Craig Tiley admits crazy AO record crowd numbers are 'more than expected'

(Getty/James D. Morgan)

Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley has responded to record crowd numbers at Melbourne Park, insisting that the wave of fans has come as a surprise.

Sunday's Day 1 attendance total set a tournament record of 100,763, with 73,235 spectators flooding through the gates for the day session alone.

For the first time in the event's history, ground passes were put on hold due to the high demand, as some fans voiced their anger about overflowing crowds ruining the experience.

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Speaking to Nine's Today on Monday morning, Tiley was asked about the jaw-dropping numbers.

"There was no question that we had more people coming on the grounds than we even expected," he said.

"We have so many things happening here and a lot of great tennis, so we had a lot of people showing up at the same time, and that's indicative of the interest of the event.

"We'll certainly put extra resources on early so the fans have a seamless entry."

Later in the day, it was announced that Monday's Day 2 attendance hit over 68,500.

During qualifying week branded as 'Opening Week' by Tennis Australia, the first day of qualifying set a new benchmark of 29,261 fans, which broke last year's record of 7,543. From Monday to Saturday, the final figure was 217,999, marking a whopping 87 per cent spike from last year's total of 115,528.

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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