Australian Open to retain its Traditional Date

The Australian Open announced today that it will continue with its traditional timeslot in January given the lack of a workable long term solution being found by the sport to create an extended off season by starting the tennis year later.

“When the international tennis community embarked on this process of looking at creating a longer off season, moving the dates of the Australian Open was one option considered,” said Geoff Pollard, President of Tennis Australia.

“This was always going to be a difficult process given the crowded calendar and the Australian Open’s stated aim of maintaining at least the first week of our tournament in the school holiday period given it is a family event. Setting a date for Australian Open 2007 gave everyone a timescale to work around to find a workable solution.

“After much discussion among the sports key international bodies, including the tournaments that might be directly affected by any proposed move, it appears that finding a long term solution to reconcile the worldwide calendar from 2007 has not been achievable.

“As a consequence, it has been agreed that the status quo is the preferred option and the Australian Open will therefore remain in its traditional date in 2007, as opposed to the week later as previously proposed.

“Discussions of any significant change of dates for the Australian Open are now off the agenda for the foreseeable future,” said Pollard.

The dates for Australian Open 2007, which had previously been announced as 22 January - 4 February, will now be 15-28 January meaning the entire tournament remains in the local school holiday period. The dates for 2008 and 2009 will also be set in the traditional January period.

Australian Open 2006 is unaffected by today’s announcement and remains in the previously advertised dates of 16-29 January.