The unique Aussie Open has come a long way

On a cricket ground in late November 120 years ago it begins. Roughly 5,000 people attend and in The Age newspaper in Melbourne, among the divorce petitions and pig market prices, a boxing bout involving a miner and sale of a "quiet" cow, is a piece on a tennis match.

- Rohit Brijnath

The report is on the final of the Australasian Championships between Curtis (first name not published) and Rod Heath, written by an unimpressed correspondent. He notes the match suffers from the "cramp of caution", chides the players for not volleying enough and eventually Heath wins because a tired Curtis has no "snap or vim in his work".

That was 1905 and now in 2025 we are still evaluating the vim of players in these Championships and clucking over their shyness to volley. The tournament has altered its name, survived four surface changes - grass, Rebound Ace, Plexicushion, GreenSet - travelled to multiple cities including Christchurch (yes, the Australian Open was held twice in New Zealand), and become a trophy of such importance that Jim Courier celebrated victory by diving into a nearby river.

These days Courier will tell you that diving is best done on court. Hard court is safer than polluted water. He does post-match interviews with a charm that fits this mellow Open. Like what Australians do to the language - you do not drink a beer, you "skull" it - this Open is unique. Only here is there an Air Quality Policy which is related to smoke from possible bushfires. Only here is there an Extreme Heat Protocol which once led a photographer to break two eggs into a saucepan. At Wimbledon, they would have fried him.