AO2014 Week 1: A Fan-tastic Experience

Find out why I love the Australian Open so much, and some of
the different ways they excel at creating an incredible fan
experience.

By now, whether or not you attended the Australian Open this
week, you’ll know how hot it was. You’ve seen the sweat and the
ice-necks, and heard the player press conferences. In fact, it
was the longest stretch of days of 41 degrees C since Melbourne
records began.

And although attendance figures are around 14% less than last
year, fans still flocked to Melbourne Park in droves; total
attendance for the first five days was over 275,000.
 Kudos goes to the Australian Open for creating such an
incredible fan experience that so many people still attended,
despite the heat. People like me who went to six sessions in
the first four days and loved every minute of it. And my tennis
friends who were there for up to 14 hours in a day.

Here are some of the reasons that fans love the
Australian Open so much.

It’s easy to get there and easy to get tickets

You can walk to Melbourne Park from the Melbourne CBD, or get a
tram for free. And with the exception of the middle Saturday,
tickets are available at the gate, or online. Compared to
Wimbledon and the French Open, the ticket availability is
heaven. And although the US Open has a lot of tickets
available, the Arthur Ashe promenade seats are a long way from
the court and you need to ride a subway from the city for about
30 minutes to get there.

Find out more about
Getting to Melbourne Park and Tips for
Buying Tickets.

The tennis

It goes without saying that at a Grand Slam tennis tournament
you’ll get to watch tennis. And with so many matches being
played in the first and second rounds, a Ground Pass for the
outside courts is great value at $AUD 34.

The Australian Open has loads of outside courts with seating
that gets you close to the action and it’s pretty easy to get
seats without queuing much. Because of the heat and rain
delays on Thursday (second day of the second round) loads of
matches were pushed back to the evening session, which became a
tennis smorgasborg. One of the highlights of the night was the
five setter between Benoit Paire and Nick Kyrgios, which ended
around 1.30am.

Social media interaction

The Australian
Open Twitter account is awesome at interacting with fans
and keeping us updated about results, news and scheduling.
There is even a dedicated @aohelp Twitter account to
answer questions from fans quickly and give them the answers
they need to have a great experience.

If you’re planning to go to any Grand Slam tournament and
you’re not already on Twitter, I’d encourage you to get an
account set up. You can follow the official tournament
accounts, players, tennis journalists, tennis publications and
other fans. In my opinion it’s the best way to stay updated,
have laughs and meet other fans.

Find out more about the innovation
that drives the Australian Open online fan experience.

Australian Open memberships

I’ve been an Australian Open member since the program began (in
2008 from memory). I’m sure all members will agree that it’s
great value. You get Pre-Sale access to tickets, merchandise
discounts, free ground passes and program and access to the
Members’ Lounge. This year there is a new Members’ lounge in
Hisense Arena and people were definitely using it to take
advantage of the air conditioning, seats, minimal queuing for
food and drink and TVs to keep up with matches. The atmosphere
is really friendly and staff very helpful.

Find
out more about Australian Open memberships.

Dealing With The Heat

It was ridiculously hot during the first week of AO this year.
It’s regularly super hot for a day or two, but not for so many
days in a row. Credit goes to the tournament for helping fans
deal with the heat.

• There are water fountains where you can refill your water
  bottle
• There are big misty fans that you can stand in front of to
  cool off
• You can cool off in the air conditioned sides of Rod Laver
  Arena and Hisense Arena. This year there were also extra
  comfortable lounge seats and TVs at the side of Hisense Arena.
• There are shaded tables and chairs and areas of shade all
  around the grounds, including the extra shade created by the
  renovations to Margaret Court Arena.
• All the sponsor marquees are air conditioned so you can pop
  in there to cool off and enjoy the activities.
• There are air conditioned bars and restaurants were you can
  relax.

The Practice Courts

In 2013 the Australian Open introduced the Practice Courts
viewing deck and published the practice schedule around the
grounds and on the website. This year there is another great
addition to the practice schedule; Rafa. Along with all the
players still in the draw, Rafa has been practicing regularly.
Having the schedule published the day before means we can plan
to be there at the right time.

There is a really relaxed atmosphere around the practice
courts, with players who are walking to and from practice
sessions stopping for photos with fans and to sign autographs.

Rafa on the practice courts

 The AO Partners

The main AO partners like Kia, IBM, ANZ and Medibank really do
a great job of engaging with fans during the tournament. They
all have Marquees set up in Grand Slam Oval where you can do
fun stuff for free. This year both Kia and IBM have online
games where you can practice returning serves from either Sam
Groth or one of the players currently on court. I went to Kia’s
event at Fed Square this morning where fans played off at
returning Sam Groth’s virtual serve via an App. The fan that
scored the highest won $5,000. He was totally wrapped!. I
however kept missing the return.

Have a go for yourself at www.ibmreturnserve.com.au and Kia game
on.

View more photos from Week 1 of the 2014 Australian
Open:

Until next time

Grand Slam Gal

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