The world’s finest gamers have already arrived down below to begin the 2024 season with the final word aim of peaking on the Australian Open.
The hard-court event in Melbourne is the primary Grand Slam occasion of the season.
Listed below are all the important thing particulars…
When is the Australian Open 2024?
The primary draw begins on Sunday, 14 January at Melbourne Park and concludes on Sunday, 28 January.
It’s the first time the Australian Open will begin on a Sunday as an alternative of the same old Monday, with the event prolonged to fifteen days as organisers hope to keep away from late-night finishes.
Qualifying begins on Monday, 8 August. Gamers should win three qualifying matches to earn a spot in the primary draw.
The ladies’s singles remaining takes place on Saturday, 27 January, with the lads’s remaining concluding the event on Sunday, 28 January.
Who’s enjoying?
Defending males’s singles champion Novak Djokovic is aiming to increase his dominance in Melbourne with an eleventh title, whereas Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka appears to be like to retain the ladies’s trophy.
Serbia’s Djokovic, 36, is the highest seed forward of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev and Italy’s Jannik Sinner.
Poland’s Iga Swiatek leads the ladies’s subject after regaining the world primary rating from Sabalenka on the finish of final 12 months.
Sabalenka is seeded second in entrance of American Coco Gauff, who received the US Open in September, and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
A number of acquainted faces are making their Grand Slam comebacks.
Spanish nice Rafael Nadal returns after lacking nearly a 12 months with a hip damage he sustained finally 12 months’s event, with Britain’s 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu within the early phases of her personal comeback after wrist and ankle surgical procedures dominated her out for eight months.
Japan’s four-time main winner Naomi Osaka can also be again after giving delivery final 12 months.
When is the Australian Open draw?
The Australian Open singles draw will happen on Thursday, 11 January.
There are 128 gamers in every draw and 32 will likely be seeded.
Seedings are used to separate the highest gamers and guarantee they don’t meet within the early rounds at a Grand Slam.
They’re primarily based on a participant’s world rating, which is decided by the factors gamers choose up at tournaments.
What time do the matches happen?
The day classes begin at 11:00 native time (midnight GMT) on the outer courts and at 12:00 (01:00 GMT) on the present courts. Melbourne is 11 hours forward of the UK.
The night time classes – that are held on Rod Laver Area, Margaret Courtroom Area and John Cain Area – start at 19:00 native time (08:00 GMT).
The ladies’s and males’s singles finals begin at 19:30 (08:30 GMT).
What’s the prize cash?
The overall prize cash for the event is a report 86.5m Australian {dollars} (£46.5m).
It represents a rise of 13% from final 12 months’s whole, with will increase in each spherical.
The 2 singles champions will obtain A$3.15m (£1.7m).
How can I comply with the Australian Open on the BBC?
There will likely be a day by day dwell textual content commentary on the BBC Sport web site and app, in addition to dwell scores, reviews, evaluation and options.
You can too hearken to radio commentaries – from BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller and the group – throughout 5 Reside and Sports activities Further, BBC Sounds, plus the Sport web site and app.
