Saturday, January 17, 2009

Australian Open Tennis Championships 2009

Andy MurrayLatest: Andy Murray Shirtless practice

Roger FedererRoger Federer speaks to the media

Monika Wejnert Monika Wejnert will play Italy's Karin Knapp on Court 6 on the first day of play at Australian Open 2009.

Australian Open Tennis Championships 2009
Australia Open Tennis 2009
Australia Open Tennis 2009- Players Photos
Australia Open Tennis 2009- Players Photos-II
Australia Open Tennis 2009- Players Photos-III
Australia Open Tennis 2009- Players Photos-IV
Australia Open Tennis 2009- Players Photos-V
Australia Open Tennis 2009 - Williams Sisters
Australia Open Tennis 2009: Fans Photo Gallery
Australian Open 2009: Sania Mirza Enters Seocnd Round




Lleyton Hewitt 2009 Medibank InternationalLleyton Hewitt 2009 Medibank International

Australian Open 2009:
The Australian Open is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. It is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from 1905 to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard courts. Mats Wilander is the only male player to have won the tournament on both grass and hard courts.

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

The two main courts used in the tournament are Rod Laver Arena and Hisense Arena and feature retractable roofs, which can be shut in case of rain or extreme heat. It is the only Grand Slam tournament that features indoor play. However, work has already commenced on a retractable roof for Wimbledon's Centre Court, which is expected to be completed by 2009.

Held in the middle of the Australian summer, the Australian Open is famous for its notoriously hot days. An extreme-heat policy is put into play when temperatures (and humidity) reach dangerous levels.

The Australian Open typically has very high attendance, with the 2008 Australian Open achieving the highest ever day/night attendance record for any Grand Slam tournament of 62,885. The event is worth around £38 million to the Australian economy.

In 2008, the Rebound Ace surface, which had been in place for the past 20 years at Melbourne Park, was replaced by a cushioned acrylic surface known as Plexicushion. The main benefits of the new surface are better consistency and less retention of heat (because of a thinner top layer). This change was accompanied by changes in the surfaces of all lead-up tournaments to the Australian Open. The change was controversial, primarily because of the new surface's similarity to DecoTurf, the surface already being used by the US Open.

The most recent tournament was held from 14 January to 27 January 2008. The singles winners were Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova.

Australian Open 2009 starts today.

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