Australian Open Tennis 2026

After having attended the open at least 20 times, took a 7 year break and returned to find the grounds have been nicely upgraded but spectator experience was poor. The open likes breaking attendance records but that means not being able to get into many of the outer courts. I had Rod Laver tickets but couldn’t get into outside courts for other matches I wanted to see. Add to that, I had my vision impaired brother with me, so it was nearly impossible to get through the crowds with him in tow, much less fight for a two seats. And what’s with getting a band for early entry into general seating in John Cain? I accidentally learned about it and didn’t like missing play to stand in a long line for an entry band. On an upside, I saw the documentary called Ball Kids yesterday and loved it. I had no idea what being a ball kid entailed. The Aussie Open has done a wonderful job with them.

I love tennis; however, I was extremely disappointed with ESPN. The matches either were never on at the beginning of the day because Basketball was on, so we missed the first match of the day. Or ESPN would shut down coverage in the middle of a match to either switch to another ESPN station or nothing at all. The doubles finals were never shown. Most of us diehard tennis fans have ESPN and ESPN2; yet you would send us tobESPM+ to see the final of a match. Then I always print out the draws and Dailey schedules. This year I couldn’t print anything because you wanted me to change my browser to “waves” in order to print. I chose not to; therefore I couldn’t print anything! Not very happy with Australian Open & ESPN this year! You ruined my experience! 😥😥

I always keep an eye on the tennis majors across the year by TV and phone app. This year’s update to AO app was amazing! The highlight features make catching up on key events are very helpful and quick by scroll/swipe/tap. I loved reading about all the new food and chef collaborations and is one more reason I want to travel down there as soon as I can. Also, tracking who is playing and when is always straightforward on the app. Thanks for all the hard work and keep it coming (just please don't throw ads on this baby and kill the whole experience)