Yoochan Shin
Australian open
Every tennis player’s dream is to stand and play on one of the major opens that is held every year. The Australian open is one of the major tennis tournaments along with the French open, US open and Wimbledon open (United Kingdom). The Australian Open is considered to be the start of the year’s tennis tournaments since it is held every January.
Tennis is a longstanding sport that has been around since ancient mediterranean to modern England. Tennis is a very prestigious sport that has a fur more complicated than any other sports. Some rules might seem ridiculous to normal people. Tennis is usually played by two people on a ground with either soil or grass. Depending on the ground, the world ranking varies. In order to start the game, one player must serve the ball over the net. In the men’s tournament, many people often serve two-hundred kilometer balls. In tennis, each player is expected to respect the opponent, but at the same time they are allowed to show their emotions. Tennis players often break their racket when things do not go as planned. There is no penalty for doing those acts. This is much different from other sports such as soccer where actual fights often happen.
Player’s outfits are also controlled by the tournament host. Women wear short skirts and men wear pants. In some tournaments such as Wimbledon, players are forced to wear white clothes only, otherwise they will be banned from the tournament. There has been a strong discussion on this issue because women players are forced to wear white clothes even during the period of time. Despite the history that has been kept for hundreds of years, the tennis association is implementing fresh changes to the game.
As many prestigious and historical tournaments, the Australian open also has multiple fun facts.
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The Australian open was originally a grass court, but since 1988 it has changed into a hard court.
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There is a policy called extreme heat policy that protects players from the heat when it is over 40°C [104°F].
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In 2020, the Melbourne Park attracted over 812,000 fans from all over the world setting a new record for attracting the most people in a Grand slam.
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The Youngest player to win the open was 16 years old.
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Since many tourists visit from all over the world, the Australian open is called a melting pot of cultures.
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The winner of the tournament receives $2,975,000.
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The Australian open was not held during world war I and world war II.
People who have won the championship multiple times since 2000.
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Novak Djokovic (SRB)- 10 times
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Roger Federer (SUI)- 6 times
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Andre Agassi (USA) – 3 times
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Rafael Nadal (ESP)- 2 times
(Australian Open in the 1920’s)