1- Australian Open
The Grand Slam tournaments are the four most important tennis events of the year, and the Australian Open is the first of these important events (alongside the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open). It’s a hugely popular event in Australia and is held every January at Melbourne Park.
The first Australian Open, called the Australasian Championships at that time, was played in November 1905 at the Warehouseman’s Cricket Ground. It was later named the Australian Championships in 1927 before it became the Australian Open in 1969.
Every year, a huge number of fans flock to Melbourne to attend this Grand Slam event. The 2020 Tournament alone saw a record 812,174 attendance. Roger Federer and Serena Williams are two of the most popular tennis players of this competition, with Federer winning six Australian Open titles while Williams earning seven titles.
2- Australian Grand Prix
The Grand Prix is one of the oldest surviving motor racing competitions in Australia. The inaugural race was held in 1928, which was won by Arthur Waite. Previously it was held at the Adelaide Street Circuit before it was moved to the Albert Park Circuit in 1996.
The 2019 edition of the tournament recorded a huge 324,000 attendance while the 2020 edition, which was set to take place in March, got cancelled due to the outbreak of Coronavirus.
Lex Davison and Michael Schumacher are two of the most successful drivers of the Australian Grand Prix, with both winning four trophies each. Alain Prost claimed three victories in this race while Ayrton Senna won two. McLaren and Ferrari are the two most successful constructors who both registered twelve victories each.
3-Melbourne Cup
The whole Melbourne stops when the Melbourne Cup arrives on the first Tuesday of November every year. A huge number of people come to attend the Melbourne Cup which offers too many exciting activities for fans apart from horse racing. It saw a record 122,736 crowd in 2003.
Its inaugural race was held in 1861 when the horses needed to cover a distance of over two miles. Now that distance has been reduced to 3200 metres. The Melbourne Cup winner bags a huge $4.4 million while a handsome reward is also given to the second and third finishers. The British-bred and Australian-trained racehorse Makybe Diva has the record of winning this race three times.
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