Australian Open Time! 🎾

[Scout]

Hey tennis fans! The first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments has begun. The 112th edition of the Australian Open will be held from January 14-28 at Melbourne Park. Along with the other three, the French Open (May/June), Wimbledon (June/July), and the US Open (Aug/Sept), these tournaments showcase the best players in the world. 

There are a number of players to keep your eyes on at the Australian Open. You can catch defending men’s singles champion Novak Djokovic from Serbia going up against Croatia's Dino Prizmic on the first day. Djokovic is going for a record extending 25th Grand Slam singles title. On the women's side, you can  catch defending women's singles champ Aryna Sabalenka take on Germany’s Ella Seidel.  

Also check out Japan’s Naomi Osaka who won the open in 2019 and 2021; she is back on the court after welcoming her daughter in July. Poland’s Iga Świątek is coming in as the #1 seed; the four-time major champ is seeking her first Australian Open. And Coco Gauff, from the US, is bringing confidence to the court after winning her first Grand Slam at the 2023 U.S. Open 

On the men’s side, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, was the only player to defeat Djokovic in a Grand Slam final last year, becoming the 2023 Wimbledon champ. Also keep an eye on Jannik Sinner; the 22 year old from Italy is hoping to win his first grand slam. 

To get you ready for the upcoming tournament, we’re serving up some fun Australian Open facts you can share with your friends: 

• The longest Grand Slam final took place in 2012 when Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in  5 hours and 53 minutes. 
  
  
• Due to international conflicts, the tournament was not held between 1916 and 1918, or 1940 and 1945.
  
  
• Players can expect extreme weather conditions, particularly the intense heat ☀️ making the matches exciting and unpredictable.
  
  
• With the extreme heat, about 160,000 ice creams 🍦 and 75,000 hotdogs 🌭 are consumed each year. 
  
  
• Ken Rosewall is known for being the youngest Australian Open winner (Men's) and also the oldest! Rosewall won in 1953 (at 19 years and 76 days old) and also in 1972 (at 38 years old).
  
  
• There are 360 Ballkids, selected from 2500+ applicants including 38 from overseas (including Korea, China, India & France)
  
  
• The Australian Open began in 1905 and was played on grass up to 1987. In 1988 it became a hardcourt event when the tournament moved to Melbourne Park (then Flinders Park).
  
  
• Every year about 50,000 balls 🎾 are used in the Australian Open.

The women's final is set for Saturday, January 27 followed by the men's final on Sunday, January 28. If you’re in the US, you can follow the action on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN or you can stream on ESPN+. In Canada, you can follow along on TSN. Live updates can be found here.

Will you be watching? Who are you rooting for? Drop us a comment below and let us know! And don't forget to get out and record your tennis activities on Strava to share with your friends! 

[Scout]

We have our winners 🏆! Congrats to Aryna Sabalenka & Jannik Sinner, winners of the 2024 Australian Open Singles Finals. 

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Qinwen Zheng becoming the first female to repeat Australian Open wins since Victoria Azarenka's victories in 2012/2013. She also won in straight-sets (winning without losing a set) - this has not been done in the AO women's final since 2007 when Serena Williams claimed the title. 

On the men's side, Jannik Sinner rallied from two sets down against Daniil Medvedev to get his first grand slam win. The only other player to triumph after being two sets down in the Australian Open Men's Finals was Rafael Nadal who also defeated Medvedev in 2022.

Stay tuned for our next Grand Slam post in May when the French Open Roland-Garros serves us more exciting action. 

[Scout]

The Singles Division of The Australian Open is down to the Semifinals! 

On the women's side, 25 year old Aryna Sabalenka will need to defeat 19 year old Coco Gauff to advance to the finals. In the 6 times they have played against each other, Gauff has come out ahead winning 4 of those matches. If you're in the U.S., you'll have to stay up late, (or wake up early) to watch this live at 3:30 a.m. EST (12:30 a.m. PT). 

The other Women's Semifinal match will be 21 year old Qinwen Zheng vs 23 year old Dayana Yastremska. Not many expected 12th seed Zheng to make it this far.  These two have never played against each other and both will be making their first major semi-final. Fun fact about each of these players:
Zheng's best showing previously was reaching the US Open quarter-finals last year.
Yastremska is the first Ukrainian semifinalist in the history of the Australian Open.

On the men's side, we'll see a highly anticipated matchup, with Novak Djokovic, 36 going against Jannik Sinner, 22. Djokovic is the favorite to win, but don't count Sinner out. Sinner is looking for his first grand slam final and he's not going to make it easy for Djokovic. 

The other men's singles match will be Daniil Medvedev, 27 vs Alexander Zverev, 26. These two are well matched and have played against each other 18 times with Medvedev coming out ahead with 11 wins. Whoever wins this match heads to the finals and will have a tough match ahead of them. 

You can catch these matches on Thur, Jan. 25 & Fri. Jan 26. Live updates can be found here.

[Scout]

The Australian Open has reached it's halfway point. For those following along, top seed Novak Djokovic has moved on to the quarter-finals along with Italy's Jannik Sinner. I'm hoping to see Sinner take on Djokovic in the semifinals, that would be match I wouldn't want to miss. You can catch the men's final on Sunday, January 28. 

On the women's side, 19 year old Linda Noskova (Czech Republic) pulled off the win to upset No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek. Other favorites, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff are both moving on to the quarter-finals. It will be fun to see who will be moving on to the finals on Saturday, January 27.  

Anybody else following along? Any predictions on who'll be in the finals? 

[Shant]

Thank you for sharing Scout! These fun facts are great