2007 Australian Open

New technology used in line-calling

This was the first time that the tournament used the Hawk-Eye system in an official line-calling capacity, as an auxiliary to the human line judges. Players were given the opportunity to challenge a human line call if they believed it to be incorrect, by having Hawk-Eye confirm or overrule the original call. The system was installed on only one court being used for the tournament, in the Rod Laver Arena.

At the beginning of a set, the players were each given the opportunity to incorrectly challenge a maximum of two line calls during the set. A player who still had some incorrect challenges remaining was allowed to make an unlimited number of correct challenges, but when a player had no incorrect challenges remaining, his or her opportunity to challenge line calls was lost. Players received an extra incorrect challenge during a tiebreak. The players regained both challenges at the beginning of each set and also after every 12 games in the final deciding set. Unused challenges did not carry over when this happened.

An additional aspect to the new system was that a video replay screen was installed inside the arena for the first time, to display the results of the challenges. The screen also allowed the spectators (and players themselves) to view instant replays that could previously only be seen by the television audience and those viewing the match on screens outside the stadium. This implementation caused noticeable drama in a match between No. 2 Amélie Mauresmo and Olga Poutchkova in which Mauresmo challenged the in call on Poutchkova's shot and the replay showed the ball out graphically but still called the ball in.

Factional fighting on Day 1

On 15 January 2007, around one hundred and fifty Australian youths of Serbian, Croatian and Greek origins were ejected from the Open after brawling with one another in Garden Square at Melbourne Park. The brawl reportedly developed after fans taunted each other with nationalist slogans. According to The Age newspaper, twenty police tried to quell the disturbance, which allegedly developed after an informal understanding between some Serb and Croat fans — that the two groups would not attend on the same day — was broken. The two opposing groups were ejected out separate exits and escorted away from the venue in opposite directions by police. No arrests were made, and no charges were laid against any of the participants.

The Greek supporters protested that they had not been involved in the taunts exchanged between the Serb and Croat contingents, though The Age reported that some Greek supporters had sided with some Serbs and chanted, "Greece, Serbia! Greece, Serbia!" and "We must support our Orthodox brothers". Serb fans claimed that the violence had been provoked by Croat use of the Croatian national flag, which in their eyes carried connotations of Second World War fascism, while Croats claimed that the violence was provoked by Serbs shouting anti-Croat, pro-Serb chants.

A Croatian supporter suffered minor injuries in the ethnic brawl after being hit with a Serbian flagpole. People wearing Croatian or Serbian national colours were subsequently refused entry and the next day featured heightened security. Police in Victoria said that this sort of behaviour was never seen in the tournament before.

Weather conditions

Heat in excess of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Day 2 caused the Extreme Heat Policy to be implemented. Most daytime matches were delayed, and matches continued on outside courts till 3.30am the following morning. Janko Tipsarević chose to forfeit his match against David Nalbandian because of the heat. On Rod Laver Arena with the roof open, top-seeded Maria Sharapova nearly succumbed to the heat, losing a 5-0 lead in the final set, but managed to defeat Camille Pin 6–3. 4–6, 9–7.

During the night sessions on Day 3, the Australian Open was affected by rain delaying play. Three men's matches were postponed in progress. The matches on Rod Laver Arena and Vodafone Arena were delayed for only 15 minutes while the retractable roofs closed. Marat Safin wisely requested that play be suspended while noticeably out of the match against Dudi Sela with Sela up two sets to one, six games to five, and 30-30. After the delay, Safin returned to win the fourth set and then the final set 6-0 to advance. This was reminiscent of the match in the 2006 Australian Open in which Marcos Baghdatis advanced after appearing rejuvenated against David Nalbandian. The match on Rod Laver featuring women's number two Amélie Mauresmo and Olga Poutchkova was barely underway when the rains came.

Rain on day six caused play to only proceed on the covered courts of Rod Laver Arena and Vodafone Arena, for the duration of the day. Thus, only high seeds Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal, Nikolay Davydenko, Kim Clijsters, James Blake, and Martina Hingis were able to play their matches, as well as Australians Alicia Molik and Lleyton Hewitt. Players scheduled for play on the outer courts had to wait until Day 7, and faced the possibility of playing on consecutive days for the winners. Initially only 10 matches were scheduled for play in Laver and Vodafone, but the match between Andy Murray and Juan Ignacio Chela was moved indoors, to leave only five delayed matches in men's and women's singles.

Men's Singles

Roger Federer defeated Fernando González, 7–6^(7–2), 6–4, 6–4

Women's Singles

Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova, 6–1, 6–2

Men's Doubles

Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan defeated Jonas Björkman / Max Mirnyi, 7–5, 7–5

Women's Doubles

Cara Black / Liezel Huber defeated Chan Yung-jan / Chuang Chia-jung, 6–4, 6–7^(4–7), 6–1

Mixed Doubles

Daniel Nestor / Elena Likhovtseva defeated Max Mirnyi / Victoria Azarenka, 6–4, 6–4

Boys' Singles

Brydan Klein defeated Jonathan Eysseric, 6–2, 4–6, 6–1

Girls' Singles

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Madison Brengle, 7–6^(8–6), 7–6^(7–3)

Boys' Doubles

Graeme Dyce / Harri Heliövaara defeated Stephen Donald / Rupesh Roy, 6–2, 6–7^(4–7), 6–3

Girls' Doubles

Evgeniya Rodina / Arina Rodionova defeated Julia Cohen / Urszula Radwańska, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1

Men's Wheelchair Singles

Shingo Kunieda defeated Michael Jeremiasz, 6–3, 3–6, 6–4

Women's Wheelchair Singles

Esther Vergeer defeated Florence Gravellier, 6–1, 6–0

Men's Wheelchair Doubles

Robin Ammerlaan / Shingo Kunieda defeated Maikel Scheffers/ Ronald Vink, 6–2, 6–0

Women's Wheelchair Doubles

Jiske Griffioen / Esther Vergeer defeated Florence Gravellier/ Korie Homan, 6–0, 3–6, [10–6]

Seeds

The seeded players are listed below with the round in which they exited.

Media coverage

Coverage of the 2007 Australian Open was as follows:

Controversies and scandals