Who to succeed Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka? Like every year, the Australian Open gets the ball rolling on the Grand Slam side. The best players in the world will battle it out for two weeks in Melbourne, at the southeastern tip of the country.
Among the men, the big names will have their work cut out to try to dethrone Novak Djokovic, current world No.1, defending champion and ten-time winner of the tournament. Among the women, the table seems more open even if the two finalists from last year, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka, seem in great shape since they have just faced each other in the final in Brisbane.
The Australian Open will take place from Sunday January 14 to Sunday January 28.
New for 2024: for the first time, the Australian Open will last one day longer. The organizers have decided to start the tournament on Sunday and no longer on Monday. The objective is to avoid matches that last until the end of the night. During the 2023 edition, the British Andy Murray notably finished a meeting at 4:05 a.m.
Like every year, the first Grand Slam of the year can be followed in full on the Eurosport group channels. A partner of the tournament since 1995, the group has obtained exclusive rights until 2031.
Le Figaro will provide a summary of the night’s matches every morning on its website, as well as live commentary on the night session’s matches. Not to mention the numerous magazines and interviews. All to follow on lefigaro.fr and in the Sport pages of the newspaper Le Figaro.
The draw will take place on Thursday January 11 at 5:00 a.m. French time.
The total prize money for the 2024 edition of the Australian Open is a record. It increases by 13% compared to 2023 to reach 86.5 million Australian dollars (around 53 million euros). In 2023, the Australian Open was the least well endowed of the four Grand Slam tournaments. The record for all Grand Slams combined still belongs to the US Open 2023, with 65 million US dollars or 59.4 million euros.
The winners of the 2024 edition, the finals of which will be played on January 27 (women) and January 28 (men), will each win 3.15 million Australian dollars (around 1.9 million euros).
Qualifying for the main draw will take place from Monday January 8 to Thursday January 11. 128 men and 128 players are involved. You have to win three matches to win the precious sesame. The Tricolores matches can be followed on the Eurosport group channels. In total, 27 French people are involved.
The 17 men in the running: Benoît Paire, Quentin Halys, Hugo Gaston, Ugo Blanchet, Antoine Escoffier, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Hugo Grenier, Enzo Couacaud, Kyrian Jacquet, Calvin Hemery, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Harold Mayot, Laurent Lokoli, Titouan Droguet , Clément Tabur, Geoffrey Blancaneaux and Terence Atmane.
The 10 women in the running: Fiona Ferro, Léolia Jeanjean, Séléna Janicijevic, Carole Monnet, Chloé Paquet, Alice Robbe, Elsa Jacquemot, Harmony Tan, Margaux Rouvroy, Jessika Ponchet.
