Australian Open ponders massive re-vamp

[WhyAlwaysMe]

C/O- Drummond

Australian Open on the slide – so Wimbledon roof expert is called in

The architect behind the new roof at Wimbledon's Centre Court has been called in to revamp facilities at the Australian Open, as the tournament's organisers attempt to cling on to grand slam status.

Lacking the lustre of the other slams at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows, the Melbourne Park tournament's elite position is under increasing pressure from big-money events such as the end-of-season Masters Cup.

Rod Sheard, senior principal at London-based architect HOK Sport, told The Independent on Sunday: "The Victorian government has recognised that the tennis facilities at Melbourne need to be updated to keep up with the other slams.

"We have been commissioned alongside [Australian architect] Cox to look at the site and prepare a master plan. The authorities are pretty open-minded on what we recommend, and we're looking at things like crowd flows, corporate facilities, relocating the entrance and improving links to other sporting facilities nearby." One of those nearby facilities is the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a 19th-century stadium that HOK Sport finished updating in 2005.

The Australian Open masterplan should be completed in time for the next event in January, when men's world No 3 Novak Djokovic and women's champion Maria Sharapova defend their titles. The master plan could take years to implement, as proposals are likely to include moving roads and railway lines to improve access to the site. It is also possible that the tournament's signature stadium, the Rod Laver Arena, could be torn down and rebuilt.

A tennis source said that the arena's retractable roof will look out of date when Wimbledon's Centre Court roof is completed for next June's event. "Rod Laver's roof is a bit out of date, a bit slow and there are not enough corporate facilities."

The source added that Tennis Australia were "dead worried" about losing their slam, one of the reasons being that it does not have a unique surface. Both the US and Australian Opens are played on hard court, while Wimbledon and Roland Garros are played on grass and clay respectively.

Despite the concern, there are no plans to change the surface – it was only relaid this year – or move the date of the tournament in light of arguments that such a big event is held too early in the season. Authorities want to keep the January fortnight because it coincides with local school holidays and the finals take place on Australia Day weekend. The Australian Open became a slam when the Open era began in 1968. The most successful active players are Roger Federer and Serena Williams, with three titles each.

Good idea as a re-vamp is much needed IMO. Not that we should lose our Slam though, what an absolute joke if we did. And I’m not sure what others think but I believe it’s time to part ways with the 'Asian Slam' before they try and do the dirty on us. It’s OUR Slam, stop trying to get into bed with them.

And that leads me to my next point, what changes do you think should be made or would you like to see made?

I have a slight problem with the entrances, can get very crowded. But I guess the trams lead right to one entrance and the other is off a main road, so I’m not sure where else you would put them? I would really like to see permanent seating on the outside courts as the temporary seating makes things look a bit cheap. We don’t even compete with the other Slams in terms of appearances; the French Open is so neat and everything is so structured. Wimbledon has all the green, all the tradition, and the US Open also has pretty neat and tidy surroundings with lots of space.

We need more shade, shade and more shade! It’s always so hot and there isn’t nearly enough. Our Slam is considered the best by many players, all the fans love coming down here, but it pains me to say that everything is a bit on the cheap side. We need more areas where people can sit down and have a bite to eat. More areas where people can relax and get a bit of relief from the heat. More trees! Copy the French Open’s design, we need more greenery! What about that oval across from Vodafone that is used for what looks like corporate dining or something? Or perhaps it’s an area for players. But that’s a massive area and it could be used for either another showcourt or maybe just more areas for the patrons. As you can see I'm passionate about the Australian Open, I want to see it be the best it can possibly be, and the fact that they've seen the need for a re-vamp is encouraging.

 

[amer]

Shanghai, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and now Sydney are the favourites to 'steal' the Slam from Melbourne. Won't happen, everyone knows it belongs where it is. Federer and Serena Williams are just two of the advocates for it to stay in Melbourne.

As for the revamp, it is needed. I'm interested to know the size of the Slam venues and where Melbourne Park sits. Having been to the French Open (unfortunately not during the tennis) I'd say it's bigger than that, not sure about the others though.

One thing that could be improved, or added, is more practice courts for the players. Wimbledon and I believe the US Open have quite a few, whereas we have very little.

 

[red+black]

As for the revamp, it is needed. I'm interested to know the size of the Slam venues and where Melbourne Park sits. Having been to the French Open (unfortunately not during the tennis) I'd say it's bigger than that, not sure about the others though.

French is 15995
US is 22547
Wimbledon 13812 (supposed to be 15000 for 2009 event)

 

[amer]

I don't quite get that part.

Would love to see a 30,000 seat stadium.

Yeh I had to read that part twice too. It just means that the plan will be completed in time for the AO, not the actual construction.

 

[aaronm46]

i reckon they should, play the final in the middle of the MCG.....lawl!

 

[fraser25]

Why would you tear down RLA and build another one in the same site. Why not just build a whole new centre court and RLA becomes show court 1.

Can build new one on the big oval then you got three big whoppers for stadiums, nobody would ever suggest taking the tournament away then

 

[arbitrageunion]

Steve Darcis Vs Mardy Fish is a surewin of 4.77% at Sports Arbitrage Union.

Fish has the big serve and groundstrokes to have Darcis on the run, it will all depend though on how accurate he is as we know how quickly the wheels can fall off Fish's game. On quicker surfaces, the qualifier has succumbed to the likes of Ancic, Llodra, Querrey, Chardy and Haas and one would think he will again struggle to stay with Fish having a fairly hit-and-miss service routine. I like the transformation Fish has made with his baseline game - more patience, hitting with more margin for error - and this should augur him very well against a player who can probably do little more than keep good depth and hope that his opponent is misfiring especially on such a fast terrain.

Steve Darcis Vs Mardy Fish is a surewin of 4.77% at Sports Arbitrage Union.
www.arbitrageunion.blogspot.com

 

[Geddy Lee]

Re: Steve Darcis Vs Mardy Fish is a surewin of 4.77% at Sports Arbitrage Union.

No one will ever steal it from Melbourne, calm down.

Most learned tennis fans recognise AO has the best atmosphere, it would be ruined if it moved somewhere else. Sydneysiders don't care, Chinese may turn up but haven't to their other tournaments, I've trained in Dubai and it doesn't work, it's too ****ing hot.

 

[CHBench]

Sydney fail. again.
Agree with a lot that has been said. Good to know they are worried about losing it though, means they'll do/build whatever they can to keep it one of the top tournaments.

 

[Drummond]

This was released last week but no one posted anything about it...

New vision for Melbourne Park

The Victorian Government and Tennis Australia today unveiled a new vision and accompanying AUD$5 million dollar investment to redevelop and renovate Melbourne Park, current home of the Australian Open.

The bold new vision includes a piazza-style town square with a lightweight roof to provide shade and protection for patrons in the current Garden Square, a new roof for Margaret Court Arena, a renovation of Rod Laver Arena and the creation of new offices for Tennis Australia.

Victorian Premier John Brumby outlined the first details of the new vision outside Rod Laver Arena and said that the redevelopment would maintain Melbourne Park’s status as a world-class sporting venue.

“If we want to secure this centre this Australian Open, post 2016, we do need to make further investments,” the Premier said.

“We’ve already got a very good centre, but we need to improve it further.

“We are very, very proud of the AO, it is a great event, we are very, very proud of the way it’s run.

“It is the biggest event by far of any event which is held anywhere around Australia, and we need to keep it post 2016 because the world is a more competitive place.

“There are five key elements that we’re announcing today that will be funded as part of this five million dollar announcement.”

The five elements as outlined in the announcement revolve around public buildings, player facilities, press and media facilities, effective use of space and new Tennis Australia headquarters:

- Public buildings - the announcement includes the new piazza style ‘Town Square’ which provides multi-levels as well as shade and protection for the public with a new lightweight roof

- Player facilities - the player facilities will be upgraded inside Rod Laver Arena

- Media and press facilities - the media and press are set to be invited into a new building

- Effective use of space - this principle is to be implemented with public spaces around Melbourne Park and the parklands

- Tennis Australia will have new offices built around the Melbourne Park precinct.

Mr Brumby also said that the time is right to act considering the growth and interest in the sport and that the redevelopments were hoped would secure the event at Melbourne Park beyond 2016.

“Now is the time to take a look at how we can refresh and improve this terrific precinct to ensure it remains a world-class facility and continues to meet the needs of the tournament.

“I think it will give us not just the best sports precinct anywhere in the world, this will secure the Australian Open here in Melbourne from 2016 right through until 2036.

“It has been 21 years since the Australian Open was moved from Kooyong to its new home at Melbourne Park, and since that time the Open has grown to impressive new heights, last year attracting over 600,000 patrons, compared to 250,000 patrons back in 1988.”

President of Tennis Australia, Geoff Pollard was on hand with the Premier at the announcement and said he was delighted to receive the strong support from the Victorian Government and Premier.

“We’re very proud of the Australian Open here in Melbourne and the way it delivers hundreds of millions of dollars to the Victorian economy,” he said.

“We’re very proud that we’re able to link the city of Melbourne with London, Paris and New York – the big four cities in tennis.

“We look forward to continuing the discussions, continuing the planning and the designing, working out how we can stage that development over quite a number of years, given the fact we will be conducting an Australian Open every year at least until 2016 and hopefully for another 20 years beyond that.”

With the new vision being announced today there are three more major steps before the redevelopments can begin.

Massive crowds attended again this year, over 600k. It fell just short of last years number but that wasn't unexpected given the shocking weather. Last year the weather was just perfect, there really wasn't one day with extreme heat. This year the first week hovered in the mid 30's and the second week saw almost every day in the high 30's to low 40's. If the weather was decent I'm confident in saying we would have smashed last years number, smashed it. The fact that only 10k attended the Womens Semi's prevented the record from falling once again.

We set the single day record with 66 thousand and I was there and I couldn't believe how many people were around the place. It was unbelievable, you couldn't get a seast to any outdoor court where matches were being played.

As for the re-vamp, this is tremendous news. Asia are doing their best to try and steal the AO, the China Open is one of 4 premier WTA tournaments and the prizemoney they're offering is huge. There is now a 3 week Asian tour swing so really, Melbourne need to be on their toes.

 

[shiva25]

I think we should look at building another stadium like hisense for the general public.Ive had general admision tickets over the last 2 years and trying to get in to watch some of these games on outside courts as well as Hisense can be a real headache due to the increasing crowds that seem to be attending every year.You wont have any trouble filling another stadium with people on any given day and it would make it a lot more easy for spectators to see more tennis comfortably without the long waits to get into an arena

 

[Drummond]

I think we should look at building another stadium like hisense for the general public.Ive had general admision tickets over the last 2 years and trying to get in to watch some of these games on outside courts as well as Hisense can be a real headache due to the increasing crowds that seem to be attending every year.You wont have any trouble filling another stadium with people on any given day and it would make it a lot more easy for spectators to see more tennis comfortably without the long waits to get into an arena

I completely agree. I think it was day 4 where there were people everywhere and you couldn’t get a seat in Margaret Court or SC2. The outside courts were absolutely packed and I took this picture…

That was Safarova's 2nd round match which I really wanted to see. As you can see, I just couldn't get a seat or even a standing position to see the match. I think I just sat in the shade for half an hour then watched Gulbis and Gasquet train which was good.

It was like that for a few days, basically as one match finished people wouldn’t get up because they didn’t want to lose their seat. I think they should at least look at the possibility of building another show court, similar to SC2/3. I guess the problem is that it would probably remove 3 or 4 outside courts and they don't have very many practice courts as it is. They needs all these courts for 1st round matches/practice and juniors. And the other negative is that the tournament obviously becomes less active after the frst week, so the need for a show court would die after say the first Saturday. Space is also an issue. It's a pretty big complex but is it big enough? The Hisense part of the venue is a lot less crowded. I had tickets to Hisense for Monday-Thursday and even if I didn’t plan on watching the match there I’d often just walk over there to escape all the people.

I still think a show court where they held that Spiegelworld would be the most appropriate. But that’s like a major corporate/entertaining area now….

 

[matt_897]

Yeah, there is a need for another show court but it's going to be really hard to find a place to put it which is the big problem. As Drummond said, Spigelworld or whatever that place is the only area really left.

 

[aaronm46]

I think the improvement of Melbourne Park would see the Open remain here for a long long time

 

[douglyzia]

This massive revamp would be beneficial but I can't see the Open going anywhere. I agree though something needs to be done about the heat. I know they are professional players but it's a bit much expecting players to slog it out for a few hours in intense heat that the average person wouldn't last a few minutes under.

 

[Drummond]

Watching Wimbledon has got me thinking. They've now introduced their band new Court 2, and next year they will have a virtually identical court for Court 3. The Australian Open really needs another showcourt IMO, and we need more modern facilities. I found this picture of a 'facelift' of the Open, looks pretty interesting...

 

[Drummond]

[YOUTUBE]wyOAtcWYmt4[/YOUTUBE]

Bring. It. On.

 

[OzBomber]

Tbh they should've expanded Margsret Court Arena. 6000 is pretty small. Should've expanded it to 10,000 then hae the roof.

I like the look of the environment roof area. Great for the hot days. The Aus Open doesn't seem to have the aura about it that the rest do. I guess the only good thing about it is that it's the most open of the tournaments considering it's the first slam after the off season break.

 

[matt_897]

I agree about MCA, imagine how packed it will be every day with people tryign to get out of the sun. On hot days, 10,000 won't be enough. It'd probably be unpractable to do though. As much as I am fan of not getting sunburnt, not getting to seat to MCA would be a lot worse.

 

[gaelictiogar]

The AO suffers the same problems the USPGA does in golf in that it is the runt in the grand slam litter. It is possible to forget it really only became accepted as a full blown slam in the 1980s and the likes of Connors, Borg etc rarely came over.

Wimbledon is the queen and the only Major grass event. US Open is the other great old long established ticks all the boxes slams and is hardcourt. Paris is the only clay slam and the climax of the clay season. Melbourne is? A sort of US Open mark 2 rather like the PGA is a US golf Open mark 2.

 

[pepsi]

The AO suffers the same problems the USPGA does in golf in that it is the runt in the grand slam litter. It is possible to forget it really only became accepted as a full blown slam in the 1980s and the likes of Connors, Borg etc rarely came over.

Wimbledon is the queen and the only Major grass event. US Open is the other great old long established ticks all the boxes slams and is hardcourt. Paris is the only clay slam and the climax of the clay season. Melbourne is? A sort of US Open mark 2 rather like the PGA is a US golf Open mark 2.

I could not disagree any more. While the Aus Open was the little sibling that know one cared about 20+ years ago, it has come into its own over the last 20 years and established itself up there with the other slams. If you were to ask the players if they put the Aus Open up there with the other slams, and I can guarantee you they would say yes. You think Nadal sees his first hard court grand slam title less than the other slams he has won? I doubt it. You think Monica Seles and Martina Hingis, who both captured multiple Aus Open titles, would consider the Aus Open less of a grand slam title as the US Golf Open is seen? I doubt it.

The Aus Open is now the highest attended grand slam tournament out of all four, it brings thousands of international and interstate tourists, is Australia's biggest annual event and the settingis fantastic.

I cant actually believe people still think that the Aus Open is still a grand slam that is not the equal of the others.

 

[hirdy_is_champ]

I could not disagree any more. While the Aus Open was the little sibling that know one cared about 20+ years ago, it has come into its own over the last 20 years and established itself up there with the other slams. If you were to ask the players if they put the Aus Open up there with the other slams, and I can guarantee you they would say yes. You think Nadal sees his first hard court grand slam title less than the other slams he has won? I doubt it. You think Monica Seles and Martina Hingis, who both captured multiple Aus Open titles, would consider the Aus Open less of a grand slam title as the US Golf Open is seen? I doubt it.

The Aus Open is now the highest attended grand slam tournament out of all four, it brings thousands of international and interstate tourists, is Australia's biggest annual event and the settingis fantastic.

I cant actually believe people still think that the Aus Open is still a grand slam that is not the equal of the others.

Not to mention the Aus open should be considered better than the US Open due to the fact that they play final set tiebreakers, and not advantage sets. Its the only grand slam with this set up, the ITF should tell them to change it.

 

[matt_897]

The AO suffers the same problems the USPGA does in golf in that it is the runt in the grand slam litter. It is possible to forget it really only became accepted as a full blown slam in the 1980s and the likes of Connors, Borg etc rarely came over.

Wimbledon is the queen and the only Major grass event. US Open is the other great old long established ticks all the boxes slams and is hardcourt. Paris is the only clay slam and the climax of the clay season. Melbourne is? A sort of US Open mark 2 rather like the PGA is a US golf Open mark 2.

Useless post, because that has a lot to do by the upgrade of Melbourne Park facitlities

Australian Open has got it's own charm, yes it has been only the last 20 years where it's has become a full blown slam, everything about it now proves why it's own unique slam, fans, players, blue courts etc. It stands on it own.

Argubly the US PGA stands on its own as well, look at the crowds that went to Hazeltine this year, ok it isn't rated as the same as the other 3 but still a big tournament.

 

[gaelictiogar]

I didn't say the PGA wasn't big. It is big. It is the fourth most prestigious tournament in golf.

Equally the AO. Of course it is big but do you guys honestly believe that if any player was offered one, just one slam, in his career that any would choose melbourne. Not a chance. there is a clear hierarchy and always has been.

Wimbledon is and always has been the undisputed number one. The US Open is the only tournament with a history and winners list going back to the distant past which rivals Wimbledon. It is clearly number two. The French came later than those two but is the conclusion of the European clay season, is in a massively iconic city - probably the world's most visited and favourite city - and is ahead of the AO which is fourth and miles ahead of the fifth.

Only an Australian would argue agains the obvious reality of that.

 

[Drummond]

Okay so this picture has me a little confused:

To me it has:

- RLA
- Hisense
- Magaret Court
- SC2/SC3
- 4 new mini show courts (3 surrounding SC3, one in the far left corner)
- 9 outside courts

That's 18 courts. This year there were 22, about 19-20 of which were playing courts. What I don't get (by looking at that pic) is that surely they're not just having Hisense and NO courts around it? To me it seems pretty stupid having a main court and no other courts nearby.

I realise there's all those new practice courts, great for players, I assume that's still a part of the facility so you can wander over there?

Have they began any work on the redevelopment or not? I assume not.

[YOUTUBE]DCbSo-UgSZg[/YOUTUBE]

Sweet vid, with jazzy music.

Looks absolutely amazing, when it's done it will be sensational. Player facilities will be top notch, ditto media. I guess a few of my questions have been answered; roughly the same about of match courts, with practice courts in the 'Eastern Plaza'. Still don't get the lack of courts near Hisense, what are they going to do with all that space? I have no clue how they're going to fit all this in, like how will they fit a court behind SC3?? I guess all those toilets, temporary media tents can be relocated, but the vid makes it seem like there's tons of room!