Australian Open to face challenge from China for Grand Slam
Roar Guru By Alan Nicolea, 4 Feb 2010 Alan Nicolea is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Alicia Molik, Australian Open, Casey Dellacqua, China tennis, Jelena Dokic, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Marcos Baghdatis, Tennis
Roger Federer of Switzerland, left, holds up the trophy during the awarding ceremony, after beating Andy Murray of Britain, right, to win the Men's singles final match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010.(AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
The 2010 Australian Open has again proved to be an enormous success attendance-wise, and it will need to continue to be if the first Grand Slam tournament on the tennis calendar is to remain Down Under.
China have recently showed interest in hosting the Grand Slam of the Asia Pacific, and it seems their bid will only intensify after WTA players Na Li and Jie Zheng reached the semi-final stage of this year’s Australian Open.
But it seems the Chinese will have to wait quite a while yet to win hosting rights thanks to recent announcements made by the Victorian government to re-development Melbourne Park, in a bid to host the tournament until 2036.
Among the key changes will see Margaret Court arena increase its capacity by adding 1500 extra seats, plus a retractable roof. Overall, Melbourne Park’s new upgrades will cost $365 million, with everything to be completed by 2015.
Indeed, Victorian Premier John Brumby has emphasised the need for future growth and development to conserve the Australian Open, in the midst of growing pressure from China.
However, with all these re-developments set to take place, it seems the Australian public need not worry about the tournaments future.
The Australian Open has become accustomed to attracting crowds of over 600,000 during the two-week duration of the tournament.
The reason for such high attendances throughout the course of the event has a lot to do with the Open’s uncanny ability to unearth a new Tennis star or produce unexpected feel good results that galvanise the Australian public.
Names such as Marcos Baghdatis, Jelena Dokic, Alicia Molik, Casey Dellacqua, Jo Wilfred Tsonga and Fernando Verdasco have each played their part in making the Australian Open the most unpredictable out of the four Grand Slam events.
This year’s edition saw another fairytale comeback take place in the form of former world No.1 Justin Henin of Belgium.
Having only played one tournament in Brisbane in the lead up to the Australian Open, Justine Henin managed to overcome a tough draw, which included facing fifth seed Elena Dementieva in the second round, to make the women’s final against Serena Williams.
Aided once again by her devastating backhand, the seven time Grand Slam champion managed to captivate the Australian audience throughout the course of her memorable run which eventually ended in a tight three set loss to Williams in the final.
Henin’s run ended up being one of the main contributing factors in allowing the 2010 Australian Open to record the biggest attendance figures in its history, with 650,863 supporters attending the event.
Indeed, those figures suggest Australians still love their tennis, unlike contrasting reports by several media outlets including Channel Seven, suggesting the game has lost its love affair with the Australian public.
If this year’s Australian Open attendance is anything to go by, it suggests the first Grand Slam is doing just fine, and will continue to do so for many years to come.
And that is terrific news for any Australian fan who wants to continually witness some of the world’s finest tennis players battle it out for Grand Slam supremacy in their own backyard.
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February 4th 2010 @ 3:08pm
Jeff Dowsing said | February 4th 2010 @ 3:08pm | Report comment
Yes, of course there’s the odd upset. I’d contend that mostly the games that inspire interest beyond the tennis boffins in the first week is when you have unranked players like Henin/Clijsters making comebacks or players whose rankings have slipped way past their true ability due to injury layoffs who get pitched against high ranked players in the early rounds. If it stayed with a 16 player seeded draw you wouldn’t have to rely so much on anomalies for early epic clashes.
I still think there just needs to be more consistency over the whole 2 weeks. Even if Joe Bloggs pushes Federer in the first round, it’s hardly prime time fodder. If he randomly drew a top player in the first round, what drama might that create? What a way to kick off the tournament. The best already get rewarded in so many ways, they shouldn’t need an armchair ride to the finals every time.
February 4th 2010 @ 7:16pm
ohtani's jacket said | February 4th 2010 @ 7:16pm | Report comment
The Australian Open provided marquee quarterfinal match-ups in Federer/Davydenko and Murray/Nadal and two five setters with winners from outside the top 8. I don’t see why anyone would want that happening earlier than the quarters. Nothing good ever comes from early upsets in sport.
February 5th 2010 @ 8:58am
Rory said | February 5th 2010 @ 8:58am | Report comment
Would there be much joy for anyone if Brazil and Italy faced each other in the elimination stages of the World Cup? Surely it’s central to any sport that there are rewards for achievement. Minor premiers second chance etc. Seedings are central to the way tennis works.
February 4th 2010 @ 3:50pm
James said | February 4th 2010 @ 3:50pm | Report comment
Given we are getting record attendances and given that most nights Rod Laver was fully booked out (if not all nights), I am surprised that the redevelopment plans did not call for a larger stadium. Where it would go I am not sure (perhaps the site for the old Olympic Park once that gets demolished? Or perhaps they should have increased capacity at margaret court to 10,000 and redevloped hisense into a 20k+ arena a la Arthur Ashe stadium in New York (or for a fully indercover facility – like Madison Square Garden also in New York).
You would then have stadiums that sat about 10k, 16k, and 20k+, with the new bubble dome at 30k, Etihad at about 55 and of course the MCG.
Yes it would cost money, but it would be filled to the max for the tennis (bringing in extra dollars). If we want to keep it, we have to spend.
February 4th 2010 @ 6:41pm
amused said | February 4th 2010 @ 6:41pm | Report comment
insert China into any story you like as the supposed winner/new host/new economic overlords, it’s the new black!
I also hear they will be hosting the AFL grand final soon, in coming years, as there may be some interest in the sport by someone who is of chinese ancestry.
Q.E.D, AFL will become the chinese game and only a 2nd tier comp here in australia ( Vic and SA )
February 4th 2010 @ 9:28pm
Temple said | February 4th 2010 @ 9:28pm | Report comment
I have always wondered why Australia had a grand slam event.
UK – Great power
France – Great power
US – Super power
Australia – Oceania regional power
I think we have done well to keep it this long.
February 5th 2010 @ 9:14am
Rory said | February 5th 2010 @ 9:14am | Report comment
You are way out on your history. Australia’s tennis pedigree is far Greater than the UK – there is really no comparison. France has had some great Champs but still not quite in Australia’s league historically. That has obviously changed now.
August 23rd 2010 @ 1:33am
janine said | August 23rd 2010 @ 1:33am | Report comment
I’m sure the attendence records are greatly exaggerated. Tennis has gone down in Australia which is unable to produce champions. The players are really, bad. Some like Rory are putting down the Uk. But let’s not forget economically the UK is really very strong in terms of attendance and certainly in regard to attracting lucrative sponsorships. Australia not so much.France has produced more champions so far in this century( mauresmo & Pierce). Australia is living on past tennis achievement.