2 February 2015 | Tennis West

For two weeks the world’s top tennis players have excited and delighted fans at Melbourne Park.

 

Now, as top seeds Serena Williams (USA) and Novak Djokovic (SRB) celebrate their Grand Slam victories, we look back at Australian Open 2015.

 

On-court action

• World No.1 and tournament top seed Serena Williams (USA) won her sixth Australian Open crown and 19^th Grand Slam title with victory over [2] Maria Sharapova (RUS) 6-3 7-6(5). Williams was presented the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup by tennis legend Martina Navratilova (USA) on the 30^th anniversary of her 1985 title win

 

• World No.1 [1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) celebrated his fifth Australian Open title and eighth Grand Slam victory with a four-set win over [6] Andy Murray (GBR) 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-0. Djokovic received the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup from Australian tennis icon Roy Emerson (Qld) on the 50^th anniversary of his 1965 championship victory

 

• Simone Bolelli (ITA) and Fabio Fognini (ITA) claimed the men’s doubles title, defeating French pair Pierre Hugues-Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 6-4 6-4

 

• Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) and Lucie Safarova (CZE) took out the women’s doubles, posting a 6-4 7-6(5) win over [14] Yung-Jan Chan (TPE) and Jie Zheng (CHN)

 

• 7 seeds Martina Hingis (SUI) and Leander Paes (IND) took out the mixed doubles crown ahead of defending champions [3] Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) and Daniel Nestor (CAN) 6-4 6-3

 

• Unseeded Tereza Mihalikova (SVK) defeated [14] Katie Swan (GBR) 6-1 6-4 to win the girls’ singles title

 

• Russian top seed Roman Safiullin won the boys’ singles championship, defeating [7] Seong-chan Hong (KOR) 7-5 7-6(2)

 

• Fifteen Grand Slam champions contested the main singles draw: [1] Novak Djokovic (SRB), [2] Roger Federer (SUI), [3] Rafael Nadal (ESP), [4] Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI), [6] Andy Murray (GBR), Lleyton Hewitt (AUS), [1] Serena Williams (USA), [2] Maria Sharapova (RUS), [4] Petra Kvitova (CZE), [5] Ana Ivanovic (SRB), [18] Venus Williams (USA), [20] Samantha Stosur (AUS), Victoria Azarenka (BLR), Francesca Schiavone (ITA) and Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)

 

• Forty-nine nations were represented among the 256 players competing in main draw singles. There were 41 countries represented in the men’s singles, including 12 players from Spain, and 34 in the women’s singles draw, including 16 players from the USA. The USA was the most represented nation overall, with 21 players in action

 

• A total of 704 players competed across all events, including juniors, wheelies and legends

 

• Marius Copil (ROU) sent down the fastest serve of the tournament at 242km/h, while Milos Raonic (CAN) served the most aces of any player in the men’s draw with 114 to his name

 

• Serena Williams (USA) posted the fastest serve in the women’s draw at 204km/h and served the most aces of any female player with 88 in total

 

• Seventeen Australians took part in the main draw singles, with 11 players advancing to the second round, three to the third round, two to the fourth round and one to the quarterfinals

 

• Aussie Nick Kyrgios (ACT) won his way into the quarters with wins over Federico Delbonis (ARG), Ivo Karlovic (CRO), Malek Jaziri (TUN) and Andreas Seppi (ITA) before falling to [6] Andy Murray (GBR)

 

• Aussie juniors Jake Delaney (NSW) and Marc Polmans (Vic) overcame [8] Hubert Hurkacz (POL) and Alex Molcan (SVK) 0-6 6-2 [10-8] to take out their maiden Grand Slam boys’ doubles crown

 

• Seventeen former top 10 players – including three former world No.1s: Mats Wilander (SWE), Martina Navratilova (USA) and Lindsay Davenport (USA) – contested the Big Mac Legends event

 

• Dylan Alcott (Vic) took out the quad wheelchair singles title, becoming the first Australian to win the competition. Shingo Kunieda (JPN) and Jiske Griffioen (NED) took out the men’s and women’s wheelchair singles titles respectively. Top seeds Shingo Kunieda (JPN) and Stephane Houdet (FRA) won the men’s wheelchair doubles, while [1] Yui Kamiji (JPN) and Jordanne Whiley (GBR) claimed the women’s wheelchair doubles. David Wagner (USA) teamed with Andrew Lapthorne (GBR) to win the quad wheelchair doubles.

 

Attendance

• A record 703,899 fans flocked to Australian Open 2015, smashing the previous record of 686,006 set in 2012

 

• Ten sessions attracted a record crowd, including a first Monday day/night record of 71,151 The previous first Monday day/night record of 63,595 fans was set in 2014

 

• Heineken Saturday on the middle weekend of the tournament was the busiest of the 2015 event, with 81,031 fans on site at Melbourne Park

 

• More than 1800 tennis fans sailed to Melbourne Park on P&O Cruises’ second annual Australian Open cruise

 

• Famous faces from across the sporting world to attend the event included: Adam Scott, Steve Smith, Steve Waugh, Lydia Lassila, Layne Beachley, Cameron Smith, Jimmy Bartel, Gary Ablett Jnr, Liz Cambage, Billy Slater, Ian Thorpe, Adam Goodes, David Hale, Liesel Jones and Sharelle McMahon

 

• Other famous faces in the crowd included: Eric Bana, Toni Collette, Geoffrey Rush, Magda Szubanski, Kate Ritchie, Ryan Corr, Josh Thomas, Carla Zampatti and Livinia Nixon, musicians Kenny Rogers, Niall Horan, Kate Ceberano and Natalie Bassingthwaite, celebrity chefs Heston Blumenthal and Matt Preston, Australian of the Year Rosie Batty along with finalist Deborra-Lee Furness

 

• Fans on Grand Slam Oval were entertained by headline music acts Sneaky Sound System, Sheppard, Megan Washington, The Potbelleez, Daryl Braithwaite and more

 

Media

• More than 650 journalists, photographers and videographers from 283 media outlets provided detailed coverage of the Australian Open, including 296 international media from 44 different countries. There were 78 Asian media representatives on site, including 37 from Japan and 25 from China.

 

Tournament operations

• The Wilson stringers hut restrung 4763 racquets, using more than 57km of string

 

• 71 racquets were rapidly restrung for players during matches

 

• [1] Serena Williams (USA) had the most racquets restrung of all players in the main draw, sending 86 racquets to the stringers

 

• Matches were officiated by 360 chair umpires, linespersons and Hawkeye reviewers from 34 Approximately 68 umpires and 228 linespeople per day officiated matches in the early rounds of the tournament

 

• There were 380 ballkids including 327 from Victoria, 25 from interstate, 20 from Korea, six from China and two from Singapore

 

• Players and celebrities including world No.3 Rafael Nadal (ESP), two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka (BLR), four-time men’s singles champion Jim Courier (USA) and tennis legends Chris Evert (USA) and Goran Ivanisevic (CRO) participated in video interviews for Kia Open Drive. Videos can be viewed on the official Australian Open YouTube channel

 

• 8412 staff, contractors and volunteers employed by Tennis Australia, Melbourne Olympic Parks Trust (MOPT) and catering suppliers Delaware North worked behind the scenes to deliver Australian Open 2015.

 

Community tennis

• Almost 14,500 fans attended the third annual Kids Tennis Day presented by Nickelodeon on Saturday 17 January, highlighted by the Rod Laver Arena Spectacular featuring Roger Federer (SUI), Ana Ivanovic (SRB), Victoria Azarenka (BLR), Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) and Australian rising stars Nick Kyrgios (ACT) and Thanasi Kokkinakis (SA)

 

• More than 1000 tennis fans played ANZ Tennis Hot Shots on Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena, show courts and multiple outside courts ahead of the day sessions during the tournament

 

• More than 12,000 visitors played ANZ Tennis Hot Shots on Court 4 and on the mini courts in Garden Square including Australia’s Bernard Tomic (Qld) and Australian test cricket captain Steve Smith

 

• More than 30,000 people visited ANZ Fan Zone

 

• Cardio Tennis showcases featured on Margaret Court Arena in front of thousands of fans for the first time prior to night matches during the tournament

 

• Eight-year-old Anna Bishop, an ANZ Tennis Hot Shot of the Year nominee, had a hit of tennis on Rod Laver Arena with Novak Djokovic (SRB) and was part of the women’s singles trophy presentation

 

• In the weeks leading up to Australian Open 2015, the brand new tennis format FAST4 was launched in Australia, first in Sydney with Roger Federer (SUI) and Lleyton Hewitt (SA) participating in One Night with Federer and Hewitt, then in Melbourne with Rafa’s Summer Set. Rafael Nadal (ESP) played FAST4 against Omar Jasika (Vic), Mark Philippoussis (Vic) and Fernando Verdasco (ESP) on Margaret Court Arena. John McEnroe and Patrick Rafter went head to head at the Apia International Sydney, while the Australian Open Big Mac Legends tournament also featured the FAST4 format

 

• More than 7000 kids and parents enjoyed a Disney experience over the last three days of the tournament. Hisense Arena was transformed into a magical family experience, featuring the much loved Disney and Disney-Pixar worlds of Never Land (Disney Fairies and Jake the Never Land Pirate), Arendelle (Frozen), Radiator Springs (Cars), Andy’s Room (Toy Story) and San Fransokyo (Big Hero 6)

 

• The AO Tennis Blitz matched up tennis-loving towns around Australia with all 256 main draw singles players. Women’s champion Serena Williams (USA) was supported throughout her Australian Open 2015 campaign by Casino, NSW. Men’s champion Novak Djokovic (SRB) was supported by Kendall, NSW. Towns ‘won’ a player by completing tennis challenges in the lead-up to the event

 

• Australian tennis great Neale Fraser was honoured at the annual Legends Lunch. Fraser was joined at the celebratory event by fellow legends of the sport Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe, Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, Martina Navratilova and many more.

 

Digital and social media

• Before the men’s final there were more than 5 million unique visitors to ausopen.com throughout the tournament period

 

• The most popular female players of the event were Madison Keys (212,748 player profile views), Eugenie Bouchard (198,381), Serena Williams (195,585), Maria Sharapova (176,404) and Ekaterina Makarova (129,614). The most popular male players were Nick Kyrgios (208,863), Novak Djokovic (180,102), Rafael Nadal (159,638), Roger Federer (153,255) and Andy Murray (128,000)

 

• The Australian Open Facebook page grew to 1,549,586 likes and attracted more than 1.4 million total engagements

 

• On Twitter, @australianopen grew to 711,319 followers. The most retweeted #ausopen post was @jnarls’ video link: “We’re ready for you – Australian Open 2015″

 

• The official Australian Open App was downloaded 1,199,509 times across iPhone, iPad and Android devices.