All you need to know about the Australian Open Trophies

Find out in detail about the Australian Open trophies that are awarded to the men's and women's singles champion.


All you need to know about the Australian Open Trophies

Men's and Women's Australian Open trophies - FirstSportz

The Australian Open marks the start of the Grand Slam season in a calendar year. It provides the highest ranking points, and prize money and draws attention from the entire world. It takes place for two weeks at the Melbourne Park and features men’s and women’s singles; men’s doubles, women’s doubles as well as mixed doubles. There are also events in for juniors (under-18), wheelchair champions, legends, and exhibition events.

ADVERTISEMENT

In 2023, the Australian Open will be held from January 16 to 29 being the 111th edition of the prestigious championship, The only time the tournament did not take place was during the two World Wars. The men’s and women’s singles champions of the Australian Open receive two different sets of perpetual trophies. The general public can view the trophies near the new AO Game hub in Garden Square during the tournament in the afternoon.

The men’s winners receives the Norman Brooks Challenge Cup, named after the late Sir Norman Brookes, one of the first Aussie champions. He won the Australian Open title in 1911. The prestigious award was first presented to Fred Perry at the 1934 Australian Championships.

The women’s winner receives the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. The trophy is named after Late Daphne Akhurst, a five-time singles champion. The large silver trophy was first presented to Joan Hartigan at the Australian Championships in 1934.

ADVERTISEMENT

The winners do not receive the actual trophy but a replica, each year. It takes over one hundred hours for the completion of the replica. The replica is smaller in size than the original trophy.

Also Read: Martina Navratilova lambasts Politico magazine for calling Meghan Markle ‘narcissist’ alongside Donald Trump

Know about the men’s and women’s Australian Open trophies

2022 Australian Open men’s winner Rafael Nadal and women’s winner Ashleigh Barty

The Sir Norman Brookes Challenger Cup is based on a large Roman marble vase, excavated from the ruins of Emperor Hadrian’s villa outside Rome. Since the vase found a resting place in the Warwick Castle, it is known as the Warwick vase. The winner gets a 3/4th size replica of it. The diameter of the bowl is 25.7cm and the width including the handles is 39cm. The height of the trophy is 28cm and stands on a plinth of 15.5cm.

The design happened in England in 1906 after the state tennis associations of Australia financed for it. The winners receive a replica of the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. Silver gilt was used to make the trophy which is 18 inches tall and 7.5 cm in diameter. The Australian Open winners get to see their names imprinted on the trophy after the final alongside former champions.

ADVERTISEMENT

At the 2022 Australian Open, the men’s champion was Rafael Nadal and the women’s champion was Ashleigh Barty. The Mallorcan defeated Daniil Medvedev to win his second title in Australia which marked his 21st Grand Slam title overall. Barty defeated Danielle Collins to clinch the women’s singles title in Australia.

But with the sudden retirement of the Aussie player, there will be no ladies defending champion at the 2023 Australian Open. For the record, Novak Djokovic did not compete in the 2022 Australian Open as his visa was canceled and he was deported.

Also Read: Ivan Lendl credits Carlos Alcaraz’s success to Juan Carlos Ferrero’s coaching techniques

Also Read: “The media is silent on this,” Novak Djokovic supporters’ plea Elon Musk to protect the player’s image against propaganda by rival fans

ADVERTISEMENT