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Matt WalshJan 14, 2026, 05:03 PM ET
CloseMatt Walsh has been with ESPN for more than seven years, covering AFL football, tennis, and other sports both online and in podcast form.MELBOURNE, Australia -- The first round of the Australian Open is still days away, and we don't know who will face who as the draw is yet to be released, but the Australian Open is already in full swing and more than 100,000 fans have already come through the gates.
Grand Slams have traditionally been 'two-week events', that, to most of the public, begin with the first round of action on a Sunday or Monday, and conclude two weeks later with the women's and men's finals played in front of packed stadiums.
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But a quiet revolution has been sweeping Melbourne Park. Tournament director Craig Tiley has made no secret of his crusade to ensure the Australian Open -- nicknamed the happy Slam -- is a favourite amongst players and fans.
And coining the week usually reserved for qualifiers, and off-Broadway, media-only events like the seedings and draws to be part of an expanded 'Opening Week' is a masterstoke that has already paid off.
For three days, the Monday through Wednesday of the Opening Week, 100,443 fans have poured through the gates at Melbourne Park. It's been busy. There have been queues for food vendors, and trams have been packed. Through three days last year, at the most attended Australian Open of all time? 47,095 punters attended -- fewer than half.
But this isn't luck, on the part of Tiley and co., but a calculated effort to bring more people into the tournament and ensure the Australian Open remains the people's Slam.
All of the tournament's advertising featured January 12 as the start date. Opening Week, while possibly vague in its meaning (is it Round 1, or is it qualifying?), was plastered everywhere. And there has been a big push to bring big names -- whether tennis players, music acts, or food and beverage vendors -- into Melbourne Park early to enhance the product and atmosphere.
Take Wednesday night's night's '1 Point Slam'. A simple premise; a bracket of pros such as Coco Gauff, Carlos Alcaraz, and Jannik Sinner against local celebrities and amateur Australians, all vying for a A$1 million (US$668k) cash prize. Win one point and move on. No second chances. High drama, quality entertainment.
Last year, it was a daytime event, on the much-smaller court at Kia Arena (which may hold 5,000 if full), and it wasn't televised across the world. This year, Tiley pushed it into prime time, in front of a sold out 14,000 people at Rod Laver Arena, and ensured it was beamed across the world.
And everyone bought in. Nerves were high amongst qualifiers and the pros, who weren't given the luxury of a second serve. If they served a fault, they were out. It led to softer 'second serve' action, bringing the amateurs into the contest. Who served and received was determined by the age-old classic: rock, paper, scissors.
So entertaining was the idea, that social media was abuzz with tennis fans wanting more. Next year in Melbourne, at the other Slams. Even top-ranked pros had levels of FOMO.
And even more satisfying for everyone involved, it was an amateur, Jordan Smith from New South Wales, who won the event and the million, defeating two-time defending Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner (who faulted to become eliminated), and top 10-ranked woman Amanda Anisimova on his way to the final, beating world no. 117 (and 1 Point Slam qualifier) Joanna Garland in the final.
The event was entertaining, if a little drawn out, with a few too many ad breaks (but hey, they pay the bills), but the idea has legs and will only grow in the future.
And there's more to come. Roger Federer will grace Rod Laver Arena once again, in what's been dubbed the inaugural 'Opening Ceremony' on Saturday night, the night before the main draw commences. He will appear in a 'Battle of World No. 1s', alongside former rival Andre Agassi and Australian greats Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt.
Elsewhere throughout the week, Tiley has also invested heavily in the tennis-adjacent entertainment as well. World class music acts have been booked to perform, at reasonable prices, in the precinct during the usually-quieter qualies. UK pop group Hot Chip, DJ Elderbrook, legendary Aussie electronic act The Presets are among those performing to get fans through the gates.
The grounds of Melbourne Park have also been improved again. More green spaces, more shade, more bars, more food outlets, more to do and see. You could spend a day wandering the surrounds and not see a ball being hit -- and be satisfied.
Influencers and content creators, flashing their Open-sponsored accreditations around, have been hard at work showing off the dozens of unique and exotic food and drink vendors scattered around the grounds -- the biggest attraction being US burger giant Shake Shack, making its debut down under as a pop up for the year's first Slam. Social media is alive with content, and a main draw ball hasn't even been hit.
But while this is all positive for Tennis Australia, and Tiley, there's room for a healthy dose of skepticism too. Coining the qualifiers week as 'Opening Week' has resulted in a little angst from some fans, some of whom feel the week was misrepresented.
On TikTok, one fan described the practice as "super deceptive". Another said there was "no indication" that Opening Week referred to qualifying, and a third said "they really should have made it clearer" that it was not main draw action.
But that may just be a small sample size, and you can't argue with the numbers. 100,443 of them.
Having more than double the number of fans attending the first three days of Opening Week compared to 2025 is undoubtedly a roaring success for Tennis Australia, and just shows what innovation, investment in quality entertainment, infrustructure, and hospitality, and perhaps just a little cloudiness in marketing can achieve.
The Australian Open truly is a juggernaut. A world class event. A living, breathing behemoth that just keeps ticking the right boxes.