In 1988, the brand-new Flinders Park Tennis Center was officially completed and opened. It became the venue for the Australian Open. The event that had been running around before was officially settled and has never moved the venue again.
In 1996, the Flinders Park Tennis Center was officially renamed Melbourne Park, and a central court was built, which can accommodate 15,000 people. It has an openable and closed roof, which is an important design of this court that is ahead of the times.
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In 2000, the center court of Melbourne Park was officially named "Rod-Laver-Arena" in memory of the legendary Australian men's tennis player Rod Laver Sr.
Rod Laver, spanning the Tennis Open era, is not only considered the greatest player in Australian history, but is also generally considered a strong candidate for the greatest player in history globally, even among the Big Four.
After Hengkong was born, it was still the same——
In Laver's career, he won a total of eleven Grand Slam trophies, five before the Open era and six after the Open era.
If you look purely at the number of Grand Slam titles, Laver naturally does not have an advantage. Not only is he behind the Big Three and Sampras, but he is also behind his compatriot Roy Emerson. However, Laver has no advantage.
Wall is the only male player in history to complete the annual Grand Slam.
Moreover, Laver completed it twice, once before the Open Era and once after the Open Era.
In other words, win all four Grand Slam titles in one calendar year.
No one has been able to replicate this feat so far. Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic have all been very, very close to this record. However, it is still too difficult to complete it within one natural year, and they have missed it due to various reasons.
There is no doubt that to this day, Rod Laver is still the well-deserved best in history in the minds of countless tennis enthusiasts. Mr. Laver, who is 77 years old this year, still goes to Melbourne Park every year to watch the tennis.
Watch a game in a stadium named after you.
Also in 2000, Melbourne Park built a second large stadium, "Hisense-Arena", which can accommodate 10,500 spectators and also has a roof that can be opened and closed.
The third largest court, formerly known as Court No. 1, was officially named "Margaret-Court-Arena" in 2003 to commemorate Australia, which won the Australian Open championship eleven times before and after the Open.
Women's player Court.
Margaret Court is also a superstar in the tennis world before and after the Open.
Before the Open, Court won 13 Grand Slam championship trophies; after the Open, Court won 11 more Grand Slam trophies.
If the Open era is not counted, then Court's 24 Grand Slam championship trophies are undoubtedly the most in history; but if the Open era is counted separately, Serena Williams's 23 Grand Slam championship trophies are undoubtedly the most in history.
In terms of Grand Slam championship trophies, Graf’s 22 Grand Slam championship trophies rank among the top two in history.
Hisense Stadium has always been the No. 2 court, and Margaret Court Stadium has been the No. 3 court. However, the Australian Open Organizing Committee is always updating the venues.
This year, in 2015, the renovated and expanded Margaret Court Stadium debuted. It can not only accommodate 7,500 people, but also has a new roof. This also makes the Australian Open the first to have
The event with three rooftop courses has become the leader of the tour.
In order to fully utilize the functions of the new stadium and promote the image of the event - not to show off, definitely not to show off, the new Margaret Court Stadium became the second stadium.
Naturally, the "old" Hisense Stadium became Stadium No. 3, although in terms of spectator capacity, this stadium is even better.
So, how to distinguish between Court No. 2 and Court No. 3?
Very simple: night game.
Among the four Grand Slams, the Australian Open and the US Open are younger and more fashionable. In order to facilitate television broadcasts, they have set up the habit of night matches.
Wimbledon and French Open still abide by the rules. Not only do they not have night games, but the roof installation project of the stadiums is also far behind the other two competitors.
If it’s too dark? Stop the game; if it’s stormy? Stop the game.
It is precisely because of this that the schedule of Wimbledon and French Open is always a severe test. A large number of games are often backlogged due to unexpected circumstances, resulting in the schedule being unable to advance. The organizing committee must work at high speed to reorganize the arrangements, and the players naturally need to
Adapt to the changes.
Even the men's singles final that was supposed to be held on Sunday was postponed to Monday, more than once.
In fact, this is also true from the perspective of the venue.
Wimbledon still continues on grass.
The French Open still uses red clay.
Both venues have a long history. Tennis was first born on grass, while tennis was fully promoted in Europe on clay.
Hard courts are actually a brand new venue created to facilitate commercial promotion after the professionalization and modernization of tennis——
Because the maintenance of grass and red soil is too labor-intensive and expensive, and even requires professional skills; but hard ground is not, and only a cement floor is enough.
From establishment to maintenance, hard courts are simpler and more convenient, and more importantly, less expensive, which is in the commercial interest.
Just like basketball and football, a venue that can be found everywhere is crucial to the promotion of a sport, especially commercial promotion.
As a result, hard court courts have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.
A professional organization once made a statistics. In the new tours born after 2000, including events organized by the three major tennis organizations: ATP, WTA and ITF, the proportion of hard courts reaches an incredible 90%.
Moreover, after scientific research, it has been found that most hard floors are cement floors, and the reaction force is very strong, causing the potential risk of sports injuries to skyrocket.
Professionals have made suggestions that in order to continue the careers of professional players and protect the health of professional players, the number of hard court tours should be controlled. Even if the existing tours cannot be reduced, at least when new tours appear, tennis organizations should
It is recommended to avoid more hard surfaces.
However, there are no eggs.
In the face of the wheel of commercial promotion, the opinions of experts are ultimately insignificant.
The Australian Open and the US Open are the best examples.
First of all, they are all hard court events.
Secondly, they set up night games.
All of these are choices that are in line with modern business promotion, are at the forefront of trends, and have indeed achieved unimaginable business success.
Perhaps, some people will say that profit comes first, and this is a choice that is in line with business interests. It is understandable and everyone should do this, otherwise they will be eliminated.
But the key is that sticking to your own Wimbledon and French Open has also achieved great success. Even if you make some compromises and concessions for commercial interests, it is crucial to be measured and stick to the bottom line, otherwise you may lose yourself.
Then it was swallowed up by the rolling torrent of business.