Australian Open: Date, venue, format & prize money

Often dubbed the 'Happy Slam', the Australian Open is the first big event of the ATP and WTA seasons and the hard-court event is the first of four Grand Slam tournaments throughout the year.

As well as singles, doubles and junior championships, there are also wheelchair, legends, and exhibition events.

Dates

The 2027 Australian Open is set to begin on Monday 11th January 2027 with the main tournament beginning on Sunday 17th January. The tournament ends on Sunday 31st January 2027.

Times

Main day sessions each day typically begin at midnight UK time, until the semi-final stage. Melbourne is 11 hours ahead of GMT, so the evening sessions will then get underway at 08:00 UK time.

Venue

Having been home to the event since 1988, Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, will host the 2027 Australian Open, which is the first Grand Slam of the calendar year.

The venue's most famous courts are the Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena.

Read more about the Australian Open Venue Guide

The men's singles tournament typically features 128 competitors including 16 qualifiers and eight wildcards and the same goes for the women's singles tournament.

In the men's singles tournament, players compete in four rounds with the players divided into two halves. The top players are seeded appropriately.

Eight players then progress to the quarter finals which lead into the semi-finals and then the final. Each match is a best of five sets encounter.

As for the women's singles, the structure of the tournament is exactly the same as in the men's but players compete in best of three sets matches.

All three forms of doubles tournaments follow the same kind of format and are played as best of three sets matches.

Prize Money

The 2026 edition of the Australian Open saw the men's and women's singles champions take home $3,500,000, while the runners-up claimed $1,900,000.

Semi-finalists earned $1,100,000 each and quarter-finalists $665,000, meanwhile players exiting in the first round still pocketed a cool $132,000.