The first of the world's four Grand Slam tennis tournaments each year — the Australian Open — is played at Melbourne Park in the Victorian state capital.
The 2006 Australian Open took place from January 16 to January 29.
Top-ranked Swiss player Roger Federer won the men's singles title and Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo the women's singles title.
- The four Grand Slam tournaments are the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open. Only one, Australian tennis player Rod Laver, has won the Grand Slam — winning all four tournaments in one year — twice.
World's best players
Included among the competitors this year were 14 former world No 1 players, all of the top 20 women and 17 of the top 20 men.
- Not playing in the 2006 Australian Open were Marat Safin (Russia), last year's Australian Open champion; Rafael Nadal (Spain) who won last year's French Open; and Andre Agassi (USA), Australian Open champion in 2000, 2001, and 2003.
Top seed in the men's singles this year was world No 1 Roger Federer (Switzerland), followed by Andy Roddick (USA) at No 2 and Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) at No 3.
Top seed in the women's singles was Lindsay Davenport (USA), followed by Kim Clijsters (Belgium) at No 2 and Amelie Mauresmo (France).
The Williams sisters
The American champion tennis sisters, Venus and Serena Williams, were seeded No 10 and 13, respectively.
Venus Williams, last year's Wimbledon champion, was eliminated in the first round on the first day of the Australian Open. Serena Williams, last year's Australian Open champion, was knocked out in the third round on January 20.
Top 10 seeds
The top 10 seeded players in the current Australian Open were:
Men
- Roger Federer (Switzerland) - won the championship final on January 29.
- Andy Roddick (USA) - eliminated in the fourth round on January 22.
- Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) - eliminated in the second round on January 19.
- David Nalbandian (Argentina) - eliminated in the semi-finals on January 26.
- Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) - eliminated in th quarter-finals on January 25.
- Guillermo Coria (Argentina) - eliminated in the third round on January 21.
- Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) - eliminated in the quarter-finals on January 24-25.
- Gaston Gaudio (Argentina) - eliminated in the third round on January 20.
- Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) - eliminated in the first round on January 17.
- Thomas Johansson (Sweden) - eliminated in the fourth round on January 22.
Women
- Lindsay Davenport (USA) - eliminated in the quarter-finals on January 24.
- Kim Clijsters (Belgium) - retired due to injury in the third set of the semi-finals on January 26.
- Amelie Mauresmo (France) - won the championship final on January 28.
- Maria Sharapova (Russia) - eliminated in the semi-finals on January 26.
- Mary Pierce (France) - eliminated in the second round on January 19.
- Nadia Petrova (Russia) - eliminated in the quarter-finals on January 24.
- Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) - eliminated in the quarter-finals on January 25.
- Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) - retired due to illness in the final on January 28.
- Elena Dementieva (Russia) - eliminated in the first round on January 16.
- Venus Williams (USA) - eliminated in the first round on January 16.
Next page: The Quarter-Finals
