Tips for visiting the Australian Open Tennis

One of the great things about living in Melbourne, the sporting capital of Australia, is that nearly every year we get to go to the Australian Open Tennis.  In fact, for probably over 30 years I’ve been making my way there almost every January. 

The Australian Open Tennis Tournament is easy to get to, easy to buy tickets and easy to get around.  Always a bit of a lottery as to the quality of the matches you watch, though.  Some years you get to see one of the best matches you’ve ever seen.  And other years, the matches you watch are a bit, well, bleh!  A bit like any sport really. 

Below are examples of these two ends of the spectrum at the tennis – joy and disappointment: 

• One year, as we were queueing for ground pass tickets, someone sold us Centre Court tickets (for less than she bought them for) as she had to go to a wedding later that day.  We saw one of the best and closest matches ever, involving Roger Federer, whilst sitting in great seats, and John even caught one of the balls Roger hit into the crowd at the end of Roger’s match.
• Unfortunately one of my most disappointing times at the tennis also involved Roger!  Taking my daughter to a semi-final for her 30^th birthday cost about $500+ for us both and it was one of the worst matches we had ever seen! 

These days of course it’s not just about the tennis, you could actually have a fun day out there even if you don’t like tennis. There’s a lot happening!  Read on…

Why you should go

Simply put – there is something for everyone here!  More than just tennis, there is a children’s entertainment area (with activities such as rock climbing), live music playing in different areas, or perhaps you want to test out the speed of your serve, buy some merchandise, have a beauty treatment, frequent one of the many bars/cafes, oh and did I mention the tennis!

There’s lots of places to eat and drink which mostly often involves lots of queues unfortunately.  Nothing will be cheap, of course, so most people tend to take their own sandwiches and snacks.  And because of the heat, there are taps and bubblers around to fill your drink bottles.  We usually like to buy a coffee and a couple of beers/wines of course. 

When to go

The tournament runs for two weeks in the latter half of January.  This coming tournament it starts on Monday 20 January 2020.  The best day for you to go will be determined by your budget and, if you are a local, whether you can take time off work.  Ground passes are very affordable on most days. 

Matches generally start at 11am and so ideally you want to get there shortly before that and then you can stay all day and possibly into the night (if you’ve got the stamina!).  Which makes the ground pass tickets really good value.  Obviously tickets to some of the big show courts (there are three with retractable roofs) will cost more and once you get to the pointy end of the tournament they do get quite pricey.

Booking.com

Please do keep in mind Melbourne can be extremely hot at that time of the year.  And sitting in the sun for long periods of time may not be everyone’s cup of tea.  I tend to check out the forecast for the coming week to determine which day to take off work – once it gets over 30 I find it too hot to be sitting outside all day.  Then both John and I both go on the middle weekend and usually just pick the cooler day of the weekend.  Night matches might be a great idea if you want to avoid the hot sun.

However, last year the middle Saturday was as crowded as we’ve ever experienced.  Too crowded for us, too many queues etc.  So we perhaps will not be doing the daytime on the weekend in the future.  Once upon a time it was really all just about the tennis and the crowds weren’t so big.  But like everything else, it’s getting a bit too busy.  I’m sounding old, I know!

How to get there

The Melbourne Tennis Centre is located very centrally within Melbourne.  There are three train stations that are within walking distance of the tennis centre – Richmond, Jolimont and Flinders Street.  Alternatively pick some accommodation within walking distance. Just follow everyone else when you get off the train.  There will be hordes of people making their way to the tournament.  Trams also stop right outside the tennis centre.  Car parking is very limited and most of what there is will be for officials, staff etc. so it really is a day for using public transport.

Tickets and costs

Prices vary a lot depending on what day you go and whether you want ground pass tickets to cover all the outside courts or one of the stadium tickets.  Ground pass tickets start from as little as $5 for children up to a maximum of about $60 for adults for one day tickets and then up to a 5 day ground pass of $230. 

Stadium tickets range from $62 at the Margaret Court Arena on Day 1 through to about $450 for the men’s final on Rod Laver Arena.  Of course, the finals sell out months in advance!  Whereas usually the ground pass tickets you can purchase on the day although I probably wouldn’t rely on that.  For more detailed info on the tickets, go to the tickets page of the Aus Open website.

Other useful tips

• Your bags will be checked on entering, so don’t take in any alcohol or camera lenses greater than 200mm.
• It can get very hot! Visitors from outside Australia sometimes get caught out – please make sure you bring lots of sunscreen, a hat and a bottle of water (lots of places to refill)!
• Save yourself some money and bring the bulk of your food and drink with you.
• When buying tickets, you might find advice on where the shaded seats are in the main stadiums. A lot of the outside courts now have lots of shade cover.

Useful Links

The Australian Open Official Site

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Please feel free to leave a comment or ask me any questions you like on our experiences of the Australian Open Tennis tournament.

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Hope you’ve enjoyed this Travel Inspiration from an Empty Nester!