Australian Open History
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The Australian Open History involved the tournament being held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass up until 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria and in 1988, the tournament became a hard court event. It is currently held at Melbourne Park. The tournament is held in Melbourne in the last fortnight of the month of January, in the Australian summer, and as a result there is an extreme-heat policy which is put into play when temperatures reach dangerous levels.
The two main courts used in the tournament are the Rod Laver Arena and the Hisense Arena which both feature retractable roofs and are shut during rain or extreme heat. In 2008, the Rebound Ace surface, which had been in place for the past 20 years at Melbourne Park, was replaced by a medium-paced acrylic surface known as Plexicushion Prestige which provides better consistency and less retention of heat because of a thinner top layer. This change of surface was controversial because of the new surface's similarity to DecoTurf, the surface used by the US Open.
The Australian Open History typically has very high attendances, with the 2010 Australian Open achieving the highest ever single-day day/night attendance record for any Grand Slam tournament of 77,043 and an overall attendance of 653,860.
In 2011, the prize money awarded in the men's and women's singles tournaments was distributed equally. The Australian Open women's singles winner is presented with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and in 2011 received $2,200,000 in prize money. The Australian Open men's singles winner is presented with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup and in 2011 also received $2,200,000 in prize money.
2011 Australian Open History - Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray in last years Australian Open final, Murray having also lost in the Australian Open Finals in 2010. The 2011 Australian Open title is the second Australian Open victory for Djokovic.
2011 Australian Open History - Kim Clijsters won her first Australian open title in 2011 and third Grand slam title since her come back in 2009 (her fourth overall).
