'Awful experience': Astonishing new AO attendance record met with anger

(Getty/Phil Walter)

Credit where credit is due. Tennis Australia has pulled off a masterstroke when it comes to marketing and ticket sales for the 2026 Australian Open.

And on Sunday's grand opening of the main draw, that momentum from 'Opening Week' didn't sway one bit, as the tournament registered a record day session attendance of 73,235, with the previous record set at 68,883.

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For the first time in the event's history, ground pass sales had to be put on hold due to the high demand.

"We've had to pause them because obviously we want people to come on-site and have a great time," Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said.

"There's still the After 5 ground passes available, which is $49, come on-site for that."

It comes after the Australian Open smashed its previous attendance record for qualifying week by 87 per cent (217,999 compared to 115,528 in 2025).

Although these records will be music to Tennis Australia's ears given the large influx of revenue, the overflowing crowds have made the experience unbearable for some fans.

"It was way too many people - the lineup to get into the precinct was an absolute joke. And then, next to impossible to actually go and view the tennis, which sucks for people who are actually going for the tennis and not to post reels on TikTok," one fan replied to The First Serve's X post regarding the tournament's record numbers.

"It's awful now. Way too many people, you have to line up for ages to get into an outside show court. It's a festival not a tennis tournament, so anyone actually interested in tennis misses out," an observer commented.

"Oh 2022 was the best. Literally nobody was there. John Cain Arena was lucky to have 500 people some days. Kia Arena had about 400 people. The will be my 14th Aus Open and dreading it. I booked for 2027 but might cancel if it’s really bad," reflected another fan.

Another added: "They've cooked the golden goose sadly. It was unbearable last year. Limit to 50k. Can't get a seat anywhere, hard to get into outside courts and lines for everything absolutely huge."

It wasn't all bad news for fans who wanted to watch tennis, with one spectator sharing: "Amazingly I got into both matches I wanted to see easily and got my Sonny practice experience. Wasn't so bad for me."

With the Day 1 night session in its early stages at the time of writing, an estimated 30,000 are expected to be included amongst the 73,235 figure to create a combined total of over 100,000.

After the first couple of days of 2026 Australian Open qualifying, some people were quick to point out "very misleading" marketing, arguing it fooled tennis casuals into thinking they booked tickets for the main draw.

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