"Unified Power Forehand" — Doug King Course Paul Fein Largest annual sporting event in the Southern Hemisphere: The Australian Open. Number of players in the men’s singles field at the inaugural edition of the Australian (then called Australasian) Championships played on grass courts in Melbourne at Warehouseman’s Cricket Ground in November 1905: 17. Let’s look back at the leading players, matches, issues and trends and see if you agree with how I saw the “Bests” and “Worsts” of vintage 2012.
Year that the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) recognized the Australasian Championships on an equal basis as those of the United States, England (Wimbledon) and France: 1923. What chair umpire Steve Ulrich blurted out after Roger Federer hit a phenomenal shot against Evgeny Korolev in the 2009 Australian Open second round: “We’re all still amazed!” What two-time Grand Slammer Rod Laver, the Australian champion in 1960, 1962 and 1969, called “the crowning moment of my career”: The naming of Melbourne Park’s centre court Rod Laver Arena. Number of times that Margaret Smith Court, who won a record 11 Australian Open women’s singles titles, won the Australian Junior Championships: 0.
Group that criticized Australian star John Bromwich in 1946, when he won the Australian singles and doubles titles, because he gave up long trousers and started wearing shorts: Clergymen who said “it was indecent.” How much money rival countries like Germany or Japan would pay if they could buy the Australian Open “grand slam” status, according to Tennis Australia president Geoff Pollard in 1990: $1 billion. Tennis star who, during the 2012 Australian Open, said, “I don’t love tennis today, but I’m here, and I can’t live without it ... so I’m still here and I don’t want to go anywhere any time soon”: Serena Williams. Year and venue where the first Grand Slam title was decided indoors: Flinders Park’s retractable roof was used at the new home of the Australian Open for the 1988 women’s final in which 18-year-old Steffi Graf defeated 33-year-old Chris Evert 6-1, 7-6. What a bettor at the 2011 Australian Open lost when he wagered on No. 1-ranked Rafael Nadal to beat David Ferrer at 1-10 odds: $1 million. Message on a large banner hanging in front of several young men in the crowd at the 1995 Australian Open: “MARY PIERCE, are U free tonight? Please phone (054) 479 361.” Sign seen in the crowd during the Andre Agassi-Patrick Rafter match at the 1995 Australian Open: “RAFTER IS SEX!”
The one match in Martina Navratilova’s career she’d like to have back: The 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 upset loss to Helena Sukova in the 1984 Australian Open semifinals that ended her streaks at 74 straight singles victories and six straight Grand Slam singles titles. First player disqualified from a Grand Slam tournament in the Open Era: John McEnroe at the 1990 Australian Open, after he intimidated a line judge, flung his racket and abused the referee. Reason promising, 17-year-old Australian Bernard Tomic complained about playing night matches at the 2010 Australian Open: It kept him up past his bedtime. What Australian Open officials did in 1988 when the court temperature hit 135 degrees Fahrenheit (57 degrees Celsius): They cracked and fried an egg on court on Australian national TV. What The Netherlands’ Esther Vergeer said after she routed compatriot Aniek Van Koot 6-0, 6-0 in the 2012 Australian Open women’s wheelchair singles final for her 444th straight win: “I’ve been telling myself I can lose any day now, it’s gonna happen.”
What five-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic called his epic 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5 Australian Open final triumph over Rafael Nadal in 2012: “Definitely the greatest match I’ve ever played.” How much longer the 5-hour, 53-minute Djokovic-Nadal final lasted at the 2012 Australian Open than the previous Grand Slam final record set by Mats Wilander and Ivan Lendl in the 1988 US Open final: 59 minutes. What was extraordinary about left-handed Bert St. John, the 1923 Australian singles finalist, besides being a star cricketer and soccer player for Queensland: He was crippled by the loss of his right hand. What Lleyton Hewitt, who lost in four sets to Russian Marat Safin in the Australian Open’s first prime-time men’s final in 2005, did later that night: He proposed to actress Rebecca Cartwright. One of the most unusual requests the transport supervisor at the Australian Open ever received: In 1996 Barbara Becker got so nervous during one of her husband Boris’s matches that she asked to be driven to a church so she could pray for him. What a fan rooting for African-American James Blake yelled during Blake’s 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 victory over French qualifier Sebastien De Chaunac at the 2009 Australian Open: “Win for Obama!”
The most-watched sporting event in Australian television history up to that time: The Andre Agassi-Pete Sampras semifinal at the 2000 Australian Open. Number of the 14 sets that singles champion Victoria Azarenka won at the 2012 Australian Open title in which she lost two games or less: 10. Number of singles tournaments Mark Edmondson won in Grand Prix competition before upsetting Ken Rosewall and John Newcombe to capture the Australian Open in 1976: 0. Total prize money at the 2012 Australian Open: $26 million. Total prize money at the 2016 Australia Open resulting from the ATP’s recently announced landmark deal with Tennis Australia: About $41 million. Two-time Australian Open singles champion who once ironically declared, “Grass is for cows”: Guillermo Vilas (1978−79 at Melbourne on grass). Consecutive years when the anguished men’s singles runner-up wept at the Australian Open awards ceremonies: 2009 (Roger Federer) and 2010 (Andy Murray). How the electronic scoreboard at the 1994 Australian Open listed Kathy Rinaldi Stunkel because of a lack of space: Kathy Rinaldi Stunk.
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