If you’ve ever dreamed of playing at the Australian Open, this summer might be your chance. At AO 2023, a new precinct called AO Tennis Club will let tennis-goers of all ages and skill levels have a crack at a range of fun racquet sports.
“Tennis Club is about showing people that there’s more to tennis than just what they see on TV,” says Tennis Australia’s head of precincts, Peter Jack. “There are alternative ways to play tennis and for those people who don’t want to do a full game of tennis, there are other fun ways to engage with the sport.”
The precinct introduces accessible versions of classic games such as pop tennis, which is played on small courts using paddle-style racquets and low-compression balls.
“Pop tennis is a fun way of getting people to play tennis,” says Jack. “You can set it up anywhere and it’s fun and relaxing.”
At the other end of the spectrum is padel, a lightning-quick game which sits somewhere between tennis and squash.
“Padel has a very different structure [to tennis], it’s very fast-paced and the racquets are quite different,” says Jack. “For those who are the thrillseeker, energy-junkie-type people, padel is for them.”
You’ll also find cardio tennis, which is a cardio workout version of tennis, as well as an augmented reality tennis experience produced by Infosys.
Besides the games there will be a ball pit from Dunlop which each day will have one hidden golden tennis ball for a lucky patron to find for the chance to win tickets to the Men’s and Women’s Finals. And at the end of each day, the precinct will turn into a relaxed spot to enjoy the main event among the palm trees, cabanas and umbrellas.
“We’re turning the pop tennis court into a outdoorcinema experience,” says Jack. “We’re filling it up with deck chairs and you can sit there … and you can watch the tennis.”
Other than tennis-related activities, AO Tennis Club is intended to be a hub for educating sports lovers about healthy lifestyle choices and sustainability. You can build an acai bowls or a smoothie from Oakberry, or choose from options on their tennis-themed menu. There are also nourish bowls from Willow Urban Retreat alongside other fresh options on the naturopath curated menu available at The Clubhouse by Tommy Collins, all served on zero-waste dishes from Green My Plate. It’s all part of a broader awareness campaign, which Tennis Australia hopes will give patrons an opportunity to celebrate healthy and sustainable choices this summer.
“We’re going to have what we’re calling our ‘trash talkers’ who will be informing patrons about how you effectively recycle,” says Jack. “We’re going to have 900,000 people across the site over three weeks, so engaging them in awareness of what our objectives are actually helps to reduce our footprint in waste.”
This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with the Australian Open 2023.
