The 1972 Australian Open was a

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

tournament played on

grass court A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Grass courts are made of grasses in different compositions depending on the tournament. Although grass c ...

s at the

Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club Kooyong Stadium, at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, is an Australian tennis venue, located in the Melbourne suburb of Kooyong. The stadium, was built in 1927, and has undergone several renovations. It has a seating capacity of slightly more t ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in Australia and was held from 26 December 1971 to 3 January 1972. It was the 60th edition of the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

and the first

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

of the year.

Finals

Men's singles

Ken Rosewall Kenneth Robert Rosewall (born 2 November 1934) is an Australian former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player. He won a record 23 Majors in singles, including eight Grand Slam singles titles and, before the Open Era, a record ...

defeated Malcolm Anderson 7–6^(7–2), 6–3, 7–5 * It was Rosewall's 16th career Grand Slam title (his 8th in singles) and his 6th Australian title.

Women's singles

Virginia Wade Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three Major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all f ...

defeated

Evonne Goolagong Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s. At the age of 19, she won the French Open singl ...

6–4, 6–4 * It was Wade's 2nd career Grand Slam title and her 1st Australian title.

Men's doubles

Owen Davidson Owen Keir Davidson (born 4 October 1943) is a former professional tennis player of the 1960s and 1970s. Alongside Billie Jean King, Davidson won eight grand slam mixed doubles titles. In 1967 he won a calendar year slam for mixed doubles, wh ...

defeated

Ross Case Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sout ...

Geoff Masters Geoff Masters (born 19 September 1950) is an Australian former tennis player. He was part of doubles winning pairs in the US Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon tournaments during the 1970s. Tennis career Born in Brisbane, Queensland, Masters ...

3–6, 7–6, 6–3 * It was Davidson's 1st career Grand Slam title and his only Australian title. It was Rosewall's 17th career Grand Slam title and his 7th and last Australian title.

Women's doubles

Helen Gourlay Helen Gourlay Cawley (''née'' Gourlay; born 23 December 1946) is a retired tennis player from Australia. Personal Helen Gourlay was born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. She married Richard Leon Cawley in January 1977, and married William ...

Kerry Harris Kerry Harris (born 19 September 1949) is an Australian former professional tennis player, active from 1967 to 1975, who reached the semi-final of the 1972 Australian Open, and reached four Grand Slam doubles finals, of which she won one, in t ...

defeated

Patricia Coleman Patricia Coleman (born 13 May 1953) is an Australian former tennis player. She played in the Australian Open singles from 1971 to 1974. In 1972 she reached the final of the doubles event at the Australian Open with Karen Krantzcke Karen K ...

Karen Krantzcke Karen Krantzcke (1 February 1946 – 11 April 1977) was an Australian tennis player. She achieved a world top ten singles ranking in 1970. In her short career, she made the quarterfinals or better at each of the four Grand Slam championships in ...

6–0, 6–4 * It was Gourlay's 1st career Grand Slam title and her 1st Australian title. It was Harris' only career Grand Slam title and her only Australian title.

Mixed doubles

:''Competition not held between 1970 and 1986.''

References

External links

Australian Open official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Open,1972 1972 in Australian tennis 1971 in Australian tennis December 1971 sports events in Australia January 1972 sports events in Australia 1972,Australian Open