Australian Open 2023 sets the highest attendance record for any Grand Slam tournament

The Australian Open 2023 set the record for the highest attendance ever recorded in any Grand Slam tournament. The season's first Grand Slam achieved a remarkable feat with more than 900,000 tennis fans attending the matches over two weeks at Melbourne Park.

This year's Melbourne Major broke 2020's record of 812,174 spectators watching the COVID-19 inflicted Australian Open 2020. This year, despite the absence of some high-profiles in Nick Kyrgios, Naomi Osaka, and Carlos Alcaraz, among others, the number rose to 839,192 visiting Melbourne Park to witness their favorite players back in action.

Adding on to the already never-seen-before numbers, a total of 63,120 more fans also attended the qualifiers of the Australian Open 2023, thus taking the number to 902,312 fans.

The Australian Open 2023 record attendance was much higher than last year's Grand Slam tournaments. 515,164 fans visited the Wimbledon Championships, 613,500 at the French Open, and 776,120 went to New York to enjoy the year's last Grand Slam, the US Open. The 2022 Melbourne Slam saw an attendance of 346,468 fans.

"It was reported that we didn't have the greats any more, that it was going to be terrible. But people just want to be entertained," Australian Open executive Craig Tiley said. "They want to have some fun, and tennis is a great option for them, and it's become a summer thing to do for Melburnians and for Australians and also for our guests from around the world."

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Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka win the men's and women's singles titles at the Australian Open 2023

Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka

The 111th edition of the Australian Open turned out to be unique in its own way. Ahead of the Major, notable players like Paula Badosa, Ajla Tomljanovic, Nick Kyrgios, and Carlos Alcaraz, among others, withdrew from the tournament, citing various reasons.

Novak Djokovic's participation was also doubtful due to a leg injury, however, the Serb put all of the concerns to sleep and played some of his best tennis at the Australian Open 2023. The 35-year-old beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5), to win his 10th Australian Open singles title.

Aryna Sabalenka, on the other hand, beat Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina to win her maiden Grand Slam singles title. The Belarussian beat the Moscow-born Rybakina, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to win the Australian Open 2023 title. En route to the summit clash, Sabalenka did not drop a single set. The Australian Open title helped her attain the No. 2 spot in the WTA singles rankings.