Brand-new ‘party court’; major change to fix 4am problem: What’s new at 2024 Aus Open

This year, outside court six might be the place to go.

The Australian Open has built a two-storey Courtside Bar right alongside the court, with a capacity for more than 400 fans to drink, eat, listen to live DJs – and watch the best of the action.

Tournament Director Craig Tiley told foxsports.com.au in October: “I think the idea about the courtside bar is just it’s an elevated experience for our fans on all the courts.

“We’re gonna give this a go on outside court six and basically, what it is, we just wrapped the court with a two storey structure where fans can actually lean over, watch the tennis, sit down.

“(They can) enjoy a bit to eat, enjoy a drink and the feedback we get is that the fans want to get closer to it, so we bring them closer to it at the same time.

“As entertainment, I think it’d be a hit. I think it’d be very popular and will be something where everyone wants to go.

“You get to see a great view of the tennis. We do want to create an environment where the fans can get as close to the actual play as they possibly can. And we know we have the best environment anyway.”

The tournament director said in an official statement when the news was announced: “We expect this will quickly become known as the ‘party court’.”

The move follows in the footsteps of LIV Golf’s Adelaide event, which featured the ‘Watering Hole’ at the 12th on the Grange Golf Club. It was an instant hit at the inaugural event in 2023, especially when Chase Koepka nailed a hole-in-one and was showered with beer from rowdy fans.

It’s not the only famous party hole in golf, with TPC Scottsdale in Phoenix’s 16th hole famed for its rowdy atmosphere with a 200,000-seat grandstand and countless bars forming ‘the loudest hole in the world’.

Tennis is clearly sitting up and taking notice – and if the Courtside Bar is a success this year, the tournament is planning on building more venues alongside courts in the future.

THE SUNDAY START

For the first time ever, the Australian Open will take place over 15 days, with the main draw to begin a day earlier than normal on Sunday the 14th.

It’s a significant step, but there’s some very good reasons behind the move.

Primarily, by adding an additional day of play, it means that fewer matches need to be scheduled each day – reducing the number of evening sessions that stretch well beyond midnight.

Last year, Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis played out a five hour, 45 minute epic that finished after 4am in Melbourne.

This year, day sessions on Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena – the two centrepiece courts – will have a minimum of two matches scheduled instead of three.

Night sessions will stay at a minimum of two matches. But there’s less chance of the day session stretching overtime due to having one fewer match – meaning we could see those extreme late nights eliminated.

The Australian Open has long refused to implement a night-time cut-off which would see matches halted midway through should they stretch beyond midnight (or 1am, for example).

But the new schedule should help to alleviate what has been a long-running issue.

Last year – and in many other editions of the tournament – Melbourne’s fickle weather rained out a host of matches and forced a backlog of clashes that had to be rescheduled, contributing to the run of late nights.

By stretching the tournament out a day – and scheduling three days for first round action instead of two – fans get to see more tennis at a friendlier time, and players won’t bear the brunt of extreme late nights that reduce recovery time and can effectively ruin their chances in the next round.

WHAT ELSE TO LOOK OUT FOR

There’s plenty of other additions that will make this year’s first major a special one.

Melbourne Park has added plenty more shade, particularly at the popular Garden Square which has a giant new shade pavilion. After fans toughed out scorching temperatures in recent tournaments, the redesign of the precinct should prove popular – and the Australian Open is also looking to add even more shaded areas in the years to come.

On the court, the quad wheelchair draw has been doubled from eight players to 16, matching the 16-draw men’s and women’s open wheelchair events.

And currently underway is ‘Opening Week’ – the week of qualifiers and live entertainment before the main draw begins. As part of an expanded program, this year the AO is also handing out 6,000 free tennis racquets (until Friday 12 Jan) to encourage kids to join the Hots Shots Tennis program. Hots Shots Tennis is designed for kids aged three and up.