Date 16–29 January Category Grand Slam (ITF) Venue Melbourne Park | Edition 100th Location Melbourne, Australia | |
Surface Hardcourt (Plexicushion) | ||
The 2012 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia from 16 to 29 January 2012. It was the 100th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. The tournament consisted of events for professional players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair players competed in singles and doubles tournaments.
Contents
- Tournament
- Point distribution
- Prize money
- Day 1 16 January
- Day 2 17 January
- Day 3 18 January
- Day 4 19 January
- Day 5 20 January
- Day 6 21 January
- Day 7 22 January
- Day 8 23 January
- Day 9 24 January
- Day 10 25 January
- Day 11 26 January
- Day 12 27 January
- Day 13 28 January
- Day 14 29 January
- Mens Singles
- Womens Singles
- Mens Doubles
- Womens Doubles
- Mixed Doubles
- Boys Singles
- Girls Singles
- Boys Doubles
- Girls Doubles
- Wheelchair Mens Singles
- Wheelchair Womens Singles
- Wheelchair Quad Singles
- Wheelchair Mens Doubles
- Wheelchair Womens Doubles
- Wheelchair Quad Doubles
- Broadcast
- Singles Seeds
- Main Draw Wildcard Entries
- Juniors
- Wheelchair Tennis
- References
Novak Djokovic successfully defended his title after he defeated Rafael Nadal in the longest grand slam final in history. The 2012 final passed the 2008 Wimbledon final for the record, finishing after 5 hours and 53 minutes of play. Kim Clijsters was the defending champion for the women's singles, but lost to Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals. Azarenka defeated Maria Sharapova for her first Grand Slam title; and over took Caroline Wozniacki as the number one ranked player on the WTA Tour. In the doubles Leander Paes and Radek Štěpánek won the title. Paes completed a career Grand Slam with the title while Štěpánek won his first Slam. On the women's side an all Russian duo of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva took the title. The mixed event was won by Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Horia Tecău.
Tournament
The 2012 Australian Open took place in January 2012 at Melbourne Park. The men's singles was staged for the 100th time. There have been 59 different previous winners and the 100th staging of the event was marked by a special coin and the 2012 Champion received a special medallion. The tournament also marked 50 years since Rod Laver won his first Grand Slam. For the first time Hawk-Eye ball tracking system was used on the Margaret Court Arena, while Ken Fletcher was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame.
Point distribution
Below is a series of tables for each of the competitions showing the ranking points on offer for each event.
Prize money
The 2012 Australian Open was the richest Grand Slam tournament in history, with the singles champions pocketing 2.3 million dollars. All prize money is in Australian dollars (AUD); doubles prize money is distributed per pair.
Day 1 (16 January)
In Men's Singles, on the opening day, play began with Local hope Bernard Tomic struggling in the beginning two sets but later working hard in the next three sets, defeating Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. Juan Martín del Potro also had to earn victory by losing the first set but later winning the next three sets defeating Adrian Mannarino. Meanwhile, Rafael overcomes Alex Kuznetsov. Spaniard Pere Riba had to defeat compatriot Albert Montañés whereas Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky had to defeat his compatriot Illya Marchenko to advance to the second round. Florent Serra advanced to the second round after Steve Darcis was forced to retire in the third set, leading two sets to love, because of leg cramps. Other seeds such as Tomáš Berdych, Mardy Fish, Nicolás Almagro, Alexandr Dolgopolov, John Isner, Stanislas Wawrinka and Kevin Anderson along with Marcos Baghdatis, Olivier Rochus, Tommy Haas, Andreas Beck and Grigor Dimitrov all progressed comfortably into the second round while Juan Mónaco, Ivan Ljubičić and Jürgen Melzer were sent crashing out in the first round. In the evening, Roger beats Kudryavtsev in three straight tiebreakers and Nalbandian advanced to the second round after Nieminen was forced to retire in the second set because of stomach cramps.
In Women's Singles, on the opening day, play began with Azarenka taking out Heather Watson in straight sets. Later, the defending champion, Clijsters gets past qualifier Maria João Köhler. Li Na had an easy win over Ksenia Pervak and Francesca Schiavone square off in two straight easy sets defeating Laura Pous Tió. Wild card Dellacqua overcomes Jovanovski and Janković cruise into second round defeating qualifier Laura Robson. Mona Barthel advanced to the second round after Anne Keothavong was forced to retire after the first set because of foodborne illness. Other seeds such as Agnieszka Radwańska, Peng Shuai, Daniela Hantuchová, Julia Görges, Monica Niculescu and Petra Cetkovská along with Anna Tatishvili, Romina Oprandi, Pauline Parmentier, wild card Olivia Rogowska, Eleni Daniilidou, Tsvetana Pironkova, Olga Govortsova and Alberta Brianti all progressed comfortably into the second round while Flavia Pennetta, Lucie Šafářová and Yanina Wickmayer were sent crashing out in the first round. In the evening, top seeded Wozniacki dismantles Anastasia Rodionova in two straight sets advancing to the second round.
Day 2 (17 January)
In Men's Singles, day two play began with Novak dismantling Italian Lorenzi in three straight sets. Andy Murray lost the first set but later won the next three sets defeating Ryan Harrison. Andy Roddick overcomes Robin Haase and Ferrer had an easy win over Machado. Monfils defeats local wild card Matosevic. Frederico Gil advanced to the second round after Ivan Dodig was forced to retire in the fourth set because of shoulder and back injuries. Also, Édouard Roger-Vasselin advanced to the second round after Xavier Malisse was forced to retire after the first set because of an arm injury. Other seeds such as Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet, Kei Nishikori, Marcel Granollers and Juan Ignacio Chela along with Matthew Ebden, James Duckworth, Santiago Giraldo, Thomaz Bellucci, Tatsuma Ito, Julien Benneteau and Ryan Sweeting all progressed comfortably into the second round while Radek Štepánek was sent crashing out in the first round. In the evening, Hewitt beats Stebe and Tsonga outlasts Istomin both advancing to the second round.
In Women's Singles, day two play began with Kvitová easing through to the Third round in Rod Laver Arena in straight sets by defeating Dushevina. Maria Sharapova had an easy win advancing to the third round by defeating Gisela Dulko. Maria Kirilenko defeats Jarmila Gajdošová. Jelena Dokić overcomes Protected Ranking [PR] Anna Chakvetadze. Kuznetsova outlasts Scheepers. Other seeds such as Vera Zvonareva, Marion Bartoli, Sabine Lisicki, Dominika Cibulková, Ana Ivanovic and Angelique Kerber along with Jamie Hampton, Sloane Stephens, Ekaterina Makarova, Shahar Pe'er, Aleksandra Wozniak, Zheng Jie, Lucie Hradecká, Gréta Arn, Stéphanie Dubois and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová all progressed comfortably into the second round while Sorana Cîrstea impresses in the fourth round by defeating sixth seeded Samantha Stosur. In the evening, Serena advances to the third round by defeating Paszek.
Day 3 (18 January)
Men's Singles on day 3 began with Nadal having straight sets easy win on protected ranking Haas. Berdych wins over Rochus while Dolgopolov knocked out Tobias Kamke. Roger received a walkover into the third round after Andreas Beck withdrew from the tournament because of a lower back injury. Nalbandian puts up a fight but Isner advances to the third round. Philipp Kohlschreiber advanced to the third round after Pere Riba was forced to retire in the second set because of a left foot injury. Other seeds such as Nicolás Almagro, Juan Martín del Potro, Feliciano López and Kevin Anderson along with qualifier Lukáš Lacko, Lu Yen-hsun and Ivo Karlović advance to the third round except Mardy Fish who lost to Colombian Alejandro Falla. Later in the evening, Tomic outlasts Querrey while Stanislas Wawrinka beats Marcos Baghdatis moving into the third round.
Women's Singles on day 3 began with Li Na taking out local home wild card Rogowska in straight sets. Clijsters also progressed overcoming Stéphanie Foretz Gacon. Azarenka too had an easy win in straight sets over local wild card Casey Dellacqua. Janković outlasts qualifier Chang Kai-chen while top seeded dane Wozniacki beat Tatishvili cruising into third round. Hantuchová defeated Lesia Tsurenko after losing the first set. Julia Görges advanced to the third round after Eleni Daniilidou was forced to retire during the second set because of a neck injury. Other seeds such as Agnieszka Radwańska, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Monica Niculescu along with Christina McHale, Nina Bratchikova and Galina Voskoboeva advanced to the third round. The second round witnessed all the seeds go though except Schiavone went out to compatriot Oprandi, Peng to Benešová and Cetkovská to Barthel.
Day 4 (19 January)
The fourth day in Men's Singles, began with seeded number one, Djokovic easing through to the third round in Rod Laver Arena in straight sets defeating Santiago Giraldo. Tsonga takes out Ricardo Mello progressing in straight sets while Murray also had an easy win over Édouard Roger-Vasselin. Janko Tipsarević after losing the first set beat local wild card James Duckworth while another local Matthew Ebden puts up a fight winning first two sets but Kei Nishikori advances defeating him in later three sets. Gaël Monfils knocks out Thomaz Bellucci. Richard Gasquet advanced to the third round after Andrey Golubev was forced to retire in the third set because of injury. Gilles Simon went out to compatriot Julien Benneteau. Other seeds such as David Ferrer, Milos Raonic and Juan Ignacio Chela along with Nicolas Mahut advance to the third round while Viktor Troicki, Marcel Granollers and Alex Bogomolov, Jr. were sent crashing out in the second round. In the evening, local hope Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the third round after Andy Roddick was forced to retire in the third set because of a hamstring injury.
The fourth day in Women's Singles, began with Sharapova having an easy win over qualifier Jamie Hampton and Serena easing through to the third round in Rod Laver Arena in straight sets defeating Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová. Ana Ivanovic outlasts Michaëlla Krajicek while Petra Kvitová overcomes Carla Suárez Navarro to reach the second round. Vera Zvonareva defeated Lucie Hradecká. Other seeds such as Sabine Lisicki, Maria Kirilenko and Angelique Kerber along with Sorana Cîrstea advance to the third round. The second round witnessed all the seeds go though except Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Dominika Cibulková, Roberta Vinci, Kaia Kanepi and Nadia Petrova were sent crashing out in the second round. In the evening, the last home contingent, Jelena Dokić lost in the second round to Marion Bartoli while Sloane Stephens lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Day 5 (20 January)
On the fifth day, in Men's Singles, Nadal beats qualifier Lukáš Lacko in three straight sets while Federer defeats Ivo Karlović. Feliciano López wins five-set thriller over John Isner. Tomáš Berdych outlasts Kevin Anderson while Nicolás Almagro overcomes Stanislas Wawrinka. Alejandro Falla losses to Philipp Kohlschreiber. In the evening, thirteenth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov went out to Bernard Tomic and Juan Martín del Potro overwhelms Lu Yen-hsun, both advancing to the fourth round.
In Women's Singles, Jelena Janković rolls by Christina McHale while Azarenka gets past Mona Barthel advancing to the fourth round. Seeded number one dane, Wozniacki outlasts Monica Niculescu while Galina Voskoboeva losses to Agnieszka Radwańska and Romina Oprandi went to Julia Görges. Iveta Benešová takes out qualifier Nina Bratchikova in straight sets. In the evening, Li Na advanced to the fourth round after Anabel Medina Garrigues was forced to retire during the first set because of a right ankle injury while Kim Clijsters defeats Daniela Hantuchová advancing to the fourth round.
Day 6 (21 January)
Day 7 (22 January)
Day 8 (23 January)
Day 9 (24 January)
Day 10 (25 January)
Day 11 (26 January)
Day 12 (27 January)
Day 13 (28 January)
Day 14 (29 January)
Men's Singles
Novak Djokovic was the defending champion and won in the final 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 7–5 against Rafael Nadal entering the season as reigning world number 1 for the first time of his career. It was the longest match in the history of the Australian Open, and in fact, the longest ever singles final in the Open Era in Grand Slam history; clocked at 5 hours and 53 minutes and ending after midnight with Nadal memorable saying after the match "good morning." It marked the fifth Grand Slam of Djokovic's career and his 3rd Australian Open. It also marked the first time that he had defended a Grand Slam title. After winning the 2012 Australian Open, Djokovic had an opportunity to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slams at the same time, after winning the previous two in 2011. Nadal became the first player to lose in the final of three consecutive Grand Slams in the Open Era.
Championship match result Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 7–5
Women's Singles
Victoria Azarenka won her first Grand Slam title, becoming the first Belarusian player to win a Grand Slam in singles, by defeating Maria Sharapova in the final. She also became the 21st player to be ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on 30 January 2012 as a result of this win. It was Azarenka's 2nd title of the year and 10th of her career.
Championship match result Victoria Azarenka defeated Maria Sharapova, 6–3, 6–0
Men's Doubles
Leander Paes / Radek Štěpánek defeated Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan, 7–6(7–1), 6–2
Women's Doubles
Svetlana Kuznetsova / Vera Zvonareva defeated Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci, 5–7, 6–4, 6–3
Mixed Doubles
Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Horia Tecău defeated Elena Vesnina / Leander Paes, 6–3, 5–7, [10–3]
Boys' Singles
Luke Saville defeated Filip Peliwo, 6–3, 5–7, 6–4
Girls' Singles
Taylor Townsend defeated Yulia Putintseva, 6–1, 3–6, 6–3
Boys' Doubles
Liam Broady / Joshua Ward-Hibbert defeated Adam Pavlásek / Filip Veger, 6–3, 6–2
Girls' Doubles
Gabrielle Andrews / Taylor Townsend defeated Irina Khromacheva / Danka Kovinić, 5–7, 7–5, [10–6]
Wheelchair Men's Singles
Maikel Scheffers defeated Nicolas Peifer, 3–6, 7–6(7–2), 6–0
Wheelchair Women's Singles
Esther Vergeer defeated Aniek van Koot, 6–0, 6–0
Wheelchair Quad Singles
Peter Norfolk defeated David Wagner, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2
Wheelchair Men's Doubles
Ronald Vink / Robin Ammerlaan defeated Stéphane Houdet / Nicolas Peifer, 6–2, 4–6, 6–1
Wheelchair Women's Doubles
Esther Vergeer / Sharon Walraven defeated Aniek van Koot / Marjolein Buis, 4–6, 6–2, 6–4
Wheelchair Quad Doubles
Andrew Lapthorne / Peter Norfolk defeated David Wagner / Noam Gershony, 6–4, 6–2
Broadcast
The host broadcaster of the event was the Seven Network which ran all day and night coverage on its primary channel and its digital channel 7Two from 11 am until the close of play around midnight Melbourne time. 2012 is the first year Seven has aired live primetime play across the entire country, switching coverage to 7Two for various live news and Today Tonight broadcasts in different timezones of Australia. Associated media partnership Yahoo!7 (co-owned by Seven and Yahoo!) saw more than 100 000 viewers "check-in" to live match coverage via the Fango mobile app, with check-ins peaking during the Hewitt vs. Djokovic match in the Open's fourth round.
The event was also shown in Australia on Fox Sports which broadcast secondary matches live.
Singles Seeds
Seeds and Rankings are as of 9 January 2012 and Points are as of 16 January 2012.
Men's Singles
Withdrawn players (Men's Singles)
Women's Singles
Withdrawn players (Women's Singles)
Main Draw Wildcard Entries
Mixed Doubles
Juniors
Below is a list of the sixteen seeds for the boys and girls singles and the eight qualifiers for each event.
Wheelchair Tennis
The field consisted of top seven ranked players in the men's and women's singles, the three top three ranked players in the quad singles category and one wildcard was chosen for each draw.