#360stats: The numbers behind the Australian Open

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  • Will Novak Djokovic win a sixth Australian Open title?

    The sky-blue courts of Melbourne Park are set to enthrall the tennis audiences all over the world when the Australian Open commences on Monday. The first Grand Slam of 2016 promises to be an absolute cracker with the likes of World No.1 Novak Djokovic, plus the likes of Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray all hungry for honours at the 104th edition of the event.

    Djokovic will be looking to join Aussie great Roy Emerson as a six-time winner down under. Here, Sport360 looks into all the stats and numbers from the Australian Open.

    1905 – The first edition was held in 1905 in Melbourne. The Australian Open is the youngest of the four majors, with Wimbledon the oldest (it began in 1877).

    55 – The tournament has been staged 55 times in Melbourne; other host cities include Sydney (17), Adelaide (14), Brisbane (7), Perth (3), and even the New Zealand cities of Christchurch (in 1906), and Hastings (in 1912).

    OPEN ERA

    5 – Novak Djokovic is the Open Era leader with 5 titles (2008, 2011-13, 2015). Andre Agassi (1995, 2000-01, 03) and Roger Federer (2004, 2006-07, 2009) are second in line with 4 titles.

    5 – Swedish Legend Stefan Edberg (2-3), Roger Federer (4-1) and Novak Djokovic (5-0) have all played an Open Era record five Australian Open finals.

    3 – Consecutive Australian Open titles won by Djokovic (2011-2013), the Open Era record. The Serb is undefeated in finals (a perfect 5-0 record).

    3 – Consecutive Australian Open finals played by Mats Wilander (1983-85), Ivan Lendl (1989-91) and Novak Djokovic (2011-2013).

    11 – Semi-final appearances for Roger Federer (2004-2014), the Open Era record. Roger (5-6 in SF) also holds the record of 11 consecutive semi-finals down under.

    11 – Quarter-final appearances for Roger Federer (2004-2014), the Open Era Record. Roger (11-0) also holds the record of 11 consecutive quarter-finals.

    75 – Roger Federer (75-12) holds the record for the most match wins at the Australian Open. Stefan Edberg (56) and Novak Djokovic (50) are the only other players to have recorded 50 match wins at the Australian Open in the Open Era (to date).

    90.57% – American Legend Andre Agassi has the best winning percentage at the Australian Open. Djokovic (50-6, 89.29%) and Federer (75-12, 86.21%) are next in line (for minimum 30 wins).

    26 – Consecutive matches won by Agassi (2000-04 – he didn’t participate in 2002), the best winning streak in the down-under. Djokovic registered a 25 match streak from 2011-14.

    30 – Consecutive sets won by Federer from 2006-08. Agassi won 27 consecutive sets in 2003-04.

    71.60% – Andre Agassi won 71.6% of his games in 2003 (121-48), the best game winning % at a single edition down under.

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    1971 – Ken Rosewall became the first man in the Open Era to win a Major without dropping a set in 1971. Federer was the second and last man to achieve this feat in the Australian Open when he won in 2007.

    2 – Reigning men’s champions have lost in the first round of the Australian Open. Roscoe Tanner lost to Chris Lewis in December 1977 and Boris Becker was knocked out by Carlos Moya in 1997.

    51 – Swede Joachim Johansson hit 51 aces against Andre Agassi in a fourth round match at the 2005 Australian Open, the most aces in a single match. Ironically, Johansson actually lost the match in four sets.

    4 – Runners-up finishes for Andy Murray, the Open Era record. World No2 Andy is 0-4 in Australian Open Finals (2010 to Federer; 2011, 13, 15 to Djokovic).

    15 years 11 months – At the 1997 Australian Open, Lleyton Hewitt became the youngest qualifier.

    20 – Lleyton Hewitt will be playing in his 20th consecutive Open in Melbourne (1997-2016), the record for most appearances and consecutive appearances.

    aus pen

    19y 3m 19d – Swede Mats Wilander is the youngest Australian Open singles champion in the Open Era (1983).

    37y 2m 1d – Aussie great Ken Rosewall is the oldest Australian Open singles champion ever (1972). Rosewall was also the youngest ever champion when he won the 1953 Australian Championships aged 18y 2m 11d (as an amateur).

    All Time (The Championships)

    27 – Consecutive matches won by Roy Emerson (1963-69, DNP 1968), the best winning streak ever. He lost to the “Rocket” Rod Laver in the 1962 final before bowing out to Laver in the 1969 round of 16.

    34 – Consecutive sets won by Emerson in 1964-65, the best ever streak for consecutive sets won.

    6 – Australian Championships won by Roy Emerson (1961, 1963-67), the most championships won in the history of the event.

    5 – Consecutive championships won by Roy Emerson (1963-67), the all-time record.

    7 – Finals played by Emerson (1961-67), John Bromwich (1937-39, 1946-49) and Jack Crawford (1931-36, 1940), the all-time record for most finals down-under. Emerson also played in a record seven consecutive finals in Melbourne (1961-67).

    5 – Runners-up finishes for John Bromwich, the all-time record (2-5 in Finals).

    21 – Editions played by Australians’ Harry Hopman and Jack Crawford, the most appearances at the Australian Open.

    War of attrition: Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal.

    War of attrition: Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal.

    THE BIG NUMBERS DOWN UNDER

    5h 53minutes – The War of Attrition between Nadal and Djokovic in the 2012 Final is the longest match ever at the Australian Open. The match is also the longest Grand Slam final ever.

    5h 14minutes – The Nadal vs Fernando Verdasco marathon in the 2009 semi-final is the second longest match at the Australian Open.

    23 – Agassi’s 6-2 6-2 6-1 rout of German Rainer Schuettler in the 2003 final is the shortest Australian Open Final in the Open Era (in terms of games).

    1998 – The last time an all-left-handed final happened down-under – Czech Petr Korda defeated Chilean Marcelo Rios in the decider.

    129 – Russian Marat Safin lost 129 games en route to the 2004 final (to Federer), the most games lost on the way to a Grand Slam final in the Open Era.

    3 – Men who have won the Australian Open after saving a match point in the final – 1960 Rod Laver defeated Neale Fraser, 1947 Dinny Pails defeated John Bromwich and 1927 Gerald Patterson defeated John Hawkes.

    50 – Australians have won the Australian Open Men’s Singles title (44 – Amateur Era, 6 – Open Era). An Australian last won the title in 1976 – Mark Edmondson.

    14 – Americans have won the Australian Open Men’s Singles title. Agassi was the last American to win the title in 2003 (1981/82 champ Johan Kriek was born in South Africa but became a United States citizen in 1982).

    1 – Stefan Edberg is the only player in the Open Era to win the Boys Singles (1983) and the Men’s Singles (1985) titles.

    3 – Djokovic and Murray have played each other in a record three Australian Open Finals (2011, 2013, 2015). Djokovic was victorious on all occasions.

    Roy Emerson.

    Roy Emerson.

    0-2 – Roy Emerson was the last man to win the Australian Open men’s final from two sets to love down (in 1965 he defeated Fred Stolle).

    51 – Men have reached the finals in the 47 editions of the event.

    AUD$44m – Total Prize Money for the 2016 Edition, an AUD$4m increase from 2015.

    AUD$3.8m – Prize Money for the singles winner at the 2016 tournament.

    212 – Mark Edmondson’s ranking when he won the title in 1976, the lowest ranked player ever to win a Grand Slam (since ATP Rankings were introduced in 1973).

    403 – American Steve Denton is the lowest-ranked finalist.

    38 – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was the last unseeded player to reach the final of the Australian Open, when he made the 2008 showpiece ranked 38 (2008).

    18 – Thomas Johansson is the lowest ranked champion in the 21st Century when he won the title in 2002 (ranked 18th).

    5 – Number of debutants who have lifted the trophy in the Open Era – Jimmy Connors (1974), Roscoe Tanner (1977 – Jan), Vitas Gerulaitis (1977 – Dec), Johan Kriek (1981), Andre Agassi (1995).

    9 – Petr Korda (1998) and Stan Wawrinka (2014) won their respective Australian Open titles on their 9th appearance down-under.

    703,899 – A record 703,899 tennis loving fans congregated at the 2015 Australian Open, smashing the previous record of 686,006 set in 2012.

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