The women's singles was first contested in 1922 along with the women's and mixed doubles competition as the last three events to be added. The Australian Open is played during two weeks mid-January, and has been chronologically the first of the fourGrand Slam tournaments of the tennisseason since 1987. The event was not held from 1940 to 1945 because of World War II, and 1986 becauseTennis Australia wanted to move the tournament start from mid-December 1986 to mid-January 1987.[1][7]Margaret Court holds the all-time record for singles titles at this tournament with 11; 7 in the Amateur Era and 4 in the Open Era.Serena Williams holds the Open Era record with 7 singles titles.
Perth,Brisbane,Adelaide,Sydney, andMelbourne, Australia have all held the event. The competition switched locations every year before it settled in1972 at theKooyong Stadium, moving to Flinders Park, now Melbourne Park, in 1988.[1] Several calendar changes took place for the Australian Open, from January to December in 1972 to bypass the January-to-JuneInternational Lawn Tennis Federation (ITLF) ban ofWorld Championship Tennis (WCT) players; from late to early December in 1977 to avoid theChristmas holidays, which resulted in having two Opens in the season;[8] and back to January, when the planned December 1986 edition was moved toearly 1987, leaving no Open for the 1986 season.[9][10]
An all British and an all American final were contested in 1935 and 1979 respectively, but otherwise every other final contested until 1980 featured an Australian player.
The women's singles' rules have undergone several changes, since the first edition. This event has been contested in aknockout format, and all matches played at thebest-of-three sets.[6] Since 1922, all sets have been decided in theadvantage format, with six games and two games difference. Thelingering death best-of-twelve pointstie-break was introduced in1971, and used for the first two sets since then, except from1980 to1982, when the tie-break was also played in final sets.[6][11]
The court surface changed once, fromgrass (1922–1987) tohard courts, since the move to Flinders Park in 1988.[1][3][4] No tennis player has won this event on both grass and Rebound Ace;Serena Williams is the only player to win the tournament on two different surfaces, winning her first three titles on Rebound Ace and her last four on Plexicushion.[2]
The champion receives a miniature replica of theDaphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, named after the five-time champion, which was first awarded to the champion in 1934.[12] In 2010, the winner receivedprize money ofA$2,100,000.[13]
In the Australasian Championship,Margaret Molesworth (1922–1923) andDaphne Akhurst (1925–1926) co-hold the records for most wins and most consecutive wins.[7]
In the Australian Championships,Margaret Court (1960–1966) holds the records for most titles with seven wins, and most consecutive titles with seven from (1960–1966).[7]
In the Australian Open, Serena Williams (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009–2010, 2015, 2017) has the most victories, with seven. The record for most consecutive titles is three held by the following players:Margaret Court (1969–1971),Evonne Goolagong (1974–1976),Steffi Graf (1988–1990),Monica Seles (1991–1993),Martina Hingis (1997–1999).[7]
Overall in the Championship's history,Margaret Court (1960–1973) holds the records for most titles with eleven wins, and most consecutive titles with seven from (1960–1966).[7]
Steffi Graf is a four-time champion and won three times consecutivelyMonica Seles is a four-time champion and won three times consecutivelyAmericanSerena Williams is a seven-time champion, which is anOpen Era record.Martina Hingis is a three-time consecutive champion, and she reached the final six times consecutively, which is an open era record.Ashleigh Barty won the title in2022, becoming the first Australian woman to win the title in 44 years.
^abcMartina Navratilova was born inCzechoslovakia, but competed as an American after the US Open in 1975, having sought asylum in the United States, which made her relinquish her Czechoslovak citizenship.[15]
^abAryna Sabalenka is from Belarus and won in 2023 and 2024, but was competing as a neutral competitor in both years because on 1 March 2022, theWTA announced that players fromBelarus will not be allowed to compete under the name or flag of Belarus following the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[16]
AUS
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Serena Williams (USA)
Steffi Graf (GER)[l]
Martina Hingis (SUI)
Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
Hana Mandlíková (CZE)
Naomi Osaka (JPN)
Aryna Sabalenka[o]
Great Britain (GBR)
Belgium (BEL)
France (FRA)
China (CHN)
Denmark (DEN)
Russia (RUS)
