Schedule, prize money, rules: this is what you need to know about the Australian Open 2024
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The Australian Open takes place in Melbourne Park.
The Australian Open
The Australian Open is one of the four major Grand Slam tournaments in tennis, alongside the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. In 2024, the tournament, also known as the “Happy Slam”, will take place from January 14 to 28. This means that for the first time the tournament will last 15 days instead of the previous 14 days, as it now starts on Sunday and not Monday.
Where is the game played?
The Australian Open is held in Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city. The games take place in Melbourne Park, which covers 20 hectares and offers 24 tennis courts. The three largest venues are the Rod Laver Arena (capacity for 14,820 spectators), where the final will also be played, the John Cain Arena (10,500 seats) and the Margaret Court Arena (7,500 seats).
How much is the prize money?
A total of 79.5 million Australian dollars (the equivalent of approximately 45.4 million Swiss francs) in prize money will be distributed in 2024. The winner will receive 1.8 million francs each, the finalist will receive 985,000 francs.
Prize money
1 round
68,500 frs.
2nd round
103,000 frs.
3rd round
145,600 frs.
Round of 16
214,000 francs
Quarterfinals
342,000 frs.
Semi finals
565,000 frs.
Final participation
985,000 frs.
victory
1.8 million francs
On what surface is the game played?
The Australian Open is played on hard courts. Until 1988, the tournament was still held on grass – just like Wimbledon.
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Which stars are missing in Melbourne?
It is not without reason that Olympic champion Belinda Bencic is missing from Australia. The Swiss woman is pregnant. However, local hero Nick Kyrgios had to cancel his participation due to an injury.
Who are the most successful players?
Novak Djokovic is the most successful player at the Australian Open among men with ten victories. Serena Williams is the record holder among women with seven titles. The defending champions are Djokovic for men and Aryna Sabalenka for women.
The mode – Tiebreak rule
The men play in ‘best-of-five’ mode. This means: if you want to advance to the next round, you have to win three sets. For women, the “best-of-three” mode applies: the player who wins two sets first wins.
For both men and women, a special tiebreak rule applies at the Australian Open if the matches lead to a decisive tiebreak (for men if the score is 6:6 in the fifth set, for women in the third set). A match tiebreak will then be played. The tiebreak is played until one player has a two-point lead and 10 points have been achieved.
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The heat rule
In the Australian summer, extreme temperatures can occur in January and February. To protect the players, the ‘Extreme Heat Policy’ was introduced in 1998. If the temperature rises above 40 degrees Celsius, matches must be interrupted. But because it can get much hotter, a ‘Heat Stress Scale’ has been used since 2019 (heat stress scale of 1-5).
When the scale reaches a four, women can take a longer break after the second set, but men can’t take a longer break until after the third set. If even the fifth level is reached, there is the possibility to pause the game. The factors that influence the scale are air temperature, radiant heat from the sun, humidity and wind speed.
The grid
When the day session starts in Australia, it is 1am in Switzerland. The night session starts at 9am, in time for breakfast. The semi-finals start at 4:00 am Swiss time, the finals at 9:30 am.
1 round: January 14 to 16 2nd round: January 17 to 19 Round of 16: January 20 to 22 Quarter finals: January 23 and 24 Semi-finals: January 25 and 26 Finals: January 27 (women) and January 28 (men)
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.