Brielle Kohlbeck
The gates to Melbourne Park will open a day earlier in 2027 – but there will be no Open tournament tennis played.
Tennis Australia is badging Saturday, January 10 Kids Tennis Day. Children and families will be encouraged to visit the precinct to watch training and practice matches and pick up a racquet – and, Tennis Australia hopes, buy food, drink and merch.
Tennis Australia chief executive Andrew Abdo made the announcement at Melbourne Park, joined by tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt and, mysteriously, a koala and a kangaroo to go with the “Australian-inspired” theme for the 2027 tournament.
“It’s an engine that can be used to reinvest back into the sport,” Abdo said. “Having a focus on a dedicated day for kids is symbolically important, but it’s also an opportunity where we might discover the next superhero, and that’s exciting for us.”
The schedule change follows this year’s shift of the Australian Open, which ran from January 12 to February 1 instead of finishing on the Australia Day weekend in late January, as it has in the past.
Abdo took over as Tennis Australia chief executive in August after leaving the NRL. This is one of his first major announcements since he got into hot water for getting a player’s name wrong at his first Australian Open launch.
Tennis Australia could not give an exact cost for the extra day, but Abdo said it wouldn’t be possible without sponsorship.
“There definitely is an investment into it, and it’s an investment we’re happy to make,” Abdo said.
The Australian Open is among the biggest economic drivers in Australian sport. This year’s tournament was estimated to have pumped more than $600 million into the Melbourne economy, according to NAB analysis, a rise of 7 to 10 per cent from 2025.
Revenue from the Open has steadily increased since 2010, apart from a three-year slump after COVID. But taxpayers have also helped foot the bill. More than a billion dollars has been spent on upgrading Melbourne Park since 2011, and an agreement between Tennis Australia and the Victorian government keeps the tournament in Melbourne until at least 2046.
Growth is also not limited to revenue. Melbourne Park’s annual report shows media reach is vast and still expanding. More than 13 million viewers tuned in to Nine’s coverage in 2025, up from about 12.8 million the year before, while content on the Open’s channels generated 45 million engagements across 7000 posts. (Nine is the owner of this masthead.)
Hewitt also supported the push to get more children involved in the sport, saying it was the best way to produce more top-level players like himself and Alex de Minaur.
“We’ve got to work through the pathway, obviously,” Hewitt said. “We’ve got to try and become a real high-performance group … and try and transition the best kids through.”
Hewitt reflected on his 2005 final and the “wave of excitement” from the Australian public, and said he remembered experiencing Kids Tennis Day himself and playing games in Rod Laver Arena.
“The more that we can get out there and host Kids Day, put on a good spectacle that people want to be involved with and come out to, I think it helps the sport in Australia,” Hewitt said.
Abdo said the 2027 Open was already shaping up to be a strong one.
“We are ahead on ticket sales, which is terrific,” he said. “We’ve got more interstate, more international visitors than we’ve had before, which is terrific. All signs are leading to another well-attended event.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
