Rod Laver Arena Roof Rules

Jake michaels is a melbourne based sports writer who covers everything from aussie rules to formula one basketball to boxing.

Rod laver arena roof rules.

Australia s favourite concert arena and home to the australian open. On a day in which the temperature topped 40 degrees in melbourne the rod laver arena roof was left open for the first match between russia s elena dementieva and spain s carla suarez navarro. Roofs on rod laver arena margaret court arena and melbourne arena can be closed in the event of rain or the extreme heat policy being invoked prior to the scheduled start of play. Melbourne park was officially opened in 1988 with the first tennis ball hit in january at the australian open.

If play commences with a roof closed it will remain closed for the entire match. In 1988 rod laver arena opened making the australian open the first grand slam to feature a retractable roof. The decision to close an arena roof rests solely with the tournament referee. The roof on rod laver arena was closed to allow for the two mixed.

Marin cilic says it was difficult to adjust to conditions at the rod laver arena after australian open organisers closed the roof. The arena was the first in australia to have a retractable roof installed and it is the largest indoor arena in australia. Previously known as flinders park or the national tennis centre melbourne park s primary arena centre court was renamed rod laver arena in 2000 in recognition of rod laver s remarkable tennis career. He said when conditions change quickly and the roof needs to close on rod laver or margaret court arena for instance the process of adjustment just needs to be sped up a little.

The men s final was played under a closed roof at rod laver arena. Rod laver arena at melbourne park. Rod laver arena has a seating capacity of 14 820 with a capacity of 15 400 for sports such as basketball when extra seats are added around the court and up to 14 200 for concerts with floor seating. The arena currently attracts over 1 5 million visitors per year.