ChristineOWelcome to your guide to the Australian Open. We’re going to pack you full of Happy Slam trivia and make you realise why this sporting event down under is just so great.
Whether you’re already a big tennis fan or you’re just starting to get interested in the sport, we’re sure you’re going to find out something that you didn’t already know in this list of Happy Slam trivia.
From location to history to the famous nickname, we’re going to cover it all for you.
Happy Slam trivia
History
The Australian Open wasn’t always the Australian Open. It got its name in 1969. However, the tournament is far older than that. In 1905, the Australasian Championships took place for the first time in the Albert Reserve Tennis Centre.
Just over 20 years later, it got a name change to the Australian Championship. And the next name change, in the late 1960s stuck. Now we’ve got the Australian Open.
The Happy Slam’s place in the Grand Slam
The Australian Open is a Grand Slam tournament. The first one of the calendar year, it’s always exciting to see what happens there. Next up is the French Open, then Wimbledon and bringing up the rear is the US Open.
But what about the nickname?
As you can see in this article, we’re using Happy Slam and Australian Open interchangeably. They’re the same thing, after all. The Happy Slam is the nickname famous tennis legend Roger Federer coined for the tournament. He said it was the Happy Slam because all the players are always in great spirits when they get there. As the first tournament of the year, everyone is relaxed, recharged and ready to hit some balls.
Playing conditions
Usually, tennis is associated with the colour green. Not so the Australian Open. In pictures, you’re going to see your favourite tennis stars against the blue background of the trademark hard courts. And if you’re looking for some Happy Slam trivia, these hard courts are currently made by GreenSet. Although provided initially by a different company, the matches have played out on a blue court since 2008.
Before that, there were almost two decades of green hard court. Then up until the late 1980s, it was all about grass. But that’s tough to maintain in those hot Australian summers, as you can imagine.
Although predominantly an outdoors competition, the Happy Slam was the first of all the Grand Slam tournaments to also feature indoors play. This has happened because of extreme weather conditions of both heat waves and downpours.
What do the winners get?
If you win the women’s singles, you’re presented with the coveted Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. And for the men, the singles winner is presented with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup. Both of these trophies are named after famous tennis players of the early 1900s.
There is also a hell of a lot of money on the line. Each singles winner can expect to take home almost AUD $2 million.
And what about placing online bets on the Happy Slam?
If you’ve had your fill of Happy Slam trivia and fancy placing a bet on the Australian Open, we’ve got some good options for you. Our favourite online sportsbook at the moment is bet365. And a really good feature of that particular online sportsbook is that we have a really great bet365 bonus code for you to amp up your welcome offer.
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