The Australian Open (AO) is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Victoria, Australia. It is one of 4 Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. It starts in the middle of January and continues for 2 weeks coinciding with the Australia Day holiday.

The (AO) was moved from the ageing Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club to the new Flinders Park complex in 1988. It then became known as the National Tennis Centre at Flinders Park. It was here on the first day of championship play on January 11,1988 that the arena featured the first retractable roof over its centre court. It enabled indoor play during wet weather or extreme heat. It was the first arena of any kind in Australia to have a retractable roof installed.

The new venue with its new retractable roof as well as the move to a hard court surface from grass and its new January competition dates, made the (AO) the most progressive of the majors. The arena officially changed its name in 1996 when it was known as the Centre Court, and again in 2000 to honor Rod Laver, a 3 time winner of the (AO). The Rod Laver Arena is a multipurpose arena and is the main venue for the (AO).

In 2000, the HiSense Arena with a retractable roof was added giving the (AO) the distinction of having two retractable roofs before any other major tournament had one. It wasn't until Wimbledon debuted its retractable roof in 2009 that the (AO) was joined by any other major tennis arena.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org