Enjoy our Australian Open coverage on Tennis Buzz, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
A trip down memory lane:
Australian Open trivia
The tragedy of Daphne Akhurst
The Norman Brookes Challenge Cup
1960 Australian Open: Neale Feaser, a costly volley
1960: first Grand Slam title for Rod Laver
1960-63 Australian Open: Jan Lehane four time runner-up
1974 Australian Open: Jimmy Connors first Grand Slam title
1975: John Newcombe defeats Jimmy Connors
1981: First Australian Open title for Martina Navratilova
1983: Mats Wilander defeats Ivan Lendl
1984: Mats Wilander defeats Kevin Curren
1985: Edberg wins in Australia and Sweden changes look
1987-1988 Swedes spoil the party
1987: Stefan Edberg defeats Pat Cash
January 11, 1988: first day of play at Flinders Park
1988: Mats Wilander defeats Pat Cash
1990: John McEnroe disqualified!
1990: Ivan Lendl’s last Grand Slam title
1991: Monica Seles first Australian Open title
1994: First Australian Open title for Pete Sampras
1995: Mary Pierce defeats Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
1995 QF: Pete Sampras emotional comeback win over Jim Courier
Centre Court floods at the 1995 Australian Open
1995: Andre Agassi defeats Pete Sampras, wins first Australian Open title
1996 Australian Open: Mark Philippoussis defeats Pete Sampras in the 3rd round
Impressions from the 1996 Australian Open: Monica Seles and Boris Becker last Grand Slam titles, Stefan Edberg last appearance in Australia
1997 Australian Open: Pete Sampras defeats Carlos Moya
2001 Australian Open: Pat’s last chance
2001 Australian Open final: Andre Agassi defeats Arnaud Clément
2002: Capriati scripts a stunning sequel in Australia
2003 Australian Open: last Grand Slam title for Agassi
2009 Australian Open: Rafael Nadal defeats Roger Federer
Recap and preview:
Fashion and gear:
Polls:
Who will be the 2017 Australian Open champion?
- Serena Williams (35%, 15 Votes)
- Angelique Kerber (23%, 10 Votes)
- Karolina Pliskova (12%, 5 Votes)
- Garbine Muguruza (12%, 5 Votes)
- Someone else (7%, 3 Votes)
- Dominika Cibulkova (5%, 2 Votes)
- Svetlana Kuznetsova (5%, 2 Votes)
- Agnieszka Radwanska (2%, 1 Votes)
- Simona Halep (0%, 0 Votes)
- Johanna Konta (0%, 0 Votes)
- Carla Suarez Navarro (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 43

Who will be the 2017 Australian Open champion?
- Someone else (26%, 29 Votes)
- Novak Djokovic (25%, 28 Votes)
- Rafael Nadal (24%, 27 Votes)
- Andy Murray (16%, 18 Votes)
- Milos Raonic (3%, 3 Votes)
- Stan Wawrinka (3%, 3 Votes)
- Kei Nishikori (2%, 2 Votes)
- Dominic Thiem (2%, 2 Votes)
- Tomas Berdych (1%, 1 Votes)
- Marin Cilic (0%, 0 Votes)
- Gaël Monfils (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 113

The Happy Slam is already around the corner! On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic will be once again the huge favorite, but the women’s draw is open than ever: all four of the top-ranked have withdrawn from tournaments they entered this week due to injury.
Enjoy our Australian Open coverage on Tennis Buzz, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
A trip down memory lane:
Australian Open trivia
The tragedy of Daphne Akhurst
The Norman Brookes Challenge Cup
1960 Australian Open: Neale Feaser, a costly volley
1960: first Grand Slam title for Rod Laver
1960-63 Australian Open: Jan Lehane four time runner-up
1974 Australian Open: Jimmy Connors first Grand Slam title
1975: John Newcombe defeats Jimmy Connors
1981: First Australian Open title for Martina Navratilova
1983: Mats Wilander defeats Ivan Lendl
1984: Mats Wilander defeats Kevin Curren
1985: Edberg wins in Australia and Sweden changes look
1987-1988 Swedes spoil the party
1987: Stefan Edberg defeats Pat Cash
January 11, 1988: first day of play at Flinders Park
1988: Mats Wilander defeats Pat Cash
1990: John McEnroe disqualified!
1990: Ivan Lendl’s last Grand Slam title
1991: Monica Seles first Australian Open title
1994: First Australian Open title for Pete Sampras
1995: Mary Pierce defeats Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
1995 QF: Pete Sampras emotional comeback win over Jim Courier
1995: Andre Agassi defeats Pete Sampras, wins first Australian Open title
1996 Australian Open: Mark Philippoussis defeats Pete Sampras in the 3rd round
Impressions from the 1996 Australian Open: Monica Seles and Boris Becker last Grand Slam titles, Stefan Edberg last appearance in Australia
1997 Australian Open: Pete Sampras defeats Carlos Moya
2001 Australian Open: Pat’s last chance
2001 Australian Open final: Andre Agassi defeats Arnaud Clément
2002: Capriati scripts a stunning sequel in Australia
2003 Australian Open: last Grand Slam title for Agassi
2009 Australian Open: Rafael Nadal defeats Roger Federer
Recap:
Fashion and gear:
Polls:
Who will be the 2016 Australian Open champion?
- Novak Djokovic (45%, 66 Votes)
- Roger Federer (22%, 32 Votes)
- Andy Murray (9%, 13 Votes)
- Rafael Nadal (9%, 13 Votes)
- Stan Wawrinka (7%, 10 Votes)
- Other (3%, 5 Votes)
- Kei Nishikori (3%, 4 Votes)
- Tomas Berdych (2%, 3 Votes)
- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (1%, 1 Votes)
- David Ferrer (0%, 0 Votes)
- Richard Gasquet (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 147

Who will be the 2016 Australian Open champion?
- Serena Williams (38%, 41 Votes)
- Maria Sharapova (22%, 24 Votes)
- Other (14%, 15 Votes)
- Garbine Muguruza (9%, 10 Votes)
- Agnieszka Radwanska (7%, 8 Votes)
- Angelique Kerber (5%, 5 Votes)
- Simona Halep (2%, 2 Votes)
- Petra Kvitova (1%, 1 Votes)
- Karolina Pliskova (1%, 1 Votes)
- Venus Williams (0%, 0 Votes)
- Timea Bacsinszky (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 107

Excerpt of Pete Sampras autobiography A champion’s mind:
“Down in Australia for the start of 1994, I played my first two matches and then came up against a newcomer from Russia, Yevgeny Kafelnikov. People had warned me about this tall, rangy kid with straw-blond hair, a jack-o’-lantern grin, and a high-quality two-handed backhand. His forehand was one of te all-time ugly shots in tennis; he hit it with a bent arm and it looked really ungainly, especially in comparison to his smooth, sweet backhand.
But that forehand was a better shot that it looked, and the guy had plenty of talent – enough to push me, hard. What’s worse, I never really did well with guys I hadn’t played before. What advantage I had in terms of my reputation was offset by the fact that it usually took me a match or two to figure a guy out, and get into a comfort zone against his unique game.
But I survived Kafelnikov, then beat Ivan Lendl and got my old friends Jim Courier and Todd Martin, back to back, in the semis and finals. I rolled through Todd in straight sets to win my third major in a row. I was on fire. Next I won the two big US winter had-court events, Indian Wells and Key Biscayne. I began to sense that people were a little in awe of me, a little fearful, and I liked that feeling.”