Prime time slot for Melbourne women’s semis

The Australian Open women’s tennis semi-finals will make history in January, being staged at night for the first time.

Tennis Australia announced on Friday both semi-finals will take place in prime-time evening sessions on Thursday, January 27.

The men’s semi-finals will take place the following day – mid-afternoon and at night.

The fixturing shake-up comes on the 100th anniversary of the first women’s Australian championship in 1922.

“As we celebrate 100 years of women’s competition at what is now the Australian Open, I’m delighted to further showcase the women’s game by scheduling the semi-finals in the prime-time TV spot of Thursday night,” Tiley said.

“We are incredibly fortunate in tennis to not only have great athletes in our sport, but tremendous personalities and role models.

“This includes our very own world No.1 and Wimbledon champion Ash Barty, recent two-time AO champion Naomi Osaka, the incredible Serena and Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Kim Clijsters … the list of inspirational women in tennis is long, and they are all extraordinary.”

Peter Rowe

Recent Posts

Halep seething over Swiatek wrist-slap doping penalty

Doping sanction victim Simona Halep has gone online to protest her own treatment by anti-doping…

3 weeks ago

Nadal goes down in final match

Rafael Nadal lined up for what was to be the final match of his career…

1 month ago

Sinner flattens de Minaur in runaway home start

Jannik Sinner took charge in front of his home crowd on Sunday, crushing ATP Finals…

1 month ago

Madcap Medvedev suffers temperamental Turin Finals loss

Daniil Medvedev went into meltdown mode on Sunday during a highly charged 6-4, 6-3 loss, with opponent…

1 month ago

Team Sinner considering skipping Monte Carlo

Jannik Sinner could well be missing from the opening European clay event of next season…

1 month ago

Davis Cup Final to mark Nadal goodbye to tennis

Rafael Nadal will bring down the curtain on his career next month as he plays his…

2 months ago