10 lesser known facts about the Australian Open

#4 Professional players did not participate in the Australian Open during the 1970s and early 80s

Bjorn Borg played at the Australian Open only once

The Australian Open has seen many of the sport’s all-time greats lift the trophy in its 112-year history. However, many of the top players during the 1970s and 1980s opted not to play the tournament citing the remoteness of the country, inconvenient dates, and low prize money as primary reasons.

This trend continued till 1982 when the tournament began to be held in the last week of November

The likes of Jimmy Connors, Ilie Nastase, and Bjorn Borg, who were considered to be the best players during the 1970s, hardly played the tournament, with Connors playing only two tournaments in 1974 and 1975, and Nastase and Borg playing the Australian Open only once, in 1981 and 1974 respectively.