As the 2020 edition of the Australian Open begins, we give you some interesting and fun facts that you may not have heard of regarding the tennis tournament
A collage of Australian Open legends
As the 2020 edition of the Australian Open begins, we give you some interesting and fun facts that you may have not heard of regarding the tennis tournament.
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>> Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka are the current defending champions in the men's and women's singles tournaments respectively.
>> The first Australian Open men’s singles was held in 1905 and women’s in 1922.
>> The first men’s singles winner was Rodney Heath while Mall Molesworth was the first for women’s.
>> In 1986, there was no Australian Open championship.
Roy Emerson. Pic/AFP
>> At the 2006 edition, Jie Zheng and Ai Yan became the first-ever Chinese players to win a Grand Slam.
>> The Hawkeye Line calling system was first put to use in 2007.
>> Until 1946, the tournament did not include any foreign players. In that same year, a few players from the U.S. entered by plane.
>> Australian Open was always played on grass court. In 1988, they introduced hard courts for the tournament.
>> Australian Open is usually held during the summer where temperatures rise up almost to 45 degrees. The 2007 edition was one of the hottest seasons of the Aus Open.
>> At age 18 and 37, Ken Rosewall remains the youngest as well as the oldest winner in the men’s singles.
>> Martina Hingis is the youngest winner in the women’s singles at age 16.
>> Novak Djokovic has won the most men’s singles titles with 7 while Margaret Court leads women’s singles with 11.
>> Around 40,000 tennis balls are used at the Australian Open every year.
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