The Australian Open for professional tennis players in Melbourne will be played over 15 days from next year instead of the current 14 days.
The Australian Open for tennis professionals in Melbourne will be played over 15 days from next year instead of just 14. This was announced by tournament director Craig Tiley on Tuesday. Organisers of the traditional first Grand Slam tournament of a new season, scheduled for 14-28 January in 2024, hope the 24-hour advance of the opener will equalise the overall schedule and avoid night matches.
“We’ve listened to feedback from players and fans and are introducing a solution that minimises very late decisions,” said Tiley: “The extra day will benefit players and fans in terms of match scheduling.”
At this year’s Australian Open, duels that lasted well into the night had caused resentment among the active players and spectators alike. One match between Britain’s Andy Murray and the local Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis ended at 4.05 a.m. after 5:45 hours of play. According to the tournament organisers, data analyses would also have generally shown a longer playing time and would have been taken into account in the decision to introduce the additional tournament day.