The 2023 Australian Open is here and the summer of tennis is well and truly underway.
Beginning January 16, the world's best players will travel to Melbourne Park to compete at the first Grand Slam of the tennis calendar.
Played across six courts, 256 competitors (128 men and women's singles) battle it out for individual glory and the hope they can hold aloft the Australian Open trophy.
One of those courts is Margaret Court Arena, which is named after one of Australia's most dominant and successful tennis players to date.
It was originally named Show Court One, but in 2003 it was renamed to honour the tennis champion, who holds the most Grand Slam titles (66) of any player in history.
Court also holds the most singles Grand Slam titles (24), with American Serena Williams falling one short of the record (23) as well as Rafael Nadal (22), Novak Djokovic (21) and Roger Federer (20) coming close.
The Australian dominated the courts from 1960, where she won her first Grand Slam at age 18.
Margaret Court Arena history
Margaret Court Arena is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue located in Melbourne.
Built in 1987 and redeveloped in the 2010s, the stadium was designed when the Australian Open moved from the Kooyong Tennis club to Melbourne Park.
It was initially named Show Court One but changed in 2003 to honour the tennis legend Margaret Court.
Completed in 2014, the stadium underwent major redevelopments which "included a retractable roof - which is the fastest of its kind - additional seating (boosted from 6,000 to 7,500), corporate facilities, four video screens, sound system and improved spectator facilites", according to AUStadiums.
Aside from tennis, the venue plays host to basketball, netball and concerts.
In 2017, Australian singer-songwriter Tash Sultana sold a record 7,359 tickets in December, delivering Margaret Court Arena's largest crowd to date.
However, in recent years there has been a push to change the stadium name due to Court's controversial views on the LGBTIQ+ community.
Following multiple incidents where she declared her stance against same-sex marriage and trans athletes, the movement to remove her name has grown some momentum.
Tennis royalty John McEnroe, Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova all petitioned for the removal of the name, while Chairperson of the Australian Republican Movement Peter FitzSimons also created a poll to have Margaret Court Arena changed, after 5300 voters responded to his tweet at the beginning of 2022.
Margaret Court Arena should be
— Peter FitzSimons (@Peter_Fitz) January 29, 2022
Margaret Court Arena size and capacity
Margaret Court Arena holds approximately 7,500 patrons.
