Grand Slam Australian Open 2025

[Jatz]

This has been brutal for Birrell.

Awesome to see Jones play Rybakina. Still a long way behind but what an experience.

 

[errant bounce]

Whoever’s playing on 1373 is of no interest apparently, lots of empty seats yet huge queues on Court 3 and KIA arena!

Last year it was the other way 'round. went in to watch Aniismova on the first Sunday and you could walk in and out freely. this year it just took until a break to get into 1373 and when the next match started, a good third of the seats were empty. people obviously just see a line at one in the morning and the hype lingers all day.

The funniest thing is watching a match and some yobbo yells to the kid clipping the barriers on and off 'oh who's playing?!' like he's going to go oh shit, that' 77 ranked Swiss 28-year old journeywoman is playing a hot and cold Canadian who only got seeded through a PR' and rush in. do people expect to hear that 99 Agassi is playing '13 Djokovic out there?

 

[Bumpswithagrin]

Just letting everyone in this thread know there is also a dedicated thread for Round 1 if you want to check that out as well

Grand Slam - Australian Open 2025 Round 1

Day 2 Rod Laver Arena - Night [7] Novak Djokovic (Srb) v Nishesh Basavareddy (USA) Naomi Osaka (Jpn) v Caroline Garcia (Fra) Margaret Court Arena - Night Alexander Shevchenko (Kaz) v [3] Carlos Alcaraz (Spa) Daria Snigur (Ukr) v [10] Danielle Collins (USA) 7pm Jacob Fearnley...

www.bigfooty.com

 

[eddiesmith]

Does anyone know if it’s cheaper to reserve a seat at Rod Laver inside Melbourne Park? I’d assume once inside the venue they wouldn’t be as expensive as you don’t need grounds access, but given most prices I’m probably wrong!!!

 

[Voula]

Just checking JCA tickets for tonight and they’re selling reserved seats up in the upper sections which I thought were accessed by ground passes. Seems they cutting it more and more .

Do you mean behind the court or on the sides? Last year all seats behind the court on JCA were ticketed, so with a ground pass we had to sit on the sides of the court.

My cousin was working at JCA yesterday and she said there were lots of disgruntled fans. For the Kyrgios session there was no virtual queuing. Instead tickets were allocated for Ground Pass ticket holders. Apparently they had to line up for a couple of hours to get a ticket to the twilight session. They weren't told this until they had to leave the arena for it to be cleaned and reset.

They have become so greedy. I don't know if this ticketing process was only because of the expected high interest in the Kyrgios match or if this is the ticketing process going forward now that they have split JCA into 2 sessions.

Nowadays if you have a ground pass then you have to go early and pick a court and stay there the whole day. Gone are the days when you can switch courts and watch whichever match you wanted.

 

[eddiesmith]

Do you mean behind the court or on the sides? Last year all seats behind the court on JCA were ticketed, so with a ground pass we had to sit on the sides of the court.

My cousin was working at JCA yesterday and she said there were lots of disgruntled fans. For the Kyrgios session there was no virtual queuing. Instead tickets were allocated for Ground Pass ticket holders. Apparently they had to line up for a couple of hours to get a ticket to the twilight session. They weren't told this until they had to leave the arena for it to be cleaned and reset.

They have become so greedy. I don't know if this ticketing process was only because of the expected high interest in the Kyrgios match or if this is the ticketing process going forward now that they have split JCA into 2 sessions.

Nowadays if you have a ground pass then you have to go early and pick a court and stay there the whole day. Gone are the days when you can switch courts and watch whichever match you wanted.

Thanks, it was behind the court and I had assumed all upper sections would be GA.

They were supposed to bring in virtual queues for JCA, but I believe it failed on day 1 so they seem to have canned it. Did see a few people showing attendants tickets on their phones, so not sure what the process is now for ground pass?

 

[Redline]

I don't mind the Sunday start but perhaps limit it to the main 6 courts and come up with some other content on site. If people know what they will get with their ticket then they are happier. Don't try to pass it off as the full experience

Overall the site holds the crowds fairly well. Its busy but you can move around the site fairly easily. You can get lucky but we probably need to accept the days of roaming the outside courts are gone. You do need to plan ahead a bit more.

I don't mind the concept of split sessions on JCA as it doesn't seem fair when they get four games and RLA / MCA get the two but how they managed it didn't work this year. We are getting near the end of the Kyrgios era so that will help.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

I don't mind the Sunday start but perhaps limit it to the main 6 courts and come up with some other content on site. If people know what they will get with their ticket then they are happier. Don't try to pass it off as the full experience

Overall the site holds the crowds fairly well. Its busy but you can move around the site fairly easily. You can get lucky but we probably need to accept the days of roaming the outside courts are gone. You do need to plan ahead a bit more.

I don't mind the concept of split sessions on JCA as it doesn't seem fair when they get four games and RLA / MCA get the two but how they managed it didn't work this year. We are getting near the end of the Kyrgios era so that will help.

There's zero point of the Sunday start other than filling Tiley's pockets with an extra day, and don't give the it avoids congestion with draws thing we all know it's money I just wish they were honest.

 

[errant bounce]

The frustration for me is that I genuinely want to see those matches on 1573, Kia, courts 3-4. you get players returning from injury or some old cult heroes, but you also get talent who are only just seeded but ranked 18-20 for a reason: because they're a very good chance of losing to a 60-70 ranked opponent in the first round.

Rod Laver is a relief to have a seat and be in the shade but the only reasonably priced tickets are in the first couple of rounds. it might be cool to say you've seen a dozen champions play live, but you're watching them at 60% blitzing one of the worst players in the tournament.

Tennis is barely a popularly followed sport, most people pay 35 bucks to enter and 35 dollars on a round every half hour and want to get plonkered in the sun and pick up free sunscreen. which is completely fine, but it's a tennis tournament that does not cater well to tennis fans.

One thing as well is how terribly it is managed. the lines on Monday at Birrurung Marr were atrocious with about four clunky entries where rude pricks were cutting in. the staff operating the scanners having an average age of 72 didn't help either. they need to set up more gates. there's about four entries/exits and 95,000 people there – how's that going to go if there's an evacuation? pissed patrons, older people, and tourists who don't have a great grasp of English all trying to leave is going to create chaos.

It's incredibly poorly mapped out, the redevelopment of Margaret Court has just cheaply tacked onto the Rod Laver concourses, the pathways are narrow, lines aren't obeyed for outer courts. Australia does very very well in its traffic management and most venues get people in and out quite comfortably. there's nothing pleasant about the AO because it's just a constant thick five-wide stream that walks at a snail's pace.

The planning of the arenas has been shocking, everything about it is just these little 10 million dollar slight upgrades. the amenities are actually quite accessible but from the ad hoc metal railings at outer courts to the traffic flow to the lack of shade, if it wasn't such a popular event for normies it'd be needing a significant rethink.

In a perfect world they move the Glasshouse to Gosch's Paddock and create a nice broad overpass and put more courts in that position; or they build over the rail lines and put some courts over the top of that.

 

[yabsy]

I notice there's an 'Opening Week' Pass & a 'Week 2' Ground Pass, but no 'Week 1' Ground Pass when most of the matches are played...Has it always been like that?

On Redmi Note 8 Pro using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[PonsfordMagpie]

Back in my school and university days when I had summer holidays, I used to always attend the AO and get a ground pass for the outside courts.

I did this up to 2017 before the realities of adulthood and work life hit. Back then, you could still freely move around and find a spot pretty quickly.

Now, I'm hearing from others you have to remain in one spot essentially and it's impossible to move around different courts without being stuck in a queue. Sounds like there's an oversupply of ground passes which is diminishing the experience.

I always thought the ideal scenario (if you can afford it) for an attendee was to do the following (prior to the Sunday session being introduced):

• Days 1-4 (Mon-Thurs) = Outside courts (1st and 2nd Round). Plenty of matches to see.
• Days 5-8 (Fri-Mon) = John Cain/Margaret Court Arena (3rd and 4th Round). Rod Laver Arena on Friday night and Saturday night was good fun as well, especially if you were lucky to get an Aussie in the draw.
• Days 9-14 (Tues-Sun) = Rod Laver Arena (Quarter Finals, Semi Finals, Final).

 

[Redline]

There's zero point of the Sunday start other than filling Tiley's pockets with an extra day, and don't give the it avoids congestion with draws thing we all know it's money I just wish they were honest.

It's purley for TV purposes and part of the deal. That's the point of it.

Nine don't want a day with nothing while the BBL schedules back to back games. That's why I think keep it to the main courts. All they need is enough TV content.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Come on Machac send Opelka home please

 

[Jatz]

Opelka gone. Not without firing down 40 aces mind you.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Thank goodness

 

[Voula]

I notice there's an 'Opening Week' Pass & a 'Week 2' Ground Pass, but no 'Week 1' Ground Pass when most of the matches are played...Has it always been like that?

On Redmi Note 8 Pro using BigFooty.com mobile app

A few years back they had a 3 day Ground Pass for $120 which was great value. You could choose which days you wanted to go except for Super Saturday. Then they increased it to the same price as 3 separate Ground passes so it wasn't worth it.

Edit: Was speaking to my brother and he said there was also a 5 day Ground Pass back then.

 

[pepsi]

Do we think the AO is exempt from inflation and all other financial pressures that exist? Price of nearly everything goes up and the operating costs of the AO would face the same fate. Nearly $100 million in prize money this year, it all needs to be paid for.

I've only missed attending one AO since 1996 and have seen many changes.

The event is not just for tennis purists and has not been for a long time. It's quite phenomenal how big it has become. Some come to watch tennis, some come to drink with their friends in cool outdoor spaces with music and tennis on the big screen. Kids go to play in fun zones with water parks and mini tennis courts.

I've accepted that this has what the tournament has become and it's easier to enjoy it this way.

I've watched 4 matches on John Cain arena today for $60 and been here from 11am til now for Kokkinakis Draper. You can still get value from Monday to Friday in the first week.

 

[Voula]

Do we think the AO is exempt from inflation and all other financial pressures that exist? Price of nearly everything goes up and the operating costs of the AO would face the same fate. Nearly $100 million in prize money this year, it all needs to be paid for.

I've only missed attending one AO since 1996 and have seen many changes.

The event is not just for tennis purists and has not been for a long time. It's quite phenomenal how big it has become. Some come to watch tennis, some come to drink with their friends in cool outdoor spaces with music and tennis on the big screen. Kids go to play in fun zones with water parks and mini tennis courts.

I've accepted that this has what the tournament has become and it's easier to enjoy it this way.

I've watched 4 matches on John Cain arena today for $60 and been here from 11am til now for Kokkinakis Draper. You can still get value from Monday to Friday in the first week.

My issue is that they have increased the prices and yet reduced the number of matches on the stadium courts from 3 down to 2. I was on MCA today and the matches were finished by 2:45pm. Lucky they moved a men's doubles match to the court.

 

[hamohawk1]

anybody attend 'super' saturday yesterday? Clearly the last few years has seen this become a psuedo melbourne cup type set up with the corporates and crowd types. Obviously $$ talk and they are cleaning up from this type but i can see it going down a similar path to the racing carnival (hold this opinion for F1 too) that once the hype withers, and theres a new sporting fad they're really going to struggle with crowds.

clearly this comes from a position of me being a bit salty about the price of tickets, particularly yesterday for a ground pass cmon, but alas as above, $$ talk

 

[Redline]

anybody attend 'super' saturday yesterday? Clearly the last few years has seen this become a psuedo melbourne cup type set up with the corporates and crowd types. Obviously $$ talk and they are cleaning up from this type but i can see it going down a similar path to the racing carnival (hold this opinion for F1 too) that once the hype withers, and theres a new sporting fad they're really going to struggle with crowds.

clearly this comes from a position of me being a bit salty about the price of tickets, particularly yesterday for a ground pass cmon, but alas as above, $$ talk

I didn't go on the middle Saturday, I think the problem in previous years is the lack of matches. Plenty of juniors but any court with a 'main' game on it was packed. In some ways maybe that's why it works as the corporates don't go to watch the tennis. They stay in the bars ect.

 

[pepsi]

anybody attend 'super' saturday yesterday? Clearly the last few years has seen this become a psuedo melbourne cup type set up with the corporates and crowd types. Obviously $$ talk and they are cleaning up from this type but i can see it going down a similar path to the racing carnival (hold this opinion for F1 too) that once the hype withers, and theres a new sporting fad they're really going to struggle with crowds.

clearly this comes from a position of me being a bit salty about the price of tickets, particularly yesterday for a ground pass cmon, but alas as above, $$ talk

If you look historically over attendance figures of the aus open over the past 20 years, it basically has been increasing every single year. The exception is the COVID years and if there is a significant heatwave during the tournament.

Post COVID there does seem to be an increase in attendance for big events such as the F1, AFL big matches, spring racing etc. But AO numbers have been increasing year on year since 2000 basically, it's not a new phenomenon.

The AO is doing a lot right and there is something there for the tennis purists, the casual fan and the big events attending fan. Attending on the middle Saturday on just a ground pass has been a challenge as a tennis fan for many years. The value of the ground pass is really in the Monday to Thursday of the first week if you are there to watch singles tennis.

The middle Saturday was not even the highest attended day this year. There have been 5 days with over 90,000 people attending this year. The numbers are simply staggering in my opinion.

Sunday - 81,699
Monday - 95,290 (new tournament record)
Tuesday - 90,102
Wednesday - 86,098
Thursday - 95,881 (new tournament record)
Friday - 97,132 (new tournament record)
Saturday - 90,271

TOTAL - 636,473

Back this up with merch sales, food and drink sales and why would the AO change the way they deliver the tournament? It is the biggest sporting event (run over multiple days) in Australia.

To see some of the best players in the world for $60 in the first two rounds is still good value. You can set up on a court and watch 4 quality matches like I did on Kia arena on the Thursday. If you must see a certain player and have to see the number 1 or 2 players in the world, then it's going to cost you to get on rla.

It is now very hard to change courts during the day and move to different players playing on different arenas.

The cost of rla tickets is also incredibly high! It is restrictive and I can't afford to watch rla matches, which is disappointing as I would love to see someone like sinner or Alcaraz in a Rd 3 or Rd 4 natch playing on there.

 

[blackey]

Not a fan of tennis generally but I do get a chuckle from the annual fan chair throwing out of anger event.
Fans can only emulate the anger and actions of what they see on court.
I feel sorry for the youth that look up to professionals in this sport.

 

[damochandler]

It has become a porstea polo/Melbourne cup even. People go just to be seen these days not to watch the tennis

 

[MYOB]

If you look historically over attendance figures of the aus open over the past 20 years, it basically has been increasing every single year. The exception is the COVID years and if there is a significant heatwave during the tournament.

Post COVID there does seem to be an increase in attendance for big events such as the F1, AFL big matches, spring racing etc. But AO numbers have been increasing year on year since 2000 basically, it's not a new phenomenon.

The AO is doing a lot right and there is something there for the tennis purists, the casual fan and the big events attending fan. Attending on the middle Saturday on just a ground pass has been a challenge as a tennis fan for many years. The value of the ground pass is really in the Monday to Thursday of the first week if you are there to watch singles tennis.

The middle Saturday was not even the highest attended day this year. There have been 5 days with over 90,000 people attending this year. The numbers are simply staggering in my opinion.

Sunday - 81,699
Monday - 95,290 (new tournament record)
Tuesday - 90,102
Wednesday - 86,098
Thursday - 95,881 (new tournament record)
Friday - 97,132 (new tournament record)
Saturday - 90,271

TOTAL - 636,473

Back this up with merch sales, food and drink sales and why would the AO change the way they deliver the tournament? It is the biggest sporting event (run over multiple days) in Australia.

To see some of the best players in the world for $60 in the first two rounds is still good value. You can set up on a court and watch 4 quality matches like I did on Kia arena on the Thursday. If you must see a certain player and have to see the number 1 or 2 players in the world, then it's going to cost you to get on rla.

It is now very hard to change courts during the day and move to different players playing on different arenas.

The cost of rla tickets is also incredibly high! It is restrictive and I can't afford to watch rla matches, which is disappointing as I would love to see someone like sinner or Alcaraz in a Rd 3 or Rd 4 natch playing on there.

You can see Sinner tomorrow on RLA for $125

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[Cats_R_Cool_4_Ever]

Alex got night not Sinner lol that’s good. Bc the day game really went bad for him yesterday…