| Date: | 18–31 January 2016 |
| Edition: | 104th |
| Draw: | 128S / 64D / 32X |
| Prize Money: | A$44,000,000 |
| Location: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Venue: | Melbourne Park |
| Surface: | Hard (Plexicushion) |
| Attendance: | 720,363 |
| Champms: |  Novak Djokovic |
| Champws: | Angelique Kerber |
| Champmd: |  Jamie Murray /  Bruno Soares |
| Champwd: | Martina Hingis /  Sania Mirza |
| Champxd: |  Elena Vesnina / Bruno Soares |
| Champbs: |  Oliver Anderson |
| Champgs: |  Vera Lapko |
| Champbd: | Alex de Minaur / Blake Ellis |
| Champgd: | Anna Kalinskaya /  Tereza Mihalíková |
| Champwcms: | Gordon Reid |
| Champwcws: | Jiske Griffioen |
| Champwcqs: | Dylan Alcott |
| Champwcmd: |  Stéphane Houdet / Nicolas Peifer |
| Champwcwd: |  Yui Kamiji / Marjolein Buis |
| Champwcqd: | Lucas Sithole /  David Wagner |
| Champml: |  Jonas Björkman / Thomas Johansson |
| Main Name: | Australian Open |
The 2016 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 18 and 31 January 2016.[1] It was the 104th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of events for professional players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair players competed in singles and doubles tournaments.
Novak Djokovic successfully defended the men's singles title and thus won a record-equaling sixth Australian Open title. Serena Williams was the defending champion in the women's singles but failed to defend her title, losing to Angelique Kerber in the final; by winning, Kerber became the first German player of any gender to win a Grand Slam title since Steffi Graf won her last such title at the 1999 French Open.[2]
As in previous years, this year's tournament's title sponsor was Kia. This edition set a new attendance record for the tournament of 720,363.[3]
The 2016 Australian Open was the 104th edition of the tournament and was held at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The tournament was run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and was part of the 2016 ATP World Tour and the 2016 WTA Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category. The tournament consisted of both men's and women's singles and doubles draws as well as a mixed doubles event. There were singles and doubles events for both boys and girls (players under 18), which was part of the Grade A category of tournaments, and also singles, doubles and quad events for men's and women's wheelchair tennis players as part of the NEC tour under the Grand Slam category.
The tournament was played on hard courts and take place over a series of 25 courts, including the three main show courts: Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena and Margaret Court Arena.[4]
In Australia, selected key matches were broadcast live by the Seven Network. The majority of matches were shown on the network's primary channel Channel Seven, however during news programming nationwide and most night matches in Perth, coverage shifted to either 7Two or 7mate. Additionally, every match was also available to be streamed live through a free 7Tennis mobile app.[5]
Internationally, ESPN held the rights for America and Central America, broadcasting matches on ESPN2 and ESPN3 in the United States as well as regionally on ESPN International. ESPN also sub-licenses matches to Tennis Channel.[6] [7] Other broadcasters included beIN Sports in the Middle East, SuperSport in Africa, Eurosport through Europe (plus NOS Netherlands and SRG SSR in Switzerland), CCTV, iQiyi and SMG in China, Fiji One in Fiji, Sony ESPN in India, both Wowow and NHK in Japan, Sky in New Zealand and Fox Sports Asia in selected markets in the Asia Pacific region.[6] In Canada, TSN broadcast matches across multiple channels.[8]
Spectator safety became a major issue during the tournament, with up to four separate cases reported:
On 7 March 2016, five weeks after the conclusion of the tournament, world number seven Maria Sharapova announced at a press conference in Los Angeles that she had failed a drug test following her quarter-final defeat by Serena Williams on 26 January. Sharapova confessed to taking the substance meldonium, which was placed on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances on 1 January; she was later suspended for two years (later reduced to fifteen months on appeal), backdated to 26 January, and was subsequently docked the $A375,000 she earned for reaching the quarter-finals.[13] [14] [15]
Below is a series of tables for each of the competitions showing the ranking points on offer for each event.
| Event | W | F | SF | QF | Round of 16 | Round of 32 | Round of 64 | Round of 128 | Q | Q3 | Q2 | Q1 |
| Men's singles | 2000 | 1200 | 720 | 360 | 180 | 90 | 45 | 10 | 25 | 16 | 8 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's doubles | 0 | |||||||||||
| 1300 | 780 | 430 | 240 | 130 | 70 | 10 | 40 | 30 | 20 | 2 | ||
| 10 |
| Event | W | F | SF/3rd | QF/4th | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singles | 800 | 500 | 375 | 100 | |
| Doubles | 800 | 500 | 100 | ||
| Quad singles | 800 | 500 | 100 | ||
| 800 | 100 |
| Event | W | F | SF | QF | Round of 16 | Round of 32 | Q | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys' singles | 375 | 270 | 180 | 120 | 75 | 30 | 25 | 20 |
| Girls' singles | ||||||||
| Boys' doubles | 270 | 180 | 120 | 75 | 45 | |||
| Girls' doubles |
The Australian Open total prize money for 2016 was increased by four million Australian dollars to tournament record A$44,000,000.
| Event | W | F | SF | QF | Round of 16 | Round of 32 | Round of 64 | Q3 | Q2 | Q1 | ||||||||||||||
| Singles | A$3,400,000 | A$1,700,000 | A$750,000 | A$375,000 | A$193,000 | A$108,000 | A$67,000 | A$38,500 | A$20,000 | A$12,000 | A$6,000 | |||||||||||||
| Doubles * | A$635,000 | A$315,000 | A$157,500 | A$78,500 | A$43,000 | A$25,500 | A$16,500 | |||||||||||||||||
| Mixed doubles * | A$157,000 | A$78,500 | A$39,250 | A$18,000 | A$9,000 | A$4,500 | - | Wheelchair singles | A$ | A$ | A$ | A$ | ||||||||||||
| A$ | A$ | A$ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Quad singles | A$ | A$ | A$ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Quad doubles* | A$ | A$ | --> |
2016 Australian Open – Men's singles
See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Day-by-day summaries.
See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Men's singles.
Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray, 6–1, 7–5, 7–6(7–3)Djokovic and Murray had faced one another 30 times prior to the final, with Djokovic victorious on 21 occasions. Murray had lost four Australian Open finals, three times to Djokovic, while the Serb had won the title five times. After an even first game, Djokovic broke Murray twice to lead 5 - 0, before Murray held. Djokovic took the winning game to secure the first set 6 - 1 in 30 minutes. The second set went with serve until Djokovic broke Murray to lead 4 - 3. The Scot broke back immediately and held his serve, but Djokovic broke in the eleventh game, then went on to hold serve, taking the second set 7 - 5. Djokovic broke the Murray serve in the first game of the third set, but Murray broke back to restore parity in the set at 3 - 3. The subsequent games went with serve and sent the set to a tie-break. Djokovic led 3 - 0 and 6 - 1 before finally securing the championship victory by three sets to love, with a 7 - 3 tie-break victory.[16]
See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Women's singles.
Serena Williams, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4Going into the final, Kerber and Williams had faced each other six times with Williams holding a 5 - 1 advantage. Kerber broke Williams in the third game of the first set with Williams breaking back to make it 3 - 3. Kerber immediately broke back and held serve to win the first set 6 - 4. Williams took advantage of the third of three break points in the fourth game of the second set, the remainder of the set going with serve, leveling the match at one set all. Kerber broke Williams in the second game of the final set, but Williams immediately broke back and held her own serve to level the deciding set at 2 - 2. Another break for Kerber saw her leading 5 - 2 but Williams broke back once again, taking the set to 5 - 4 to Kerber. A cross-court exchange described as "breathtaking" saw Williams hit the ball long, securing the title for Kerber.[17]
See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Men's doubles.
Jamie Murray / Bruno Soares defeated 
Daniel Nestor / 
Radek Štěpánek, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Women's doubles.
Sania Mirza defeated Andrea Hlaváčková / Lucie Hradecká, 7–6(7–1), 6–3See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Mixed doubles.
Elena Vesnina / Bruno Soares defeated CoCo Vandeweghe / 
Horia Tecău, 6–4, 4–6, [10–5]See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Boys' singles.
Oliver Anderson defeated 
Jurabek Karimov, 6–2, 1–6, 6–1See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Girls' singles.
Vera Lapko defeated Tereza Mihalíková, 6–3, 6–4See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Boys' doubles.
Alex de Minaur / Blake Ellis defeated Lukáš Klein / Patrik Rikl, 3–6, 7–5, [12–10]See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Girls' doubles.
Anna Kalinskaya / Tereza Mihalíková defeated 
Dayana Yastremska / Anastasia Zarytska, 6–1, 6–1See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Men's legends doubles.
Jonas Björkman / Thomas Johansson defeated Thomas Enqvist / Magnus Norman, 4–3(5–4), 1–4, 4–3(5–3)See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Wheelchair men's singles.
Gordon Reid defeated 
Joachim Gérard, 7–6(9–7), 6–4See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Wheelchair women's singles.
See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Wheelchair quad singles.
Dylan Alcott defeated David Wagner, 6–2, 6–2See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Wheelchair men's doubles.
Stéphane Houdet / Nicolas Peifer defeated Gordon Reid / Shingo Kunieda, 6–3, 3–6, 7–5See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Wheelchair women's doubles.
Yui Kamiji defeated Jiske Griffioen / Aniek van Koot, 6–2, 6–2See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Wheelchair quad doubles.
David Wagner defeated Dylan Alcott / Andrew Lapthorne, 6–1, 6–3The following are the seeded players and notable players who withdrew from the event. Seeding are arranged according to ATP and WTA rankings on 11 January 2016, while ranking and points before are as of 18 January 2016.
| Seed | Rank | Player | Points before | Points defending | Points won | Points after | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Novak Djokovic | 16,790 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 16,790 | Champion, defeated Andy Murray [2] | |
| 2 | 2 | Andy Murray | 8,945 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 8,945 | Runner-up, lost to Novak Djokovic [1] | |
| 3 | 3 | Roger Federer | 8,165 | 90 | 720 | 8,795 | Semifinals lost to Novak Djokovic [1] | |
| 4 | 4 | Stan Wawrinka | 6,865 | 720 | 180 | 6,325 | Fourth round lost to Milos Raonic [13] | |
| 5 | 5 |  Rafael Nadal | 5,230 | 360 | 10 | 4,880 | First round lost to Fernando Verdasco | |
| 6 | 6 | Tomáš Berdych | 4,560 | 720 | 360 | 4,200 | Quarterfinals lost to Roger Federer [3] | |
| 7 | 7 | Kei Nishikori | 4,235 | 360 | 360 | 4,235 | Quarterfinals lost to Novak Djokovic [1] | |
| 8 | 8 | David Ferrer | 4,145 | 180 | 360 | 4,325 | Quarterfinals lost to Andy Murray [2] | |
| 9 | 10 | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | 2,725 | 0 | 180 | 2,905 | Fourth round lost to Kei Nishikori [7] | |
| 10 | 11 | John Isner | 2,495 | 90 | 180 | 2,585 | Fourth round lost to David Ferrer [8] | |
| 11 | 12 | Kevin Anderson | 2,475 | 180 | 10 | 2,305 | First round retired vs. Rajeev Ram | |
| 12 | 13 | Marin Čilić | 2,405 | 0 | 90 | 2,495 | ||
| 13 | 14 | Milos Raonic | 2,270 | 360 | 720 | 2,630 | Semifinals lost to Andy Murray [2] | |
| 14 | 15 | Gilles Simon | 2,145 | 90 | 180 | 2,235 | Fourth round lost to Novak Djokovic [1] | |
| 15 | 16 | David Goffin | 1,835 | 45 | 180 | 1,970 | Fourth round lost to Roger Federer [3] | |
| 16 | 17 | Bernard Tomic | 1,720 | 180 | 180 | 1,720 | Fourth round lost to Andy Murray [2] | |
| 17 | 18 | Benoît Paire | 1,703 | 27 | 10 | 1,686 | First round lost to Noah Rubin [WC] | |
| 18 | 19 | Feliciano López | 1,690 | 180 | 90 | 1,600 | Third round lost to John Isner [10] | |
| 19 | 20 |  Dominic Thiem | 1,645 | 10 | 90 | 1,725 | Third round lost to David Goffin [15] | |
| 20 | 23 |  Fabio Fognini | 1,515 | 10 | 10 | 1,515 | First round lost to  Gilles Müller | |
| 21 | 26 | Viktor Troicki | 1,475 | 90 | 90 | 1,475 | Third round lost to Milos Raonic [13] | |
| 22 | 24 | Ivo Karlović | 1,485 | 45 | 10 | 1,450 | First round retired vs.  Federico Delbonis | |
| 23 | 25 | Gaël Monfils | 1,485 | 45 | 360 | 1,800 | Quarterfinals lost to Milos Raonic [13] | |
| 24 | 21 | Roberto Bautista Agut | 1,640 | 45 | 180 | 1,775 | Fourth round lost to Tomáš Berdych [6] | |
| 25 | 22 | Jack Sock | 1,525 | 0 | 45 | 1,570 | Second round lost to Lukáš Rosol | |
| 26 | 27 | Guillermo García López | 1,430 | 180 | 90 | 1,340 | Third round lost to Kei Nishikori [7] | |
| 27 | 28 | Grigor Dimitrov | 1,420 | 180 | 90 | 1,330 | Third round lost to Roger Federer [3] | |
| 28 | 29 | Andreas Seppi | 1,290 | 180 | 90 | 1,200 | Third round lost to Novak Djokovic [1] | |
| 29 | 30 | Nick Kyrgios | 1,260 | 360 | 90 | 990 | Third round lost to Tomáš Berdych [6] | |
| 30 | 31 | Jérémy Chardy | 1,255 | 45 | 45 | 1,255 | Second round lost to Andrey Kuznetsov | |
| 31 | 32 | Steve Johnson | 1,240 | 90 | 90 | 1,240 | Third round lost to David Ferrer [8] | |
| 32 | 33 | João Sousa | 1,191 | 90 | 90 | 1,191 | Third round lost to Andy Murray [2] |
The following player would have been seeded, but he withdrew from the event.
| Seed | Rank | Player | Points Before | Points defending | Points won | Points After | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Serena Williams | 9,945 | 2,000 | 1,300 | 9,245 | Runner-up, lost to Angelique Kerber [7] | |
| 2 | 2 | Simona Halep | 5,965 | 430 | 10 | 5,545 | First round lost to  Zhang Shuai [Q] | |
| 3 | 3 | Garbiñe Muguruza | 5,101 | 240 | 130 | 4,991 | Third round lost to Barbora Strýcová | |
| 4 | 4 |  Agnieszka Radwańska | 4,670 | 240 | 780 | 5,210 | Semifinals lost to Serena Williams [1] | |
| 5 | 5 | Maria Sharapova | 4,542 | 1,300 | 430 | 3,672 | Quarterfinals lost to Serena Williams [1] | |
| 6 | 7 | Petra Kvitová | 3,642 | 130 | 70 | 3,582 | Second round lost to Daria Gavrilova | |
| 7 | 6 | Angelique Kerber | 3,710 | 10 | 2,000 | 5,700 | Champion, defeated Serena Williams [1] | |
| 8 | 10 | Venus Williams | 3,511 | 430 | 10 | 3,091 | First round lost to Johanna Konta | |
| 9 | 12 | Karolína Plíšková | 3,090 | 130 | 130 | 3,090 | ||
| 10 | 11 | Carla Suárez Navarro | 3,175 | 10 | 430 | 3,595 | ||
| 11 | 14 | Timea Bacsinszky | 2,954 | 130 | 70 | 2,894 | Second round lost to Annika Beck | |
| 12 | 13 | Belinda Bencic | 3,030 | 10 | 240 | 3,260 | Fourth round lost vs. Maria Sharapova [5] | |
| 13 | 15 | Roberta Vinci | 2,825 | 70 | 130 | 2,885 | Third round lost to Anna-Lena Friedsam | |
| 14 | 16 | Victoria Azarenka | 2,745 | 240 | 430 | 2,935 | Quarterfinals lost to Angelique Kerber [7] | |
| 15 | 17 | Madison Keys | 2,600 | 780 | 240 | 2,060 | Fourth round lost to Zhang Shuai [Q] | |
| 16 | 18 | Caroline Wozniacki | 2,571 | 70 | 10 | 2,511 | First round lost to  Yulia Putintseva | |
| 17 | 19 | Sara Errani | 2,525 | 130 | 10 | 2,405 | First round lost to Margarita Gasparyan | |
| 18 | 21 | Elina Svitolina | 2,465 | 130 | 70 | 2,405 | Second round lost to Naomi Osaka [Q] | |
| 19 | 22 | Jelena Janković | 2,445 | 10 | 70 | 2,505 | Second round lost to Laura Siegemund | |
| 20 | 23 | Ana Ivanovic | 2,341 | 10 | 130 | 2,461 | Third round lost to Madison Keys [15] | |
| 21 | 24 | Ekaterina Makarova | 2,300 | 780 | 240 | 1,760 | Fourth round lost to Johanna Konta | |
| 22 | 25 | Andrea Petkovic | 2,230 | 10 | 10 | 2,230 | First round lost to Elizaveta Kulichkova | |
| 23 | 20 | Svetlana Kuznetsova | 2,475 | 10 | 70 | 2,535 | ||
| 24 | 26 | Sloane Stephens | 1,965 | 10 | 10 | 1,965 | First round lost to Wang Qiang [Q] | |
| 25 | 27 | Samantha Stosur | 1,935 | 70 | 10 | 1,875 | First round lost to Kristýna Plíšková [Q] | |
| 26 | 28 | 1,880 | 10 | 10 | 1,880 | First round lost to Lauren Davis | ||
| 27 | 29 | 1,875 | 70 | 10 | 1,815 | First round lost to Daria Kasatkina | ||
| 28 | 30 | Kristina Mladenovic | 1,725 | 70 | 130 | 1,785 | Third round lost to Daria Gavrilova | |
| 29 | 31 | Irina-Camelia Begu | 1,630 | 240 | 10 | 1,400 | First round lost to Johanna Larsson | |
| 30 | 32 | Sabine Lisicki | 1,622 | 10 | 70 | 1,682 | Second round lost to Denisa Allertová | |
| 31 | 35 | Lesia Tsurenko | 1,398 | 10 | 10 | 1,398 | First round lost to Varvara Lepchenko | |
| 32 | 34 | Caroline Garcia | 1,420 | 130 | 10 | 1,300 | First round lost to Barbora Strýcová |
The following players would have been seeded, but they withdrew or not entered from the event.
| Rank | Player | Points Before | Points defending | Points After | Withdrawal reason | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Flavia Pennetta | 3,621 | 10 | 3,611 | ||
| 9 | Lucie Šafářová | 3,590 | 10 | 3,580 | Bacterial infection[19] |
| Team | Rank1 | Seed | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ivan Dodig | 7 | 1 | ||
| Bethanie Mattek-Sands | Bob Bryan | 7 | 2 | |
| Chan Yung-jan | Rohan Bopanna | 16 | 3 | |
| Katarina Srebotnik | Jamie Murray | 23 | 4 | |
| Elena Vesnina | Bruno Soares | 30 | 5 | |
| Lucie Hradecká | Marcin Matkowski | 33 | 6 | |
| Raquel Atawo | Raven Klaasen | 39 | 7 | |
| Chan Hao-ching | Max Mirnyi | 41 | 8 |
See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Main draw wildcard entries.
James Duckworth Matthew Ebden Quentin Halys Lleyton Hewitt Omar Jasika Yoshihito Nishioka Noah Rubin Jordan Thompson Kimberly Birrell Samantha Crawford Océane Dodin Han Xinyun Priscilla Hon Maddison Inglis Tammi Patterson Storm Sanders Alex Bolt / Andrew Whittington James Duckworth / John Millman Sam Groth / Lleyton Hewitt Omar Jasika / Nick Kyrgios Austin Krajicek / Donald Young Luke Saville / John-Patrick Smith Shuko Aoyama / Makoto Ninomiya Alison Bai / Naiktha Bains Kimberly Birrell / Priscilla Hon Daniela Hantuchová Jarmila Wolfe Jessica Moore / Storm Sanders Tammi Patterson / Olivia Rogowska Ellen Perez / Belinda Woolcock Kimberly Birrell / John Millman Daria Gavrilova / Luke Saville Maddison Inglis / Benjamin Mitchell Jessica Moore / Marc Polmans Anastasia Rodionova / Chris Guccione Arina Rodionova / Matt Reid Ajla Tomljanović / Nick Kyrgios Zheng Saisai / 
Chung HyeonThe qualifying competition took place in Melbourne Park on 13 – 16 January 2016.
See main article: 2016 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying.
Daniel Evans Jozef Kovalík Tim Smyczek Wu Di Radek Štěpánek
Mirza Bašić Ryan Harrison Taylor Fritz Pierre-Hugues Herbert Yūichi Sugita Tatsuma Ito Stéphane Robert Marco Trungelliti Renzo OlivoSee main article: 2016 Australian Open – Women's singles qualifying.
Wang Qiang Nicole Gibbs Wang Yafan Naomi Osaka Zhang Shuai Kristýna Plíšková
Luksika Kumkhum Maryna Zanevska Tamira PaszekThe following players were accepted directly into the main draw using a protected ranking:
Brian Baker (PR 56) Julien Benneteau (PR 39) Dmitry Tursunov (PR 89) Petra Cetkovská (PR 54) Vania King (PR 73)The following players were accepted directly into the main tournament, but withdrew with injuries and personal reasons.
Richard Gasquet → replaced by Kyle Edmund
Nikoloz Basilashvili Andreas Haider-Maurer → replaced by Austin Krajicek Thanasi Kokkinakis → replaced by Filip Krajinović Bjorn Fratangelo Juan Mónaco → replaced by 
Dudi Sela Janko Tipsarević → replaced by 
Malek Jaziri Alisa Kleybanova → replaced by Elizaveta Kulichkova Karin Knapp → replaced by Aliaksandra Sasnovich Flavia Pennetta → replaced by Donna Vekić Lucie Šafářová → replaced by Jarmila Wolfe Galina Voskoboeva → replaced by Kiki Bertens
