MELBOURNE, February 2, 2020 (Press Release)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Sofia Kenin from the United States have been crowned the Australian Open singles champions for 2020, attendance records have been broken again, and more than $6 million has been raised by the global tennis community for bushfire relief.
A total of 812,174 fans attended the Australian Open over 14 days, smashing the previous attendance record of 796,435 from 2019.
Here are all the facts, stats and need-to-know details from Australian Open 2020.
Aces for Bushfire Relief
11,114 aces were served across the summer of tennis, which along with a range of charity initiatives, contributed to $6,096,453 raised for bushfire relief efforts (total calculated at 9:30pm Sunday 2 February).
On-court action
Novak Djokovic (SRB) defeated Dominic Thiem (AUT) 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 to win a record eighth Australian Open title, and was presented with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup by 2005 AO champion Marat Safin.
21-year-old Sofia Kenin (USA) defeated Garbine Muguruza (ESP), 4-6 6-2 6-2, to win her first Grand Slam title. Australian Open 2000 champion Lindsay Davenport presented Kenin with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup
[11] Rajeev Ram (USA) and Joe Salisbury (GBR) defeated Australian wildcard pair Luke Saville and Max Purcell to win their first men’s doubles title, 6-4 6-2
[2] Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) / Timea Babos (HUN) defeated top seeds Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) / Barbora Strycova (CZE) to win their second consecutive Australian Open women’s doubles title, 6-2 6-1
[5] Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) and Nikola Mektic (CRO) defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) and Jamie Murray (GBR) 7-5 4-6 [10-1] to win the mixed doubles title
Top seed Harold Mayot (FRA) won the junior boys’ singles title, defeating countryman and fifth seed Arthur Cazaux (FRA) 6-4 6-1
The youngest player in the girls’ draw, 14-year-old [9] Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra defeated Weronika Baszak (POL), 7-5 2-6 2-6, to win the junior girls’ singles title
[5] Nicholas David Ionel (ROU) and Leandro Riedi (SUI) defeated [6] Mikolaj Lorens (POL) and Karlis Ozolins (LAT), 7-6(8) 5-7 [10-4], to win the junior boys’ doubles title
[4] Alexandra Eala (PHI) and Priska Madelyn Nugroho (INA) defeated Ziva Falkner (SLO) and Matilda Mutavdzic (GBR) 6-1 6-2 to claim the junior girls’ doubles title
Top seed Shingo Kuneida (JPN) won his tenth Australian Open crown and his 44th Grand Slam title, defeating Gordon Reid (GBR) 6-4 6-4 in the men’s wheelchair singles final
[2] Yui Kamiji (JPN) defeated Aniek Van Koot (NED), 6-2 6-2 to win the women’s wheelchair singles title
Yui Kamiji (JPN) / Jordanne Whiley (GBR) and [2] Gordon Reid (GBR) / Alfie Hewett (GBR) won the women’s and men’s wheelchair doubles titles respectively
Jaume Munar (ESP) sent down the fastest serve of the tournament at 232km/h
Liudmila Samsonova (RUS) posted the fastest serve in the women’s draw at 194km/h
A total of 573 players from 66 nations competed across all events, including juniors, qualifying, wheelies and legends
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) and Milos Raonic (CAN) served the most aces in the men’s draw with 100 each to their name
Australian Open 2020 finalist Garbine Muguruza (ESP) served the most aces of any female player with 42 aces in total
Seventeen Australians took part in the main draw singles, with nine players advancing to the second round, four into the third round, Nick Kyrgios advanced to the fourth round and Ash Barty advanced to the women’s semifinals.
Attendance
A record crowd of 812,174 fans shared the excitement of the Australian Open, smashing the previous attendance record of 796,435 from 2019
For the fourth time in the tournament’s history attendance in the first week surpassed 500,000 fans, with 550,645 attendees, smashing the previous record of 537,226 for Australian Open 2019
Five days (sessions combined) drew record crowds including the first Tuesday, first Friday, middle Saturday, middle Sunday and second Monday
The middle Saturday attracted a record attendance of 93,709
The Australia Day public holiday on Monday 27 January attracted 41,781 fans to the AO
The AO Live Stage featured headline music acts including: Ziggy Alberts, Bastille, Lime Cordiale, Thelma Plum, Cub Sport, The Veronicas, Grinspoon, Hot Dub Time Machine, Fatboy Slim, Billy Joel, Hayden James, Matt Corby, Broods, Kate Miller-Heidke and many more
Famous faces attending AO 2020 included: Rebel Wilson, Gladys Knight, Celeste Barber, Liane Moriarty, Eric Bana, Shane Warne, Adrian Grenier, Billy Idol, Matt Preston, Barry Humphries, Ricky Ponting, Leisel Jones, Terence and Jason Donovan, Cathy Freeman, Sean Paul, Kate Ceberano, Olympia Valance, Hamish Blake, Zoe Foster-Blake, Magda Szubanksi, Steve Smith, David Campbell, Rodger Corser, Samuel Johnson, Paul Kelly, David Reyne and Shane Delia, among many others.
The fifth annual edition of the AO Inspirational Series was the curtain raiser to the women’s semifinals. Special guest speakers included 2018 AO champion Caroline Wozniacki, Rebel Wilson and Liane Moriarty.
Tony Roche was honoured at the annual Legends Lunch and was joined by a host of tennis greats including Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Neale Fraser, Lleyton Hewitt, Margaret Court, Wendy Turnbull, Todd Woodbridge, Pat Rafter, Pat Cash, Wally Masur, Mark Woodforde, Frank Sedgman, John Fitzgerald, Liz Smylie, Nicole Bradtke, Marat Safin, Daniela Hantuchova and Casey Dellacqua. The event included a tribute to the late Peter McNamara.
Media
580 journalists and 134 photographers from 51 different countries covered AO 2020
More than 4,000 player interview requests were facilitated through the Media Centre
More than 100 off-court media opportunities with both current and former players and officials took place across the two weeks. Highlights included Serena Williams meeting CFA firefighters, Andreas Seppi trying his hand at pizza throwing, Dominic Thiem with Australian animals, Coco Gauff joining the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and eventual mixed doubles finalists Bethanie Mattek Sands and Jamie Murray enjoying a boat trip in the Botanic Gardens.
Game Insight Group (GIG)
From the Men’s and Women’s Singles Championships, the Game Insight Group analysed:
45,053 points of scoring data
240,145 shots of ball tracking data
1,096km of player movement data
Host broadcast
This is the sixth year Tennis Australia has run the Australian Open host broadcast, with this year’s tournament the 59th live broadcast managed by the TA team
Coverage of the event spanned a total of three full weeks – AO Qualifying, AO Rally for Relief, the AO Draw Show and the AO Main Draw
The 1,469 broadcast personnel included 555 internationals, 340 domestic and 52 news access from around the world
There were also 446 staff and freelance crews plus 28 talent and 48 contractors across the host broadcast and world feed
The continuous live coverage of all courts on-site, including AO Qualifying and Main Draw, added up to a total of 205 court days
Almost 900 matched were covered live across all draws, with the primary practice courts on-site also featuring live coverage
There was a total of 21 courts with live cameras at any one time across Melbourne Park
There was commentary across five courts including RLA, MCA, MA, 1573 and Court 3
The international commentary team featured world renowned and leading tennis experts including Mark Petchey John Fitzgerald, Sam Stosur, Daniela Hantuchova, Brad Stine, Colin Fleming, Louise Pleming, Bojana Bobusic, Roger Rasheed, Jacco Eltingh, Josh Eagle, Robbie Koenig, Nick Lester, Liz Smylie, Peter Donegan, Geoff Masters and more
The coverage featured electronic review on all 16 courts and all feeds, as well as 13 courts during Qualifying
A total of 154 cameras were used across the Host Broadcast – not counting more than 70 x 4D replay cameras installed in RLA or the many Hawkeye cameras right across the site: the cranes returned around the grounds and in MA, NetCams were located at RLA, MCA, MA, the 180 degree Eyecam built into the hydraulic umpires chair was back at RLA.
Spidercam was back in action at RLA and there were a 11 beauty cameras, three press room cameras and 21 player and behind-the-scenes cameras, as well as more than 100 court cameras
The graphics package included more virtual and augmented reality graphics on the top three arenas
This year also saw the continued integration of new statistics and analysis from the Game Insight Group as well as Universal Tennis Rating (UTR)
The RLA walk on once again featured 100 special LED digital banners and two dedicated LED screens.
Domestic broadcast
Channel Nine saw an average audience of 2.47m during Kyrgios vs Nadal, with a peak of 3.36 million people – the highest rating program of 2020!
To Day 13, viewership has increased an incredible 18% YOY – the fastest growth rate of any major sporting event in Australia in the last 12 months
Channel Nine’s cumulative reach for Days 1-13 of AO 2020 is 12.88 million viewers on TV
There have been more than 197 million streaming minutes on Nine’s online channels across days 1-13, nearly doubling 2019’s total before the end of AO 2020.
International broadcast
AO 2020 has been aired live in more than 215+ territories on more than 52 different TV channels, reaching more than 900 million homes daily
All main draw courts broadcast online via our broadcasters Nine, SKY New Zealand, iQIYI in China, Sony in India, Eurosport in Europe and ESPN in the Americas
All match courts have been streamed live and free to watch on ausopen.com in more than 75 territories including Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, with streaming available on the AO App in 25+ territories
In USA, viewership has increased by 4% over the first nine days, with increases likely as a result of Sofia Kenin’s first Grand Slam victory
Additional coverage in Europe provided by SSR/SRG (Switzerland), RTVS (Slovakia), Servus TV (Austria), BBC (UK – highlights) and Supertennis (Italy – highlights)
Live coverage of the AO has been available on selected airlines and cruise lines via 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 13 European agencies, Perform (Omnisport), SNTV, Reuters, and JSNA (Japan Sports News Association)
BBC Radio broadcast live every day to the UK audience, SiriusXM in the USA and domestic radio broadcaster SEN.
Digital walls
850 square metres of digital LED screens were used across all three stadiums at Melbourne Park – Rod Laver Arena (400), Margaret Court Arena (250) and Melbourne Arena (200)
More than 2300 LED screen modules used across the three arenas
More than 200 moving lights were installed around the Rod Laver 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 as part of the nightly pre-match entertainment and ceremonies
More than 200 moving lights were installed around Margaret Court Arena for the AO Draw program and AO Summer Smash featuring Fortnite event.
Customised digital wall video content featured the player match-ups each night
More than 400 content elements were designed and produced specifically for the 360 degree digital wall canvas
Expanded production across on-court ceremonies included Opening night, Australia Day and Australian Tennis Hall of Fame, International Tennis Hall of Fame, Chinese New Year, 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 and take photos from their seat and post on their social platforms
Nightly Rod Laver Arena program, AO Extra, entertained patrons in the lead up to the first match. The program featured tennis legends and celebrities along with recaps of the day’s play and previews of the night matches.
Digital (website, app, social)
The ausopen.com website had 9.53 million unique users, an increase of 50.5% from last AO
Top 5 countries visiting the site were Australia, United States, Germany, India and the UK.
The official AO App had 1.01 million unique users, who stayed for an average of 7m 36 sec each time they used it.
There were 7.97 million views of videos on our app and website, a year-on-year uplift of +140%.
The daily live show AO Extra increased its audience by 275% from last year
On YouTube, AO videos were watched 36.85 million times, f more than during AO2019
The #Ausopen hashtag or related AO keywords were used 1 million times across Twitter
The AO Alexa skill, via a partnership with Amazon, contributed more than 15% of listenership and gave fans across the world a new way to engage with the AO
Most popular post on Instagram was: Nick Kyrgios paying tribute to Kobe Bryant (152k engagements)
Most popular post on Facebook and Twitter was the “Rafa Nadal ball kid moment”.
2.2 billion impressions and 1.1 million comments, a 273% increase #2020澳网# (translation 2020AO) on the social media platform Weibo Day 1 to Day 13
AO official Weibo account followers reached 1.8 million, up 209%, with the Australian Open the most followed Grand Slam account on Weibo.
YouTube (up until 31 January)
There were 42.7 million views in January 2020
38 million views between day 1-10 of AO 2020
10.5 million unique viewers
88 million minutes viewed on the site
83k new subscribers to the channel
Most viewed: Kiss and Make Up: Rafa Apologises to Ball Girl Like a Gentleman – 4.7 million views.
Tournament operations
A fleet of 130 Kia cars and more than 360 drivers transported players and officials during the tournament
The Australian Open’s first female Chief Umpire Cheryl Jenkins led 418 officials, including 121 from 41 countries and 132 from interstate
Victorians Liam Gunson and Emma Chamberlain were named the top two ballkids of AO 2020 and will head to Paris in May for Roland Garros
360 ballkids aged between 12 and 15 years of age from Australia and overseas participated in AO 2020
38 ballkids travelled from overseas: 20 from Korea, 10 from India, six from China (China Open) two from France (Roland Garros).
Community tennis
More than 2050 ANZ Tennis Hot Shots participants played on Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne Arena, show courts and multiple outside courts ahead of the day sessions during the tournament.
A record number of 19,454 people attended Kids Tennis Day on Saturday 18 January.
More than 500 members from 10 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 23 January. Each club had the opportunity to meet ANZ Tennis ambassador Dylan Alcott
More than 150 ANZ Tennis Hot Shots players tossed the coin for main draw singles matches
Eight ANZ Tennis Hot Shots were announced as ANZ Future Champs on Rod Laver Arena. They received medals from ANZ Tennis Hot Shots ambassador Alicia Molik and ANZ Chief Marketing Officer Sweta Mehra.
5140 kids enjoyed a free day at the AO on ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Day thanks to ANZ.
52 education professionals from across Australia participated in two school forums celebrating their contribution to physical education, health and sport.
AO Ballpark and Kids
More than 180,000 kids and parents experienced the AO Ballpark presented by Emirates and the AO Hilltop, double the 2019 figure of 80,000
The AO Kids Club (childminding) and Camps welcomed more than 600 kids, more than double 2019 attendees
Emirates Family Sanctuary welcomed more 100 performers across the tournament, including the cast from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage show which attracted a crowd of 23,000 kids and parents on Monday 27 January.
The Emirates Fly Better Zipline and Climbing Wall in the AO Ballpark Adventure Park were the most popular attraction for kids.
Partners
Over the first 12 days 3,389 players registered for the Breakthrough Room, a new technology inspired experience at Mastercard which required navigating through a futuristic underground complex with only six minutes to complete the challenges.
Mastercard also handed out more than 160 Priceless Surprises including signed John Millman and Alicia Molik caps and tickets to RLA
Hospitality
12,000 Gradi pizzas were consumed
More than 14,000 serves of Grill’d chips were sold
6,500 Royale Bros burgers consumed
9,000 serves of nachos served from Mamasita on Grand Slam Oval
There were more than 7,500 Mr Miyagi baos served
More than 9,000 chicken souvlakis were served at Hellenic Republic
The most popular dish at Pavlova at Cacao was the berries & cream with 936 served
Lomah served more than 2,000 of their Zaa’tar fries
#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
The Glam Slam, an international LGBTQIA+ event, was held at the AO for the third year, with more than 200 players from 30 countries in competition. For the first time the finals were played on Court 3, and the iconic Melbourne sign was painted in rainbow colours.
The Kia Ball Drive was back for a second year, giving fans the chance to purchase a used AO tennis ball for a $2 donation from their stand in Garden Square, with proceeds going to Tennis Foundation, to inspire brighter futures.
*All data as at 10.00pm AEDT, Sunday 2 February 2020 unless specified.
