AO Press Release, January 28, 2018
For the past two weeks the world’s top tennis players have excited and delighted fans at Melbourne Park.
Now that the last ball has been hit for Australian Open 2018, the numbers are rolling in.
All data as at 6:00 pm AEDT, Sunday 28 January 2018 unless specified.
On-court action
* World No.2 Roger Federer (SUI) won his 20th Grand Slam title after defeating World No.6 Marin Cilic (CRO) 6-2 6-7(5) 6-3 3-6 6-1. Roger was presented the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup by Ashley Cooper AO on the 60th anniversary of his 1958 title win
* World No.2 Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) won her maiden Grand Slam crown with victory over world No.1 Simona Halep (ROU) 7-6(2) 3-6 6-4. Serena was presented the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup by tennis legend Billie Jean King (USA) on the 50th anniversary of her 1968 title win
* Seventh seeds Oliver Marach (AUT) and Mate Pavic (CRO) claimed their maiden Grand Slam doubles title, defeating [11] Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) and Robert Farah (COL) 6-4 6-4
* Fifth seeds Timea Babos (HUN) and Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) defeated Russian duo Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina to take out the women’s doubles, posting a 6-4 6-3 win
* Eighth seeds Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN) and Mate Pavic (CRO) defeated [5] Timea Bopas (HUN) and Rohan Bopanna (IND) 2-6 6-4 [11-9] to win the mixed doubles title
* Seventh seed Sebastian Korda (USA) won his first Grand Slam juniors title, defeating [6] Chun Hsin Tseng (TPE) 7-6(6) 6-4 in the boys’ singles
* Second seed En Shuo Liang (TPE) defeated Clara Burel (FRA) 6-3 6-4 to win the girls’ singles title
* Seventh seeds Hugo Gaston (FRA) and Clement Tabur (FRA) defeated Rudolf Molleker (GER) and Henri Squire (GER) 6-2 6-2
* Top seeds En Shuo Liang (TPE) and Xinyu Wang (CHN) defeated [7] Violet Apisah (PNG) and Lulu Sun (SUI) 7-6(4) 4-6 [10-5] to claim the junior girls’ doubles title
* Dylan Alcott (AUS) won the quad wheelchair singles title for the fourth consecutive year 7-6(1) 6-1 over top seed David Wagner (USA). Dylan also teamed-up with Heath Davidson (AUS) to win the quad wheelchair doubles
* Shingo Kunieda (JPN) and Diede De Groot (NED) took out the men’s and women’s wheelchair singles titles respectively. Second seeds Stephane Houdet (FRA) and Nicolas Peifer (FRA) won the men’s wheelchair doubles, while Marjolein Buis (NED) and Yui Kamiji (JPN) claimed the women’s wheelchair doubles.
* Fifty-six nations were represented among the 256 players competing in main draw singles. With 31 players in action the USA was the most represented nation overall followed by France with 18
* A total of 745 players from 72 nations competed across all events, including juniors, qualifying, wheelies and legends
* Jack Sock (USA) and Alexander Zverev (GER) both sent down the fastest serve of the tournament so far at 222km/h
* Ivo Karlovic (CRO) has served the most aces of any player in the men’s draw so far with 126 to his name
* Madison Keys (USA) and Timea Babos (HUN) posted the fastest serve in the women’s draw at 192km/h
* Naomi Osaka (JPN) served the most aces of any female player with 36 in total
* Seventeen Australians took part in the main draw singles, with six players advancing to the second round, two to the third round and one to the fourth round
* Aussie [17] Nick Kyrgios won his way into the fourth round with wins over Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA), Viktor Troicki (SRB) and [15] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) before falling to [3] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
* Australian rising-star [18] Ashleigh Barty won her way to the third round with wins over Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) and Camilla Giorgi (ITA) before falling to Naomi Osaka (JPN).
Attendance
* In 2018, a record 743,667 fans shared in the excitement of the Australian Open, smashing the previous attendance record of 728,763 set in 2017
* For the second time in the tournament’s history, attendance in the first week surpassed 500,000 fans with 505,443. It beats the previous record of 503,382 for Australian Open 2017
* Coopers Saturday on the middle weekend of the tournament was the busiest of any day/night in tournament history, with 87,438 fans on site at Melbourne Park
* Eight sessions drew a record crowd including the first Tuesday day, first Saturday day, second Monday day and second Wednesday day and night.
* The FAST4 Showdown in Sydney on Monday 8 January saw Nick Kyrgios, Lleyton Hewitt and captain Wally Masur take on Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov and captain Thomas Johansson in a blockbuster event held at Ken Rosewall Arena for the first time. The event showcased the innovative FAST4 format developed by Tennis Australia and launched in 2015.
* Tiebreak Tens was held on Margaret Court Arena for the first time on Wednesday 10 January. The event saw Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Milos Raonic, Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios, Lucas Pouille, Lleyton Hewitt and eventual winner Tomas Berdych compete.
* The sixth annual Kids Tennis Day on Saturday 13 January saw Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Milos Raonic and Caroline Wozniacki, along with a surprise visit from Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis who presented one lucky winner with a trip to Disneyland. A total of 16,129 attended the event at Melbourne Park.
* Fans at the AO Live Stage were entertained by headline music acts Rudimental, Tina Arena, Peking Duk, Vera Blue, Meg Mac, the Hoodoo Gurus, Client Liaison, Daryl Braithwaite and more
* During the tournament, more than 55,000 fans attended the free AO Festival on Upper Terrace, enjoying the best of Melbourne dining and drinking options
* Famous faces attended the event including: Will Smith, Will Ferrell, Gordon Ramsay, Chris Hemsworth, Eric Bana, Mark Webber, Dannii Minogue, Dave Hughes Olympia Valance, Steve Smith, Molly Meldrum, Carrie Bickmore, Jessica McNamee, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, David Campbell, Manu Feildel, Andy Lee, Lauren Phillips, Tom Hawkins, Peter Helliar, Dami Im, Jimmy Rollins, Gary Ablett Jr, Chris and Rebecca Judd, Emma Watkins and Lachy Gillespie (The Wiggles), Patrick Dangerfield, Jessica Gomes, Tessa James, Mack Horton, Lisa Wilkinson, Waleed Aly, Joel Creasey, Michael Klim, Livinia Nixon, Marcus Bontempelli, Joel Selwood, Jimmy and Nadia Bartel, Kate Waterhouse, Luke Ricketson, Neale Daniher, Michael Klim, Billy Brownless, Rob Mills, Michelle Payne Glenn Maxwell, Alex Nation, Peter Siddle, Glenn Maxwell, Ricky Ponting, Travis Cloke, Steve Hooker, Jared Talent, Anthony Callea, Tim Campbell, Silvana Philippoussis, Bernard Curry, Montana Cox, Travis Cloke, Lola Berry, Jacinta Stapleton.
* The tournament held its third edition of the Australian Open Inspirational Series as part of women’s semifinals day. The theme for this special symposium was Empowering Leaders and focused on how to be an agent for change. Billie Jean King was the special guest at the event and she was honoured as the Australian Open Woman of the Year on Rod Laver Arena later in the day. Other guests included Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, Jelena Dokic, Ann Cairns, Sam Mostyn, Natasha Stott Despoja and Holly Ransom.
* Evonne Goolagong-Cawley was presented with her Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AC) in a special ceremony by the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove, in his capacity as the Chancellor of the Order of Australia.
* Natalie O’Donnell sung the national anthem prior to the women’s final.
* Anthony Calea sung the national anthem prior to the men’s final.
* Australian tennis great Mal Anderson was honoured at the annual Legends Lunch. In 1957, Anderson was the first unseeded player to win the US National Singles Championships. He played successfully on the Australian Davis Cup team in 1957, 1958, 1972 and 1973, helping the Aussies claim the 1957 and 1973 championships, both against the United States. Anderson was joined at the celebratory event by fellow legends of the sport including Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe, Neale Fraser, Ashley Cooper, Roy Emerson, Martina Navratilova, Lindsay Davenport, Goran Ivanisevic, Pat Cash and more.
Media
* More than 413 journalists and 173 photographers provided detailed coverage of the Australian Open, from 43 different countries
* There were 780 broadcast personnel including 511 international broadcast personnel from 24 international broadcast groups, 251 domestic broadcast personnel from one domestic broadcaster and 18 domestic news access groups
* More than 58 colourful media opportunities took place across the two weeks. Highlights included Karolina Pliskova, Sascha Zverev, David Goffin and Elina Svitolina meeting some Aussie animals, Marta Kostyuk made a splash at Albert Park Beach, Marin Cilic found his artistic side at the National Gallery of Victoria and Carla Suarez-Navarro took to Melbourne’s iconic Luna Park
* More than 1,000 press conferences took place during the tournament
* Tennis Australia Game Insight Group crunched 115 million bytes of data.
Host broadcast
* Tennis Australia’s Host Broadcast team produced more than 840 matches live, including all main draw, juniors, legends and wheelchair matches plus countless practice sessions
* In its fourth year of managing the Australian Open host broadcast, Tennis Australia provided the most comprehensive broadcast coverage of any Grand Slam including up to 16 match courts boasting coverage of all matches in all draw
* The host broadcast team covered eight practice courts
* A new suite of virtual graphics including three never before seen GCams adding chroma key graphics from overhead cameras onto the court surface on RLA, MCA and HA and up to three other cameras with virtual heads on RLA
* New scoring graphics with a cool design and faster automation of scores and all new suite of specialty openers, replay wipes, transitions and bumpers including a brand new high-end opener featuring at the start of our coverage on all host courts each session
* Integration of new statistics and analysis from the Tennis Australia Game Insight Group – including win predictor, pre and during matches, and player work rates throughout matches
* In a first for any Grand Slam, Australian Open 2018 featured an alternate output of RLA in UHD/4K with 4K graphics and Dolby Atmos 9.1 surround sound
* There were 154 individual host broadcast cameras across Melbourne Park and around the city, capturing all the action on and off the court
* Total of six NetCams across three the stadium courts at AO (RLA, MCA and HA)
* Additional crane camera inside Hisense Arena plus an outside techno crane hitting three different locations throughout the tournament
* There were seven new behind-the-scenes cameras which included full coverage of all of the new amazing player zones, player arrivals and other key areas
* To showcase the 26 behind-the-scenes cameras, a brand new dedicated behind the scenes switched feed at AO
* Twenty-seven replay machines with more than 80 channels of recordings creating up to 320TB of online storage
* Total 419 staff and freelance crew plus 23 talent across the host broadcast and world feed on-site
* Brand new walk-on at RLA including all new design, lighting and LED integrations (with small replicas at MCA and HA)
* Continued use of Hawkeye 4K ultramotion cameras on RLA, MCA and HA
* New remote coverage plan including upgrade of wide shot cameras, addition of a dedicated camera operator for five courts, introduction of SimplyLive touch screen system
* Additional commentary on Show Court 3 matches (on top of RLA, MCA and HA which we’ve done in the past)
Domestic broadcast
* Seven Network’s cumulative reach for Days 1-12 of AO 2018 is 10.5 million viewers on TV. There were 78.8 million cumulative streaming minutes on Seven’s online channels across the first 12 days (+73% YOY).
* Seven Network saw its network share rise to 28.26% on night 13 with the Women’s Singles Final, its fourth highest for the tournament with an average of 1 million viewers. The final drew 1,218,095 total viewers to be the number one program for the night. In particular, the trophy presentation averaged 1,152,000 viewers.
* Day 7 of Australian Open 2018 saw Seven Network achieve a 44% metro FTA share at night, with the Dimitrov vs Kyrgios match peaking at more than 2.1 million combined viewers.
International broadcast
* AO 2018 has been aired live in more than 220 territories on more than 65 different TV channels, reaching more than 900 million homes.
* In Korea, the breakthrough performances of Hyeon Chung at AO 2018 saw JTBC broadcast a Grand Slam match live on its primary channel for the first time on Day 10. The total audience was a record 1,414,000 viewers between 972,000 on JTBC and 442,000 on JTBC Fox Sports.
* In total, Australian Open had seven of the top 10 most watched Grand Slam transmissions ever on JTBC Fox Sports including Chung vs Djokovic 2018 (averaged then record 437,500 viewers).
* In China and a grand slam first, all courts of Qualifying and of the Main Draw were streamed live by iQIYI. In total, over 575 matches.
* Also in China, a minimum 96 hours of live coverage were scheduled by state broadcaster CCTV, of which 40 hours were on CCTV-5, their main sports channel. In addition, provincial networks Beijing TV, Guangdong TV and Shanghai TV showed live and delayed coverage every day.
* In Japan, despite Kei Nishikori’s absence, there was an increase in the number of people tuning into the delayed coverage shown on NHK every night.
* Alongside main rights holder Sony 6, state broadcaster DD Sports in India have aired both singles finals live. And in Pakistan, live matches from week two were aired by state broadcaster PTV Sports.
* In Europe, the performances of Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki have helped Eurosport record impressive ratings for the first 10 days of AO 2018 across its main 11 markets: Germany, Poland, Romania, UK, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Spain and France. In particular, Eurosport in Denmark (+64%) and Romania (70%) are among numerous markets to have shown a significant growth in audience versus 2017.
* Additional live Free-To-Air coverage in Europe will have been provided by Kanal 5 (Denmark), SSR SRG (Switzerland), HRT (Croatia), C8 (France), RTVS (Slovakia) and extended highlights by the BBC (UK), MTVA (Hungary) and VRT (Belgium).
* In sub-Saharan Africa, the renewal with SuperSport has seen new Free-To-Air coverage in up to 11 territories, including Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia and Uganda.
* More than 720 aircrafts, up from 530 in 2017, on 12 airlines around the world have aired the AO live each day on Sport 24, including Emirates, Etihad, Air Qatar, Etihad and American Airlines.
* There were 47 cruise ships from 11 different cruise lines including P&O Cruises, NCL and Cunard have showed the AO live each day on Sport 24.
* All the key stories of each day, on and off the court, have been aired on thousands of TV channels and online portals around the world through footage provided by news agencies, including TV Asahi, Nippon TV, Thomson Reuters, SNTV, Omnisport.
* On radio, BBC Radio 5 Live have broadcast AO 2018 live every day to the UK audience, as well as Syrius XM in the USA and TalkSport throughout Europe.
Digital walls
* 750 square metres of digital LED screens were used across all three stadiums at Melbourne Park – Rod Laver Arena (300), Margaret Court Arena (250) and Hisense Arena (200)
* More than 2000 LED screen modules used across the three arenas
* Introduction of Tier 2 LED screens in Rod Laver Arena delivering new content and real time match statistics
* More than 200 moving lights were installed around the arena catwalk, at the top of stadium aisles and on the court. A light beam effect filled the entire stadium and interplay with 360 degree video elements across the digital walls
* Customised digital wall video content featured the player match-ups each night
* More than 200 content elements designed and produced specifically for the 360 degree digital wall canvas
* Expanded production across on-court ceremonies on opening night, Australia Day, Inspirational Women’s Day and pre-match to women’s and men’s singles finals
* The Emirates EK-Cam in Rod Laver Arena allowed fans with smartphones in hand to control the arena cameras to trigger real-time photos from their seat
* More than 26,000 photos were taken using the ekcam.com web portal which resulted in over 250,000 direct engagements on Facebook and Twitter.
* New 8.5m wide and 2.5m high 2.5mm pixel pitch LED Press Conference room
Website, apps, mobile and AO Radio
* The top five countries visiting the website were: Australia, United States, South Korea, United Kingdom and Canada
* The most popular players on the website were Hyeon Chung (KOR) with 518,233 page views, followed by Roger Federer (SUI) 371,863, Tennys Sandgren (USA) 267,827, Kyle Edmund (GBR) 245,096 and Simona Halep (ROU) 202,915
* The AO Live Blog was viewed 744,083 times and the most viewed article was ‘Federer into final as Chung retires’ by Alix Ramsay, with 234,201 page views.
* App downloads for iphone and Android were 1,199,460
* AO Radio was heard across the Vision Australia network, ATP Tennis Radio, TalkSport, ESPN digital radio, Tunein, ausopen.com and official apps as well as locally on 99.7 FM.
AO Tennis
* The AO Tennis video game featuring superstars Rafael Nadal, Angelique Kerber, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Daria Gavrilova launched during the AO.
* More than 2 million games of AO Tennis have been played on the free mobile version of the game which is the No.1 iPhone Family Game in Australia
Social media
* The AO Social Media audience across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and You Tube grew by 383.18 percent to 4.5 million
* Twitter accounted for the greatest audience growth, with 58K new followers however You Tube was the fastest mover with 22.5 percent subscriber growth.
* As the AO’s official Facebook page tipped over 2 million, Instagram harnessed 3,533,743 engagements – the most for any channel.
* AO Twitter had 14.1 million video views, 1.1 million likes, 317.7k retweets, the #AusOpen hashtag was used 862,800 times,
* Most popular post on Instagram ‘Two great champions: @dylanalcott runs into @rogerfederer after winning his 4th consecutive #AusOpen
* The new female panel show for Facebook Live – Wildcards – hosted by Jacqueline Mifsud and Sally Stanton – was broadcast on the steps of Margaret Court Arena featuring special guests Judy Murray, Billie Jean King, Melissa Wu, Marta Kostyuk, Chanda Rubin, Michael Klim, Sam Smith and Jelena Dokic.
* The new AO Fanbot presented by Mastercard had 7800 people users relying on artificial intelligence to get their updates from the Australian Open on Facebook messenger
* There were three live stories on Snapchat ran during the Australian Open. The first on Day 1 drew 830k unique viewers and 8.56 million total snap views.
* More than 10,000 fans took a GIF in front of the giant Kia Racquet in garden square
Video and YouTube (until 26 January)
* There were 1,090 videos uploaded to ausopen.com and AO youtube):
* There were 26,329,362 views on Youtube which added up to 63,606,272 minutes watched or 1.2 centuries
* There were over 9,175,000 million views on YouTube during Australian Open 2017
* Most popular clip of the tournament on YouTube was “Will Ferrell interviews Roger Federer live on Rod Laver Arena | Australian Open 2018”
* The top video on ausopen.com was Hyeon Chung v Roger Federer match highlights (SF)
* Twitter and SnappyTV videos generated 14.3 million views
* Facebook videos generated over 19.6 million views
* There were 183.6 million GIPHY GIF views in January.
Tournament operations
* The Yonex stringers hut restrung more than 5200 racquets, using more than 60 km of string
* Rafael Nadal had the most racquets restrung of all players in the main draw, sending 60 racquets to the stringers
* 350 Australian Open ballkids proudly fuelled by Vegemite aged between the ages of 12 and 15 participated including 304 from Victoria, three from Queensland, six from New South Wales, five from South Australia, two from Tasmania, two from Western Australia, 20 from Korea, six from China and two from France.
* There were 21 sets of siblings including four sets of twins amongst the Australian Open 2018 Vegemite ballkid squad.
* Fifteen-year-olds Emma Wong (Doncaster East, Vic) and Aidan Chu (Mont Albert North, Vic) received the Most Outstanding Ballkid Award for 2018, awarded to the top two ballkids each year
* Players were transported by a fleet of 120 Kia cars during the tournament with more than 400,000 kilometres covered over 21,000 trips by 270 drivers and 23 operational staff
* There was a total of 383 chair and line umpires officiating at the tournament including 96 from overseas representing 37 countries, and 130 from interstate.
* Tennis Australia, Melbourne Olympic Parks and catering suppliers Delaware North employed 10,580 staff, contractors and volunteers to deliver Australian Open 2018.
Community tennis
* More than 3200 families played ANZ Tennis Hot Shots on the mini courts in the AO Ballpark
* More than 1,300 ANZ Tennis Hot Shots coaching and Match Play participants played on Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena, show courts and multiple outside courts ahead of the day sessions during the tournament
* More than 1000 members from 24 regional ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Community Play tennis clubs across Victoria were invited to spend the day at the tennis to mark ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Day on Thursday 18 January. Each club had the opportunity to meet ANZ Tennis ambassador and four-time Australian Open quad wheelchair winner Dylan Alcott
* More than 140 ANZ Tennis Hot Shots players had the opportunity to toss the coin for a main draw singles match during the tournament
* More than 220 players visited Melbourne Park for the inaugural ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Match Play Gala Day. Match Play encourages participants aged 7-11 years old to transition from learning the game to playing the game.
* 16 players appeared at Autograph Island at the AO Ballpark, including top players Marin Cilic (CRO), David Goffin (BEL), Sam Querrey (USA), Karolina Pliskova (CZE), Barbora Strycova (CZE) and Australian players Thanasi Kokkinakis (SA) and Olivia Rogowska (Vic)
* Six Fitbit Cardio Tennis showcases took place ahead of the day sessions during the tournament.
* Poppy Loeskow from Bundaberg, Queensland was announced as the 2017 ANZ Tennis Hot Shot of the Year on Rod Laver Arena. She received the honour from ANZ Tennis Hot Shots ambassador Alicia Molik and ANZ Head of Marketing Carolyn Bendall
* ANZ Tennis Hot Shot of the Year nominee Ruby O’Brien joined former Australian Open champion Billie Jean King on Rod Laver Arena to help present Caroline Wozniacki with her first Grand Slam title during the women’s singles final presentation
Partners
* One of the biggest partnerships in Australian sporting history was cemented at AO 2018 with Tennis Australia signing a landmark five-year extension with Major sponsor Kia Motors
* New Partners for AO 2018 included highly popular brand The Walt Disney Company, iconic Australian brands Vegemite and Country Road, as well as Barilla, NGV and Ganten.
* New Supply Partnerships include Milk & Co by Olympic Gold medallist Michael Klim, Tasmanian Company Huon Salmon and Australian beverage provider Schweppes.
* Players including world No.9 Rafael Nadal (ESP), quarterfinalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS), world No.8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA), Sam Stosur (AUS) and Elena Vesnina (RUS) participated in video interviews for Kia Open Drive. Videos can be viewed on the official Australian Open YouTube channel
* More than 15,000 fans soared to new heights riding on the free Mastercard Ferris Wheel at AO Festival
* International Polka Dot Day took place on Monday 22 January with 1000 Minnie Mouse ears handed out to Disney fans at Australian Open 2018.
* More than 11,000 fans drove the great ocean road or sped through Mt Panorama in the ultimate Kia Stinger VR Experience
* ANZ surprised more than 1000 fans by giving away Rod Laver Arena tickets and upgrading their day
* Lavazza gave away over 900 prizes to lucky winners as part of their onsite activation – 30 fans won a fabulous Jolie Plus + Milk Up coffee machine and over 900 complementary coffees were served to runners up
* Tennis fans consumed more than 150,000 Lavazza coffees
* Close to 90,000 Aperol Spritz were consumed
* More than 35,000 Sushi Sushi packs were consumed
* More than 11,000 Gazi chips were consumed
* More than 2,850 pieces of Mamasita street corn was consumed
* Almost 10,000 Doughnut Time Doughnuts were consumed
* More than 80,000 portions of Huon Salmon were served at the AO Festival
* Almost one tonne of Huon Salmon Caviar was enjoyed throughout the tournament
* 4169 diners enjoyed the innovative Japanese experience at Nobu
* 4579 visitors enjoyed the views from the Rockpool pop up restaurant on the balcony at Hisense
* The first ever AO Chef Series at the Glasshouse served more than 3000 diners who enjoyed premium cuisine from Australian and internationally acclaimed chefs Peter Gilmore, Angela Hartnett, Alejandro Saravia and Jake Nicolson.
* More than 4000 ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Money Boxes were given out on ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Day
* The Grand Slam Oval sign pumped out more than 604,000 bubbles during the tournament.
* Entertainers delivered over 305 hours of music, dance and unforgettable moments on Grand Slam Oval
* The AO Shop sold more than 35,000 caps, 26,565 towels and more than 6000 Wilson AO 2018 Jumbo Balls
AO Ballpark and Kids
* More than 11,000 kids smiling faces were painted
* More than 259,000 nerf darts hit the mark during target practice
* More than 4000 graduated from Padawan training and became Jedi’s in the Star Wars Jedi training centre.
* Close to 6,000 fans rode the way on Disney’s Moana Surfboard
* Close to 13,000 fans climbed to the sky on the Marvel Rock Wall
* More than 6,000 dare-devil kids and parents zip lined they’re way into the AO Ballpark
* More than 3000 cheese toasties and Vegemite and cheese toasties were eaten at the AO Ballpark
* More than 650 AO prizes were awarded to kids who danced and partied their way through the AO Ballpark
#Open4All
* #Open4All is designed to celebrate the intrinsic fairness and equality of the sport of tennis which welcomes everyone, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexuality or ability
* On Thursday 25 January Billie Jean King led the Australian Open Inspirational Series, a symposium based on the theme of Empowering Leaders
* Billie Jean King was also honoured as Australian Open Woman of the Year at an on-court ceremony at Rod Laver Arena on women’s semifinal day
* The Australian Open hosted an after-party for the Better Together inclusion conference
* Peking Duk performed at the AO Live Stage at Middle Terrace, with funds donated to Victorian Pride Centre and Stand Up Events.
* The Kia Ball Drive was back for a second year, giving fans the chance to purchase a used AO tennis ball for a gold coin donation from their stand in Garden Square, with proceeds going to AO Community Grants, supporting local tennis programs with a focus on improving diversity and inclusion across Australia,
* In a Grand Slam first the Vic Tennis Midsumma 2018 was staged at the clay courts at Melbourne Park from 19-21 January and was open to all players, aged 18 and over, regardless of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation
* The Australian Tennis Championships is Australia’s largest annual event for people with an intellectual impairment, with the finals and presentations staged at Melbourne Park on Australian Open finals weekend.
Information technology
* Approximately 30,981 unique devices connected to AO Wi-Fi across the precinct
* Approximately 46,500 unique users logged into the AO Wi-Fi with 254,000 AO Wi-Fi sessions throughout the tournament
* The Australian Open network infrastructure handled approximately 30.4 Terabytes of internet traffic
* 370 Wireless Access Points deployed
* In the main draw there were 124,354 points, 19,616 games and 2046 sets were captured, analysed and distributed via the AO scoring system
* There were 5,127 Practice Desk bookings, 2,280 laundry bookings and 19,944 transport bookings
