20 Things You Should Know about Australian Open Tennis 2009

Australian Open 2009 kicks off today at Melbourne with lots of excitement among the tennis fans around the world. It is the first grand slam tournament of the year. So, players as well as fans are very much excited with the tournament. There are many players who are claiming to move the tournament from January to February due to extreme heat in Melbourne in January, but still, tennis players are eagerly waiting to show their best in the first grand slam tournament of the year. It is expected that record number of crowed will experience Australian Open 2009 tournament. Now, it is yet to see if the players can live up to the expectation of the fans. Here, I made a list of 20 things about Australian Open 2009, which may find important. So, let us go through the list:

1. Australian Open 2009 is going to be the 97^th edition of this grand slam tennis tournament.

2. Australian Open 2009 kicks off from 19 January and will continue till 1 February 2009. All the matches of the tournament will be held at the Melbourne Park, Melbourne.

3. Defending champion of women’s singles Maria Sharapova withdrew herself from Australian Open 2009 tournament due to her shoulder injury.

4. Serbian tennis star and the tournament’s 3^rd seed Novak Djokovic is the defending champion of the tournament.

5. Australian youngster Bernard Tomic is one of the attractions of the tournament. The 16-year-old was the Boys’ Singles champion of 2008 Australian Open, and this year, Bernard Tomic is going to take part in the senior event of the tournament as a wildcard entry.

6. Among the currently active female tennis players, only Serena Williams has three Australian Open titles to her credit. Since 2003, Serena Williams has been winning the title of Australian Open after every one year- meaning the former world no. 1 has won the Australian Open titles in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

7. World no. 2 and tournament’s second seed, Roger Federer, holds three Australian Open titles, becoming the most successful Australian Open player among the currently available male tennis players. Federer won the Australian Open titles in 2004, 2006 and 2007.

8. Swedish tennis star Roger Federer could reach another landmark if he can win the Australian Open 2009 title, leveling Pete Sampras’ record 14 grand slam singles titles. Federer has already bagged 13 grand slam singles tiles to his illustrious career.

9. The interesting fact is that neither Rafael Nadal, the top seed of men’s singles, nor Jelena Jankovic, the top seed of women’s singles, could ever reach the final of Australian Open.

10. Besides current world no. 1 Jelena Jankovic, there are four former world no. 1 players among the top 32 seeds of the women’s singles of Australian Open 2009. They are: Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Venus Williams and Amelie Mauresmo.

11. Aside from current world no. 1 Rafael Nadal, three former world no. 1 players have been drawn among the top 32 seeds of men’s singles event of Australian Open 2009. Roger Federer, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin are the former world no. 1 players who are taking part in the tournament.

12. Australian Open 2009 tournament will be telecast live on ESPN2 and Star Sports television channel.

13. World no. 5 Nikolay Davydenko has pulled out of Australian Open 2009 because of an injury on his left heel.

14. Three-time grand slam winner Lindsay Davenport is missing the tournament as she is going to give birth to her second child.

15. Slovenian tennis star Katarina Srebotnik and German star Nicolas Kiefer withdrew their names from Australian Open 2009 due to their respective injuries.

16. British tennis fans are hoping that British tennis star Andy Murray, seeded 4^th, would become the first Briton after Fred Perry to win a grand slam tournament by clinching the male’s singles title in Australian Open 2009.

17. Besides Murray, there are four unseeded female tennis players from Britain who are going to take part in women’s singles event in the tournament. British female participants of Australian Open 2009 are: Melanie South, Katie O'Brien, Anne Keothavong and Elena Baltacha. So, British tennis fans will be hopeful to see some good performances from British female tennis players in the tournament.

18. Chinese tennis star Na Li also pulled herself out of Australian Open 2009, while last year’s surprise package Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the fifth seed, has said that he is fit to take part in the tournament, even though he withdrew from the Sydney International due to back problem.

19 Tickets of the several matches of Australian Open 2009 are now available in internet. So, you can buy your ticket through online too. To buy the tickets online, check out here.

20. Tennis Australia has increased the prize money for Australian Open 2009 tournament. The winners of the singles event will get $2 million each. The overall prize money of the tournament has also been increased by $1.14 million; thus making it $23.14 million.