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The party is in full swing at Melbourne Park with 353,189 fans flocking to the Australian Open for the opening four days of the tournament.
In fact, a whopping 90,102 people made their way into the tennis precinct on Tuesday, smashing the previous record for a day three-day and night session (83,015 back in 2024) at the Australian Open.
Some fans on Monday waited in line for approximately four hours to secure tickets to see local hero Nick Kyrgios. There was heartbreak for the Aussie though. On his return to his home Grand Slam after a spate of injury woes, suffered a straight-sets defeat by rising British star Jacob Fearnely.
The highlight on Tuesday came during the evening session where newly engaged couple Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter both took to the court at the same time and booked their places in the second round of the Australian Open.
It was a totally all-encompassing evening for both British and Australian tennis fans as the pair thrilled on the court.
De Minaur wrapped up his match against Botic van de Zandschulp in three sets before scrambling his way over to the Kia Arena to watch his beau, Boulter, battle past Rebecca Marino.
Boulter, who is seeded No 22 in the women’s singles draw, set a record in Melbourne, becoming the sixth British player to win in the first round of singles at the tournament for the first time in history.
The Australian Open has already broken records for its attendance figures this week, with 353,189 flocking through Melbourne Park’s gates in the first four days
On Monday, some stood in line for nearly four hours for tickets to see local hero Nick Kyrgios
But while busy, the grounds have not felt overwhelmed with people. The infrastructure at the Australian Open has been hugely impressive this week
‘I feel like my belief is growing every single day. I think the more matches that I play like that, then I believe I’m at that level and I know I can be there every day,’ the Brit said.
It was an excellent display from the 28-year-old who appears to have become a fan favourite among many Australians in Melbourne.
Brits and Aussies stayed late into the evening to watch the Leicestershire-born tennis star sweep some huge forehands past the Canadian on her way to victory.
But she was rather awkwardly put on the spot by an interviewer following her 4-6 6-3 5-7 victory.
Boulter was quizzed on whether Australia feels like a ‘home away from home’ for her, with the interviewer subsequently asking the British star if fans can start calling her ‘Aussie Kate’.
The 28-year-old looked a little taken aback by the question, responding ‘They might want to get rid of me, I don’t know.’
The world No 25 is feeling the love in Australia, though, and later in her press conference admitted: ‘I felt very much at home and comfortable.
‘Normally I’m actually the kind of person that dislikes going to new places, playing on a court for the first time. I actually felt very comfortable from the word ‘go’ when I was there. I think that was completely because of them and how they’ve been treating me. It makes a world of difference.’
Katie Boulter was put on the spot by an awkward interview question on Tuesday night
After Boulter roared her way into the second round an interviewer asked her if we can start calling her ‘Aussie Kate’. The Brit is feeling at home in Australia and has the backing of many Australian fans
Her fiance Alex de Minaur slipped in to watch Boulter play after he finished up his match on Tuesday at the Rod Laver Arena
Rowdy fans catching the ire of players
The Australian Open’s party court had attracted the ire of some players at the 2024 Grand Slam, with some hitting out at the rowdy behaviour of some fans on court 6.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova said that some sections of the audience ‘started to scream and meow’ at her.
‘It was not nice to be honest. I was really annoyed at the start of the match. I have no problem playing on the outside courts, but this one was special in terms of the noise and also the court,’ she said at the 2024 event.
Even tennis great John Millman branded it ‘rowdy’ and ‘distracting’. But it appears some players have again been growing tired of fan behaviour around Melbourne Park and some of those on Court 6.
On Wednesday night, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alejandro Davidovich’s match went the distance and finished at 1:30am. But there was an unprecedented moment in the match when the game, which was being played on Court 8, had to be moved to Court 7 because of disruptions caused by a contingent of rowdy French fans next door on the party court.
They had arrived to watch Jacob Fearnley take on French star Arthur Cazaux, with the Brit ultimately securing victory.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, the match is now suspended on this court. We move to court 7 in just a few minutes,’ the chair umpire said during the match, after both players had agreed to move further away from the noise.
It comes as fans inside the John Cain Arena also copped flack for booing and sledging Jack Draper, as the Australian knocked out Thanasi Kokkinakis on Wednesday night.
Felix Auger-Aliassime shakes hands with an umpire as they agree to move his match against Alejandro Davidovich to a quieter court
The pair subsequently moved from Court 8 to Court 7 to get away from the noise on Court 5
While an electric atmosphere, Draper was heckled by sections of the crowd, with some on X branding it ‘disrespectful’.
British star Harriet Dart, who suffered defeat by Donna Vekic on Court 14.
She claimed: ‘I was at a football match. Obviously it’s great to have lots of people watching and everything but I also think there has to be respect towards both players.
‘I think a few people were about to be kicked out. I can only really compare it to the Billie Jean King Cup and I don’t even think I’ve had it be like that before.
‘I think [the umpire] did as best as she could – maybe there should be a stricter policy in terms of if people are doing something, if they do it more than once they are out, but I don’t make those rules.’
Fearnley, meanwhile, who was playing on Court 6 against Cazaux rose above the noise, but suggested that some had gone a little over the top with their partying antics.
‘Yeah, it was an interesting one. I actually didn’t really look at the court before I went on, so when I saw the bar, I was thinking it’s going to be a pretty rowdy atmosphere,’ the British star said.
‘Usually they go together, a bar and a rowdy atmosphere. It was interesting. But as I kind of settled into the match, I kind of blocked it out as much as I could. Obviously, there was some supporters who were extremely drunk, but it was a great atmosphere, amazing atmosphere.’
In 2024 the Courtside Bar copped flack from some players who had hit out at the rowdy behaviour of some fans
Harriet Dart claimed she felt like she was ‘at a football match’ the way some fans were behaving around the show courts
Shower time!
Torrential rains struck Melbourne on Sunday, suspending play from around 12pm to 6pm on the outdoor courts.
Cracks of thunder echoed around the city with approximately 31mm of rain falling in the space of six hours.
The insane weather forecast had caused havoc with public transport while emergency services received multiple calls of flooding around Victoria.
Some around the state were even left without power.
Thankfully, the weather has picked up again, with temperatures topping out at a balmy 26ºc throughout the week – but it certainly feels a lot hotter.
Tennis Australia has been working to ensure fans stay sun-safe around the tournament, providing sun cream stations, water bottle re-fill stops and even mist fans.
Heading towards the Peroni tent in the Grand Slam Oval, some fans have been staying cool by jumping under the brand’s Peroni Showers.
But before you ask, the showers are not spraying people with beer! As with many of the mist stations around the park, they are spraying patrons with a haze of ice-cold water, a perfect way to cool yourself down in the Melbourne sun.
Other brands are also working to ensure fans stay safe out there in the heat, with Bondi Sands also setting up their beach suncream stations
Some fans in the Grand Slam Oval have been jumping under the Peroni mist showers to stay cool this week
The Australian Open has set up mist fans around the complex to help fans stave off from the heat
Sun cream stations are also dotted around the tennis precint, with Bondi Sands also offering fans factor 50 lotion
A classy move from Tennis Australia
Unwittingly, many fans have been giving back to charity this week by throwing their used food trays, plastic cups and coffee cups into the Australian Open’s special recycling bins.
Tennis Australia is giving 10c to charity every time a fan places one of the items above in one of the bins.
The money is being donated to the Australian Tennis Foundation (ATF) – the tournament’s official charity – who use tennis to provide support to young people facing social disadvantages.
And that’s not the only bit of charitable work Tennis Australia are doing this week. During the 2025 Australian Open and Summer of Tennis, the ATF will be giving away over 1,200 tickets to more than 20 charities for children and families facing adversity.
A classy move.
Some fans at the Australian Open have been unwittingly giving back to charity this week. Ten cents from every plastic cup or paper tray diposited in one of the tournament’s recycling bins will go to the Australian Tennis Foundation
McEnroe teases Fearnley
A bizarre moment unfolded on Tuesday night after Scotsman Jacob Fearnley defeated Nick Kyrgios at the John Cain Arena.
John McEnroe stepped onto the court to conduct an interview with the Edinburgh-born tennis star following his three-set victory, before quizzing Fearnley on his accent.
‘Where is your Scottish accent?’ the seven-time Grand Slam winner asked.
Fearnley, who went to college in Texas, has been living in the States for some time and appears to have picked up an American twang.
Fearnley, who was starstruck by the tennis legend, laughed when later pressed on the moment.
‘When I went to college in 2019, I lost it [my Scottish accent] very quickly,’ the Edinburgh-born star said.
‘I don’t really know what happened. Then obviously I’ve kind of been out of college for seven years, eight months now, been around a lot of British people.
‘I think that’s maybe why it starts coming back. When I was talking to John, obviously he’s American.
‘Maybe I started to pick things up again. Hopefully, I keep the British accent more.’
John McEnroe stepped onto the court to interview Jacob Fearnley and was left puzzled about his American twang
The tennis great asked the rising star: ‘Where’s your Scottish accent!?’ Fearnley went to college in the USA but is hopeful his British accent will come back
Fans fume over the schedule
I’ve spoken to some fans this week who say they’ve paid around $60 (£30) for a grounds pass. One added he paid $360 (£180) to watch Novak Djokovic on Monday night at the Rod Laver Arena.
And given the fees, some were left a little miffed by the tournament’s scheduling, particularly the opening round of matches on day one.
The rain did not help that either with a huge storm sweeping its way through Melbourne Park on Sunday, postponing the afternoon matches.
While Aryna Sabalenka and Alexander Zverev both were the headliners at the Rod Laver Arena on Sunday, one fan told me the schedule for the opening day was ‘a little underwhelming’.
The first round of matches is being spread over three days for the first time this year, with the tournament hosts making the move to prevent matches from going on late into the night.
While some fans said they were a little ‘underwhelmed’ by the opening day’s order of play, they did catch a glimpse of Aryna Sabalenka boogying on Rod Laver Arena after her first round victory
Questions were also raised when Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Nick Kyrgios had all been booked in to play at the same primetime slot.
It meant that fans inside Melbourne Park had to pick which match to watch.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz returned to action on Tuesday and was again scheduled to play at the same time as Djokovic, with the Serbian stepping onto Rod Laver, while Alcaraz played on the Margarate Court Arena against Yoshihito Nishioka.
‘Geez!…they’ve done it again. Scheduled Djokovic and Alcaraz to play at the same time. The first time I thought it might just have been stupidity…but now it looks intentional,’ one wrote on X.