How well do you know the Australian Open, which is scheduled to begin Monday? Try this trivia quiz about the year’s first Grand Slam tennis tournament:
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1st Round: Which of these distinguishes the Australian Open from the other Grand Slam tennis tournaments?
a.) It was the first to be played on grass courts.
b.) It was the first to admit professional players.
c.) It was the last to be founded.
d.) It was the last to add final-set tiebreakers.
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2nd Round: What was the original name of the tournament?
a.) Australian Open
b.) Australian Championships
c.) The Lawn Tennis Championships of Australia
d.) The Australasian Championships
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3rd Round: What scoring system is used for tiebreakers at 6-all in the third set of women’s matches and fifth set of men’s matches at Melbourne Park?
a.) first to 12
b.) first to 10
c.) first to 7
d.) trick question; the Australian Open doesn’t use final-set tiebreakers
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4th Round: Who was the oldest women’s Grand Slam singles champion in the professional era?
a.) Margaret Court
b.) Martina Navratilova
c.) Billie Jean King
d.) Serena Williams
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Quarterfinals: In the Open era, which man has won the most Grand Slam titles after turning 30?
a.) Roger Federer
b.) Rafael Nadal
c.) Novak Djokovic
d.) Rod Laver
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Semifinals: There are eight men’s tennis players who have won at least one Grand Slam singles title and are still active - meaning they have not retired, even if they might not have competed lately. How many active women have won at least one major singles championship? Bonus: How many of those women won the Australian Open?
a.) 17
b.) 15
c.) 19
d.) 13
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Women’s Final: Sofia Kenin’s Australian Open championship in 2020 allowed her to reach the Top 10 in the WTA rankings for the first time at age 21. She was the youngest American woman to debut in the Top 10 since?
a.) Sloane Stephens
b.) Serena Williams
c.) Venus Williams
d.) Chris Evert
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Men’s Final: Who was the last man other than Djokovic, Federer, Nadal or Stan Wawrinka to win the Australian Open?
a.) Lleyton Hewitt
b.) Andre Agassi
c.) Marat Safin
d.) Andy Murray
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ANSWERS
1st Round. c. The tournament was first held in 1905, making it the only one of today’s major tennis championships that was not around in the 1800s. Wimbledon is the oldest, with its first edition in 1877, followed by the precursor to the U.S. Open in 1881, and what is today known as the French Open in 1891.
2nd Round. d. The Lawn Tennis Association of Australasia initially hosted a regional championship; the event was in New Zealand twice. The tournament became known as the Australian Championships in 1927, then the Australian Open in 1969 when professionals were allowed to enter.
3rd Round. b. The Australian Open stuck with traditional timing but chose a unique scoring system when it introduced final-set tiebreakers for the 2019 tournament, opting to play a first-to-10, win-by-2 tiebreaker at 6-all. Each Grand Slam tournament settles decisive sets in its own way: The U.S. Open uses a first-to-7 tiebreaker at 6-all (last year’s final between Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev was the first in tournament history to end in a fifth-set tiebreaker); Wimbledon uses a first-to-7 tiebreaker at 12-all; the French Open doesn’t use a final-set tiebreaker at all.
4th Round. d. Serena Williams’ Australian Open title in 2017 at 35 - while pregnant - made her the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam singles trophy. Williams also is the second-oldest major champion in the professional era, which dates to 1968; she was 34 at Wimbledon in 2016. Since her 2017 victory in Australia gave her a 23rd major singles title - a record for the professional era, and one fewer than Court accumulated across the amateur and pro eras - Williams has reached four Grand Slam finals, losing all four.
Quarterfinals. b. Nadal’s championship in October at the French Open was his 20th Grand Slam title - equaling Federer’s record for men - and his sixth since turning 30. Djokovic can get his sixth at the Australian Open, while Federer is tied at four with a couple of Australians, Laver and Ken Rosewall.
Semifinals. a. Iga Swiatek’s title at the French Open last year allowed her to join the 16 other active women who have collected a Grand Slam singles title. Bonus: Of that group, six have picked up a trophy (or more) at Melbourne Park: Victoria Azarenka (2), Kim Clijsters, Sofia Kenin, Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams (7).
Women’s Final. b. Serena Williams made her Top 10 debut at No. 9 on April 5, 1999, when she was 17, shortly after winning her first professional title and putting together a 16-match winning streak that ended with a loss to her older sister, Venus, in the final at Miami.
Men’s Final. c. Safin beat Hewitt 1–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 in the final 16 years ago for his second Grand Slam title, after eliminating defending champion Federer in the semifinals. Since then, 15 trophies in a row at Melbourne Park have gone to Djokovic (8), Federer (5), Nadal (1) or Wawrinka (1).
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