move to Melbourne followed in 1972 and the beginning of the Australian Open era.
Since 1988, the Flinders Park in Melbourne has been used as a venue. At the same time, you now play on hard court and not on grass.
Tennis fans in Germany can watch the tournament on TV every day on Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2. Online the daughter of the Discovery Channel offers the Eurosport Player, which allows you to watch the games in the live stream.
Roger Federer is this year’s favourite for the title in Melbourne. The Swiss has already won the Open five times and currently has the best chances of winning the title. However, this is also due to the fact that his biggest rivals Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka are currently not in top form.
Nadal, Djokovic and Wawrinka were injured at the end of last year. Nadal had to drop out of the ATP finals in London due to knee problems and even had to cancel the invitation tournament in Abu Dhabi. Stan Wawrinka also struggled with knee problems and is not in the best shape either. Djokovic has problems with his elbow, which caused him difficulties in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.
Andy Murray, on the other hand, has already cancelled his participation for the Australian Open. His hip injury doesn’t allow him to compete at the top level.
In the women’s category, however, there is no clear favourite. If nothing unusual happens, however, the title is likely to be played between Simona Halep (Romania), Garbine Muguruza (Spain), Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) and Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic). From a German point of view, Angelique Kerber and Julia Goerges are also to be hoped for success.
Last year’s winner Serena Williams is not in Melbourne this year. She cancelled the Open due to a lack of fitness after her one-year baby break.
Twelve Germans, including seven women and five men, are already in the field.
Three German tennis players have already been crowned in Melbourne. In 1988, Steffi Graf was the first German tennis professional to win the title. Three more victories followed in 1989,1990 and 1994.
Boris Becker also won the Australian title twice in 1990 and 1996. Angelique Kerber last won the Australian Open in 2016.