As a prelude to the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic will start the new tennis season at the Brisbane International competition.
Djokovic, who is vying for his 100th tour-level victory, stated, “I am thrilled to be starting my Australian tour at the Brisbane International and to play again at Pat Rafter Arena.”
Djokovic will only be participating for the second time; in 2009, he fell to Ernests Gulbis in the opening round. Grigor Dimitrov, Holger Rune, Frances Tiafoe, and Nick Kyrgios are also expected to compete in the competition, which is set for December 29–January 5.
No other tennis player in history has held the top spot for longer weeks than Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion. He declared that he had recruited Andy Murray to coach him at the Australian Open, a Grand Slam competition in which he set a record ten times.
January 12 marks the commencement of the Australian Open. In 2024, the 37-year-old Djokovic won just one competition, winning his first Olympic gold medal in August at the Paris Games. Before beginning his quest to win a 25th Grand Slam at Melbourne’s Australian Open in January, Novak Djokovic will compete at the Brisbane International.
With 24 Grand Slam singles titles, the 37-year-old shares the record with Margaret Court of Australia. In a disappointing 2024, the seventh-ranked Serbian was unable to add to his existing Grand Slam total.
The competition in Brisbane, which takes place from December 29 to January 5, is the last one before the Australian Open starts on January 12. Djoe Kovic expressed his excitement about starting his Australian career at the Brisbane International and returning to the Pat Rafter Arena.
“He stated that he is excited to make this tournament one to remember and to witness the amazing support from the Australian supporters. Djokovic, who has won 99 ATP titles, wants to become just the third man in the Open era to earn 100 career titles, after Swiss Roger Federer (103) and American Jimmy Connors (109).
Holger Rune, defending champion Grigor Dimitrov, and Nick Kyrgios are on the lineup in Brisbane. Last month, Djokovic named Andy Murray as his Australian Open coach. Djokovic defeated the former British number one four times in the Australian Open final.
It’s unclear if three-time Grand Slam champion Murray will move to Brisbane to work with Djokovic or start coaching later. Earlier this year, Djokovic advanced to the Australian Open semifinals before falling to eventual champion Jannik Sinner.
Every year, Tennis Australia hosts the Australian Open, a tennis competition held at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It takes place prior to the US Open, Wimbledon, and the French Open and is historically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments each year.
The Australian Open takes place during the Australia Day vacation in mid-January and lasts for two weeks. It includes wheelchair, legends, exhibition events, junior championships, men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles, as well as men’s and women’s singles.
It was played on grass courts until 1987, but three different kinds of hardcourt surfaces have since been used: blue Plexicushion from 2008 to 2019 and green-colored Rebound Ace until 2007. Since 2020, players have been playing on the blue GreenSet.
The Australian Open, which began as the Australasian Championships in 1905, has developed into one of the most important athletic competitions in the Southern Hemisphere. With more than 1,100,000 spectators (including qualifying) in 2024, the Australian Open—dubbed “the happy slam”—is the most attended Grand Slam event.
With its three main courts—Rod Laver Arena, John Cain Arena, and the renovated Margaret Court Arena with retractable roofs—it was also the first Grand Slam tournament to offer inside play in the event of severe heat or rain.
The aggressive and fast-paced style of play at the Australian Open is well-known. Since 1988, the Melbourne Park complex has hosted the tournament, which has a significant economic impact on Victoria.
The 2020 Australian Open put $387.7 million into the state’s economy, and over the previous ten years, the Australian Open had given Victoria more than $2.71 billion in economic benefits and created 1775 jobs, the majority of which were in the trade services, hotel, cafe, and lodging industries.
