I’ve spent 69 hours at the 2026 Australian Open over the past nine days. Below is my account of this experience. For those who couldn’t make it to Melbourne Park this year, this is your opportunity to live vicariously; for those who were there, let me know if we shared any of the same experiences.
A confession
Before we go any further, I have something to confess: this was my first-ever Grand Slam.
That’s right, I’ve been a sports writer for well over a decade, a tennis fan for twice that, and have never set foot at a major until now, despite having travelled to 72 countries. My only experience with pro tennis in the flesh has been the humble ASB Classic in Auckland, which I can tell you now is a far cry from the big show over the ditch.
Shame on me.
I don’t even have a good reason why. Perhaps I thought it was too hard to get tickets? Or too expensive? Neither were true, and I’m glad I know that now.
All this to say, lining up to enter Melbourne Park on day one of the tournament, I really had no idea what to expect. A few minutes later, I realized I was in absolute tennis heaven.
Tennis heaven
Cresting the Tanderrum Bridge with a herd of fellow tennis-lovers, the first player I laid eyes on was Jannik Sinner. Just there, casually, practicing on Court 10 right in front of my very eyes, in the flesh.
I felt like a kid in a candy shop, and it was a feeling that didn’t go away even days later.
Initially, I decided to just walk around and fully get my bearings before committing to any matches. I spent a few hours strolling around the entire precinct, poking my nose into every little area and checking out the range of courts.
The first thing that struck me was how close together all the courts are. On TV it’s made to seem like every court is its own big separate entity, when in reality, they’re all right there. You can stand on the sidelines of Court 13, and hear the players grunting on Courts 10, 11 and 12 as well. Get up on the walkway between Courts 8, 6 and 5, and you can see multiple matches unfolding on all sides of you.
The rabbit warren of outer courts was juxtaposed against the grandeur of the show courts – 1573, Kia, ANZ, John Cain, Margaret and Rod Laver Arenas. These were all more spread out, interspersed with different areas to relax, eat food and watch matches on big screens. There were a lot more of these areas than I expected – some that I barely even visited, despite spending 12+ hours a day there for the better part of a week.
Court hopping galore
Once I’d strolled around and satiated my curiosity, I began getting into some actual tennis. For much of the first two days, I fully embraced the court-hopping lifestyle. It was intense, but fantastic. Here’s some of what I got to catch:
- Arthur Fery vs Flavio Cobolli (John Cain)
- Cam Norrie vs Benjamin Bonzi (1573)
- Hailey Baptiste vs Taylor Townsend (Court 13)
- Alexander Blockx vs Jaime Faria (Court 13)
- Courentin Moutet vs Tristan Schoolkate (Kia Arena)
- Jiri Lehecka vs Arthur Gea (1573)
- Linda Noskova vs Daja Semenistaja (Court 6)
- Adrian Mannarino vs Rinky Hijikata (Court 6)
- Marin Cilic vs Daniel Altmaier (Court 8)
- Tommy Paul vs Aleksandar Kovacevic (Court 13)
- Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Filip Misolic (Court 13)
- Martin Damm vs Valentin Vacherot (Court 13)
- Nikolai Budkov Kjaer vs Reilly Opelka (Court 14)
- Terene Atmane vs Francesco Maestrelli (Court 14)
As you can see, despite the crowds and the claims of some fans online that it was impossible to get into any courts to watch tennis, I managed to catch my fair share. I quickly found that with a little forethought, it was entirely possible to have an awesome experience. If there was a specific player I wanted to see (Blockx and Mannarino were on my list), then I made sure to get to the court a match early and committed to lining up if need be.
Otherwise, I largely avoided matches in the big arenas, and stuck to the smaller courts with younger, lesser known players. These were the ones I was most interested in anyway, so it worked out perfectly. I also steered clear of matches featuring Aussie players (pretty much), as these were the ones that drew the biggest lines. Sticking around late at night helped too, as a lot of the crowds thinned out after dinner.
Norrie vs Bonzi had to be the most entertaining match of the first two days – I’m a Kiwi, so of course I had to get in behind the New Zealand-born Norrie. The French crowd late at night in 1573 Arena were awesome, made even better by the fact that Norrie won in a fifth set. That particular court quickly became my favorite too – with a capacity of about 3,000, I found it struck the perfect balance of being big enough to be a vibe, but small enough to still feel like the crowd was personal.
Learning to nestle in
From day three onwards, I took a more measured approach and began nestling into full matches more. This was partly because court-hopping is rather full-on, and partly because I had one player in particular that I was determined to see: Joao Fonseca.
The 19-year-old Brazilian is right up there with my favorite players, and I was eager to see his famously powerful groundstrokes in real life. Given he’s been one of the biggest crowd-drawers on the ATP Tour over the past 12 months, I knew I was going to have to be strategic if I wanted to see him play.
So I left home before 8am on day three, getting to the Melbourne Park gates a good hour before they opened. I was still far from the front of the line, only entering the grounds at about 10am. Still, this was an hour before the match before Fonseca’s, so I was able to get into the 1573 Arena and grab an excellent seat – right behind the baseline, front row.
It was sunny, so by the time I had sat through three hours of Cristian Garin vs Luciano Darderi, I was certainly ready for Fonseca to make his entrance. The Brazilian crowd was frothing, with almost all of the crowd having done the same thing I did in coming a match early.
From the minute Fonseca stepped on court, his name was chanted virtually non-stop: “Jooooao Fonseeeeca! Jooooao Fonseeeeca!”
Those of you who kept up with the results last week will know that the match was a major anticlimax. Fonseca struck the ball about 20 km/h slower than usual and looked sluggish around the court, still nursing a back issue that saw him miss two lead-in tournaments. Turns out his opponent, Eliot Spizzirri, was the real star to keep an eye on in Melbourne.
After some well-needed shade and rehydration, I managed to nab a seat in the ANZ Arena for Zizou Bergs vs Hubert Hurkacz (image below), which wound up being one of the matches of the tournament for me.
Not only was it an excellent contest on the court – both men were striking their ground strokes immaculately and split two tiebreakers before Hurkacz pulled away in the final two sets – but the crowd were right up for the occasion. The Poles showed up in force, complete with their red and white outfits and enthusiastic chants. But the neutrals – myself included – got right behind Bergs, leading to a series of brilliant crowd exchanges that delayed serve on several occasions: “Hubi! Zizou! Hubi! Zizou! Hubi! Zizou!”
The big time
The remainder of the days that I attended were off the back of Rod Laver tickets. I was determined to see Novak Djokovic play, so had purchased passes to the day four and five night sessions, as well as the day five and seven day sessions.
These were a mixed bag to be fair. On the one hand, it was fantastic being able to stroll into Melbourne Park at a leisurely pace, knowing I had a seat reserved for me in the big stadium and didn’t need to line up with the peasants outside. On the other hand, bar one or two matches, they were all pretty one-sided, uneventful spectacles.
I dropped the better part of A$1000 on these tickets, and here are the matches that unfolded:
- Alex de Minaur beat Hamad Medjedovic 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2, 6-1
- Iva Jovic beat Priscilla Hon 6-1, 6-2
- Jessica Pegula beat McCartney Kessler 6-0, 6-2
- Djokovic beat Maestrelli 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
- Sinner beat James Duckworth 6-1, 6-4, 6-2
- Elena Rybakina beat Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 6-2
- Madison Keys beat Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-3
- Sinner beat Spizzirri 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Bar the opening hour of the de Minaur match and the first two hours of Sinner vs Spizzirri, there wasn’t a lot of jeopardy in any of these matches. The atmosphere was also markedly different to the other courts accessible via ground pass.
I think the main difference is that tickets for the main courts are purchased ahead of the schedule of play being released, so spectators are there regardless of what matches are on. This can at times lead to a little apathy or disengagement, while on other courts, fans are there voluntarily because they’re interested in watching a certain player. This naturally leads to a bit more engagement and funner crowds.
That said, it was brilliant to see legends of the game like Djokovic and Sinner in action. And seeing Sinner wobble to the point of almost having to retire against Spizzirri was certainly a thrill!
Over these days I also caught some brilliant matches before and after the Rod Laver sessions, none better than Stan Wawrinka’s final foray against Taylor Fritz. It was my first experience of the heaving John Cain Arena night session atmosphere, which certainly didn’t disappoint.
My hot takes
As I’m about to jump on a plane and leave Melbourne (we’re not all rich enough to afford tickets for the finals) let me leave you with some of my key takeaways, if you’re ever looking to come to the Australian Open:
- The back row of Court 6 is the best seat in the house. I sat up the back of Court 6 on day two, and quickly realized that it also has a brilliant view directly down onto Court 8. If you’re smart, plan to sit up there and you’ll be able to catch two matches at once.
- The crowds aren’t that bad. Don’t believe the griping you see online. Big crowds are excellent for the sport we all love, and are perfectly manageable in reality. You’ve just got to be smart – think ahead about what matches you’re keen to see and be OK with lining up; or, head to some lower-profile matches where there will be less demand for seats.
- Don’t be afraid to leave the grounds. Instead of lining up for half an hour to pay A$23 for a sandwich, just take a walk into the city and have a bite to eat. They’re long days, it’s perfectly fine to take some time out and come back.
- Suncream your upper thighs, please. Don’t make the mistake I made. When you sit down your shorts naturally ride up higher than when you’re standing. If you apply suncream standing up, go higher than you think is necessary if you want to avoid some awkward tanlines.
- Take a warm layer. It gets hot in Melbourne, but equally, the temperature drops after dark. If you want to stick around and enjoy some of the night matches – either in person or on one of the big screens – then it’ll be more comfortable if you’ve got a light second layer.
- Don’t take a toddler. I brought my 21-month-old along on day two, and it lasted for all of 90 minutes. He loved it, but was far too excited to stay still or quiet. It was super cute showing him some of the action on the outside courts from my shoulders, but if you want to watch any tennis yourself, best to do without a toddler.
- Get chatting. I found myself consistently having great conversations with the people I sat next to, because we immediately had one big thing in common: our love of tennis! Don’t be shy, get chatting, and you’ll likely meet a bunch of people you get on with.
- Bring more snacks than you think. The great thing about the Australian Open is you can bring in as much outside food as you like, provided it’s not in glass or containing alcohol. If you’re planning on doing a big session nestling into one court, like I did for the Fonseca match, make sure to load up on snacks.
The 2026 Australian Open may have been my first Grand Slam, but it certainly won’t be my last. If you’re a tennis fan, don’t make the same mistake as me and take 34 years to get around to it. Get to one as soon as you can – you’ll absolutely love it. It’s safe to say I’m already looking at flights to New York in August.
