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FILE PHOTO: Tennis – Australian Open – Men’s Singles Final – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – January 29, 2023 A public view during the final match between Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece REUTERS/Loren Elliott
The Australian Open set a Grand Slam attendance record with more than 900,000 spectators visiting over three weeks, organizers said on Tuesday, despite the absence of several major players and scheduling disruptions due to rain.
A record 839,192 fans flocked to Melbourne Park from January 16-29 for the first tournament in two years without COVID-19 restrictions, beating the previous mark of 812,174 set in January 2020.
These numbers surpassed last year’s attendance numbers at other Grand Slam series – 515,164 visited Wimbledon, 613,500 at the French Open and 776,120 to the US Open.
More than 60,000 also watched the qualifying event in Melbourne, for a total of 902,312.
The tournament, without retired Serena Williams, Roger Federer and last year’s home champion Ash Barty, broke the single-day attendance mark with 94,854 fans in attendance on January 21. The previous record was 93,709 in 2020.
“It’s been reported that we don’t have the greats anymore, that would be terrible. But people just want to be entertained,” Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley told the Melbourne Age.
“They want to have fun, and tennis is a great option for them, and it’s a summer must-do for Melburnians and Australians and visitors from all over the world.”
Tiley has set his sights on breaking the one million mark next year.
“This year is just the beginning,” Tiley said. “It’s going to be a three-week extravaganza.”
Novak Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday to win his 10th Australian Open crown, level with Rafa Nadal on 22 majors, and reclaim his world number one ranking.
Aryna Sabalena won her first Grand Slam title with a victory over Elena Rybakina on Saturday.
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