Today, all of you know this tournament at the Australian Open. But more than a century ago, it was known as the Australasian Championships. Today, we know a tournament with players from across the globe but in the early days, a vast majority of the participants in this competition were all locals from Australia itself. Today, the tournament is a hard-court one but the first event was played on grass courts.
We’re throwing back here to the 1905 Australasian Championships which was the first ever edition of this men’s singles grand slam, taking place in Melbourne, Australia. It was called by this name between 1905-1926 before it was changed to the Australian Championships. Similarly, the tournament was played on grass from 1905-1987 before it moved to the hard court which is still in existence presently.
Rodney Heath wins 1905 Australasian Championships
Like we mentioned above, a majority of the participants were locals back then and the tournament was played in the same 5-set format as it is done today too. Because of lesser participation, fewer rounds were played before a champion was crowned. In this particular edition, Rodney Heath from Australia beat Timothy Fitchett in straight sets and then Horace Rice in 4 sets, before moving on to the quarter finals.
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He got past Herbert Turner in the quarter final in 4 sets and then faced off against Britain’s Randolph Lycett in the 1905 Australian Open semi final. Lycett was his only non-Aussie opponent in this tournament and here also, he won in 4 sets to progress to the final. In the final, he lost the first set to Albert Curtis and then went on to win the next three, going down in history as the first Australian Open men’s winner.
Rodney Heath won the first Mens Australian Tennis Championship in 1905.He won again in 1910. pic.twitter.com/IZfU70cWGE
— richard evans (@rlevans51) January 18, 2015
There was no seeding system in Australian Open 1905 but a total of 17 players took part in that first edition in November 1905, where Heath beat Curtis 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 in the final. He was the first Australasian Championships winner and he went on to repeat the achievement in the 1910 men’s singles as well, beating Horace Rice in three straight sets in the final, getting two entries in the Australian Open winners list.
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Coming to his overall tennis career, Heath won the Australian Open men’s singles title in 1905 and 1910 and won three double’s titles in 1906, 1911, and 1914 as well. He didn’t have any success in other grand slam events across the world though, reaching the quarter-final of Wimbledon 1911 and just the first round of French Open 1925. He also won Davis Cup for Australia, beating USA in 1911.
On 26 October 1936, Heath was found dead in his sister’s home in Melbourne, Australia. He was only 52 years old when he passed away but will always be remembered as the first major single’s winner in Australia. He also became the second person after Anthony Wilding (New Zealand) to have won the tournament on two separate occasions.
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