Philip Mallis
Practice Week at the National Tennis Centre
Qualifying tennis and open practice, days before the main draw, for a fraction of the price
Before the main draw starts, the Australian Open runs an entire week that most first-time visitors don't know exists. Opening Week — also called qualifying week — fills the days before the tournament proper with 128 men and 128 women fighting through three qualifying rounds for the last spots in the main draw, alongside open practice sessions where seeded stars warm up in public view. Tickets for this week run a fraction of main-draw prices, and the tennis is frequently better than the name "qualifying" suggests: players ranked 100-250 playing must-win matches with real intensity, some of whom will be in the second week of the main draw a fortnight later.
The National Tennis Centre, entered via Entrance D off Olympic Boulevard, is where most of the open practice happens outside match hours. It's Melbourne Park's actual training facility: eight indoor Plexicushion courts, five outdoor Plexicushion courts, and eight clay courts, built when the Open moved from Kooyong in 1988 and expanded since into one of the more complete high-performance tennis facilities anywhere. During tournament weeks it's where players warm up before matches and where, during Opening Week specifically, scheduled open practice sessions let fans watch top names hit for free or for the price of a grounds pass, often standing courtside close enough to hear the ball.
Rod Laver Arena itself also hosts open practice during this window — a rare chance to sit in the main show court for free, watching players work through their pre-tournament routines rather than compete. The precinct runs family and entertainment programming alongside it: an official Draw ceremony mid-week, evening "Showdown" exhibitions, and AO Live music at night, so Opening Week functions as a genuinely different, lower-key event from the tournament that follows it, not a watered-down preview.
The catch is real: practice schedules are published only a day or two ahead and change constantly as players adjust to jet lag, injuries, or last-minute withdrawal, so nothing about Opening Week can be planned as tightly as a main-draw session with an assigned court and time.
The qualifying draw itself is worth understanding as more than a formality: 128 men and 128 women enter, and the field is cut down across three rounds to the final 32 qualifiers on each side who earn a place in the main draw. That's a genuinely brutal structure, win three matches in a row against players just as hungry for the same spot, or your tournament ends before the "real" Open even begins. Watching that pressure play out on a nearly empty outside court, with almost none of the crowd main-draw matches attract, is a different, rawer version of tennis than anything the tournament proper offers.
Why it's special
Nobody plans a trip around qualifying week, and that's exactly the case for it. You get real tennis, players fighting for their careers rather than cruising through an early round, at a ticket price that's a fraction of what the same seat costs seven days later. I think the practice-court access matters more than people expect going in — watching a player work through a serve fault with their coach, close enough to hear the conversation, tells you more about how elite tennis actually gets built than a scoreboard ever will. It's also the one week where Rod Laver Arena itself is genuinely open and uncrowded, which never happens again until the tournament ends. If your trip dates are flexible at all, Opening Week is the one experience on this list that fundamentally changes what kind of Australian Open trip you're having, not just what you do on one afternoon of it.
Insider tips
- 1
Practice schedules for the National Tennis Centre and Rod Laver Arena are published only a day or two in advance on the AO app — check the morning of, not before, since named players can be swapped or withdrawn with little notice.
- 2
Qualifying matches on the outside courts during Opening Week draw far smaller crowds than the main draw, so you can often walk straight up to a good match with no wait at all — the opposite of main-week court-hopping.
- 3
The official Draw ceremony mid-week is open to the public with a grounds pass and is one of the only times you'll see the tournament's seeded players make a scheduled public appearance together before matches start.
Practical info
- Hours
- Opening Week typically runs the six days before the main draw begins; National Tennis Centre practice sessions generally run through the day, published via the AO app the day before
- Cost
- Opening Week grounds access runs AU$10 — a flat rate, well below main-draw Ground Pass pricing (AU$49 early-bird).
- Access
- Opening Week and qualifying tickets go on sale via ausopen.com/Ticketmaster ahead of the main draw on-sale. Access to National Tennis Centre practice courts and open Rod Laver Arena practice sessions is included with an Opening Week grounds ticket, no separate booking needed.
- Getting there
- The National Tennis Centre is entered via Entrance D, Olympic Boulevard, within the Melbourne Park precinct — a 10-minute walk from Flinders Street Station via Batman Avenue, or from Jolimont Station on the Hurstbridge/Mernda lines. Trams 70 and 75 stop nearby on Flinders Street and Wellington Parade.
- Address
- National Tennis Centre, Entrance D, Olympic Boulevard, Melbourne VIC 3001, Australia
What to avoid
Don't treat Opening Week as a guaranteed way to see a specific star practice — schedules are published late, change often, and top seeds sometimes skip public practice sessions entirely in the lead-up to their first match. Avoid assuming qualifying-week tennis is lower quality because of the name — players competing for the final main-draw spots are often playing with more urgency than seeded players coasting through an early main-draw round the following week.
