PRESENTATION BSBCMM401A TASK 2

HISTORY Australian Open is the first Grand Slam event to be held each year in January in melbourne. The first tournament took place in 1905 when it was contested on the grass courts of Kooyong. Due to the enormous amount of time it took for the top tennis players in the world to travel to Australia, the event virtually faded out into obscurity.

HISTORY With the advent of air travel, the tournament was revived and in 1988 it moved to a hard court base, called Flinders Park – now better known as Melbourne Park. The two main venues of the event, the Rod Laver Arena ( centre court ) and Hisense Arena, have retractable roofs, so that play is not stopped due to rain and hot temperature.

HISTORY 2008 saw a new surface for the courts, with the Rebound Ace surface being replaced with a faster, acrylic “Plexicushion” surface. In 2007, the Hawk-eye system was used as a back- up to human linesman. Players were allowed to challenge a human line call by having Hawk-eye confirm or overrule the original call.

GRAND SLAM The four major Grand Slam events: the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon (England) and the US Open. All the Grand Slam events have to exhibit very different court surfaces Australian Open: Acrylic surface ( plexicushion) French Open: Clay Wimbledon: Grass US Open: Hard ( Deco Turf)

PLEXICUSHION The Australian Open tennis court surfaces had changed for the 2008 event. The existing Rebound Ace surface was replaced with a cushioned, acrylic rollout known as Plexicushion.

PLEXICUSHION Plexicushion characteristics: has a lower rubber content leading to firmer under foot conditions involves applying multiple layers of rubber that achieves more consistent bounce on court retains less heat

MELBOURNE PARK In 1972, Melbourne was selected as the permanent home of the Australian Open. It has two stadia and several outdoor tennis courts. Melbourne Park can boast the highest number of show court seats (excluding centre court) of the Grand Slam venues, at over 22,000.

Rod Laver Arena The first phase, which was completed in 1987, includes a seat Centre Court with a retractable roof. The Australian Open tennis court was aptly named after Australia's greatest tennis player of all time,Rod Laver, who is still the only person in history to have captured two Grand Slam, in 1962 and 1969.

GETTING TO THE VENUE Trams -- serviced by the no.70 tram, which departs from Flinders Street to Wattle Park Bus -- take the no.605 bus and stop at the corner of Olympic Boulevard, then take more 500m walk to Hisense Arena Trains -- Flinders Street, Richmond and Jolimont train stations are all within walking distance of the venue

PRIZE MONEY

PLAYERS CATEGORY Seniors  Men’s Singles  Women’s Singles  Men’s Doubles  Women’s Doubles  Mixed Doubles Juniors  Boys’ Singles  Girls’ Singles  Boys’ Doubles  Girls’ Doubles

PLAYERS CATEGORY Wheelchair tennis Wheelchair Men’s Singles Wheelchair Women’s Singles Wheelchair Quad Singles Wheelchair Men’s Doubles Wheelchair Women’s Doubles Wheelchair Quad Doubles

THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN BY NUMBERS 1,197, The prize money in US dollars awarded to the winners of the Aus Open singles tournaments 62, The average daily attendance the at the 2008 Australian Open The average number of tennis balls used at each Australian Open tournament The year the Hawk-Eye system for line call reviews made its debut at the Australian Open The year the Australian Open first admitted professional tennis players The year the first Australian Open was played at the Warehouseman's Cricket Ground in St Kilda Rd, Melbourne

THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN BY NUMBERS The fastest serve by a man at the Australian Open measured in km/h. The serve was struck by Taylor Dent in The speed of the fastest serve struck by a woman at the Australian open in km/h.This record is shared by Venus and Serena Williams The temperature in degrees celsius reached during some center court matches during the Australian Open 6 -- The best record by a mens singles player at the Australian Open, held by Roy Emerson of Australia 2 -- The number of times the Australian Open was hosted in New Zealand

If you are interested in the Australian Open, welcome to search any information in these websites below. numbers.html numbers.html