The2007 Australian Open was aGrand Slamtennis tournament held inMelbourne, Australia from 15 January until 28 January 2007.
The total prize pool was set at exactlyA$20 million, with the winners of both the men's and women's singles competition each receiving A$1,281,000.[1] Over 500 players competed in 2007.[1] The main draw for singles and doubles was released on Friday 12 January 2007.
In Mixed Doubles, the scoring system was changed. Should both teams in a match become one set apiece, a match tie break will take part in the final set where the first team to score ten points wins the match. If the score for the match tie break becomes 9–9, a difference by two is required to win the game (e.g. 11–9, 12–10, etc.).
This was the first time that the tournament used theHawk-Eye system in an official line-calling capacity, as an auxiliary to the human line judges. Players were given the opportunity to challenge a human line call if they believed it to be incorrect, by having Hawk-Eye confirm or overrule the original call. The system was installed on only one court being used for the tournament, in theRod Laver Arena.
At the beginning of a set, the players were each given the opportunity to incorrectly challenge a maximum of two line calls during the set. A player who still had some incorrect challenges remaining was allowed to make an unlimited number of correct challenges, but when a player had no incorrect challenges remaining, his or her opportunity to challenge line calls was lost. Players received an extra incorrect challenge during a tiebreak. The players regained both challenges at the beginning of each set and also after every 12 games in the final deciding set. Unused challenges did not carry over when this happened.[2]
An additional aspect to the new system was that a video replay screen was installed inside the arena for the first time, to display the results of the challenges. The screen also allowed the spectators (and players themselves) to view instant replays that could previously only be seen by the television audience and those viewing the match on screens outside the stadium. This implementation caused noticeable drama in a match between No. 2Amélie Mauresmo andOlga Puchkova in which Mauresmo challenged the in call on Poutchkova's shot and the replay showed the ball out graphically but still called the ball in.
On 15 January 2007, around one hundred and fifty Australian youths ofSerbian,Croatian andGreek origins were ejected from the Open after brawling with one another in Garden Square atMelbourne Park. The brawl reportedly developed after fans taunted each other with nationalist slogans. According toThe Age newspaper, twenty police tried to quell the disturbance, which allegedly developed after an informal understanding between some Serb and Croat fans — that the two groups would not attend on the same day — was broken. The two opposing groups were ejected out separate exits and escorted away from the venue in opposite directions by police. No arrests were made, and no charges were laid against any of the participants.
The Greek supporters protested that they had not been involved in the taunts exchanged between the Serb and Croat contingents, thoughThe Age reported that some Greek supporters had sided with some Serbs and chanted, "Greece,Serbia! Greece, Serbia!" and "We must support our Orthodox brothers". Serb fans claimed that the violence had been provoked by Croat use of theCroatian national flag, which in their eyes carried connotations of Second World Warfascism, while Croats claimed that the violence was provoked by Serbs shouting anti-Croat, pro-Serb chants.[3]
A Croatian supporter suffered minor injuries in the ethnic brawl after being hit with a Serbian flagpole. People wearing Croatian or Serbiannational colours were subsequently refused entry and the next day featured heightened security. Police in Victoria said that this sort of behaviour was never seen in the tournament before.[4]
Heat in excess of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Day 2 caused theExtreme Heat Policy to be implemented. Most daytime matches were delayed, and matches continued on outside courts till 3.30am the following morning.Janko Tipsarević chose to forfeit his match againstDavid Nalbandian because of the heat. OnRod Laver Arena with the roof open, top-seededMaria Sharapova nearly succumbed to the heat, losing a 5–0 lead in the final set, but managed to defeatCamille Pin 6–3. 4–6, 9–7.
During the night sessions on Day 3, the Australian Open was affected by rain delaying play. Three men's matches were postponed in progress. The matches onRod Laver Arena andMelbourne Arena were delayed for only 15 minutes while the retractable roofs closed.Marat Safin wisely requested that play be suspended while noticeably out of the match againstDudi Sela with Sela up two sets to one, six games to five, and 30-30. After the delay, Safin returned to win the fourth set and then the final set 6–0 to advance. This was reminiscent of the match in the2006 Australian Open in whichMarcos Baghdatis advanced after appearing rejuvenated againstDavid Nalbandian. The match onRod Laver featuring women's number twoAmélie Mauresmo andOlga Puchkova was barely underway when the rains came.
Rain on day six caused play to only proceed on the covered courts ofRod Laver Arena andMelbourne Arena, for the duration of the day. Thus, only high seedsMaria Sharapova,Rafael Nadal,Nikolay Davydenko,Kim Clijsters,James Blake, andMartina Hingis were able to play their matches, as well asAustraliansAlicia Molik andLleyton Hewitt. Players scheduled for play on the outer courts had to wait until Day 7, and faced the possibility of playing on consecutive days for the winners. Initially only 10 matches were scheduled for play in Laver and Vodafone, but the match betweenAndy Murray andJuan Ignacio Chela was moved indoors, to leave only five delayed matches in men's and women's singles.
Roger Federer defeated
Fernando González, 7–6(7–2), 6–4, 6–4
Serena Williams defeated
Maria Sharapova, 6–1, 6–2
Bob Bryan /Mike Bryan defeated
Jonas Björkman /
Max Mirnyi, 7–5, 7–5
Cara Black /
Liezel Huber defeated
Chan Yung-jan /Chuang Chia-jung, 6–4, 6–7(4–7), 6–1
Daniel Nestor /Elena Likhovtseva[5] defeatedMax Mirnyi /Victoria Azarenka, 6–4, 6–4
Brydan Klein defeated
Jonathan Eysseric, 6–2, 4–6, 6–1
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeatedMadison Brengle, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–3)
Graeme Dyce /
Harri Heliövaara defeatedStephen Donald /
Rupesh Roy, 6–2, 6–7(4–7), 6–3
Evgeniya Rodina /Arina Rodionova defeatedJulia Cohen /
Urszula Radwańska, 2–6, 6–3, 6-1
Shingo Kunieda defeatedMichaël Jérémiasz, 6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Esther Vergeer defeatedFlorence Gravellier, 6–1, 6–0
Robin Ammerlaan /Shingo Kunieda defeatedMaikel Scheffers/Ronald Vink, 6–2, 6–0
Jiske Griffioen /Esther Vergeer defeatedFlorence Gravellier/Korie Homan, 6–0, 3–6, [10–6]
The seeded players are listed below with the round in which they exited.
Men[edit]
| Women[edit]
|
Men's singles[edit] | Women's singles[edit]
|
Men's doubles[edit] | Women's doubles[edit]
|
Mixed doubles[edit] |
|
Men's qualifiers entries[edit]Main article:2007 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying | Women's qualifiers entries[edit]Main article:2007 Australian Open – Women's singles qualifying
|
The following players were accepted directly into the main draw using a protected ranking:
|
|
|
|
| Day | Day Session | Night Session | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 41,254 | 14,288 | 55,542 |
| 2 | 33,024 | 15,574 | 48,598 |
| 3 | 31,109 | 16,677 | 47,786 |
| 4 | 38,622 | 17,580 | 56,202 |
| 5 | 32,253 | 17,557 | 49,810 |
| 6 | 35,555 | 14,932 | 50,487 |
| 7 | 35,957 | 14,801 | 50,758 |
| 8 | 28,998 | 15,178 | 44,176 |
| 9 | 19,616 | 15,091 | 34,707 |
| 10 | 18,674 | 14,971 | 33,645 |
| 11 | 16,826 | 14,957 | 31,783 |
| 12 | 17,868 | – | 17,868 |
| 13 | 15,833 | – | 15,833 |
| 14 | 17,663 | – | 17,663 |
| Total | 383,252 | 171,606 | 554,858 |
Coverage of the 2007 Australian Open was as follows:
|
|
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
| Preceded by | Grand Slams | Succeeded by |