trip background
Ever since having the best luck of my life when I got tickets to Wimbledon Finals in 2022, I’ve had the other Grand Slams on my bucket list. Knowing I would be living in New Zealand during the 2025 Australian Open, I knew this was my perfect opportunity to cross grand slam #2 off of my list. my brother-in-law also happens to be a huge tennis fan, so he and my sister ultimately decided to visit us in New Zealand in January so that they could also tag Australia onto their trip.
getting tickets
Pre-sale tickets became available in early October for Mastercard holders, so I took advantage of this and bought our tickets then. We bought Rod Laver night session tickets for the Third round matches on a Saturday. In hindsight, I’m happy with this decision – it was brutally hot during the day, and it was cool to be in Rod Laver (the biggest of the arenas).
I don’t think getting tickets to this tournament is as difficult as it is for Wimbledon (but correct me if I’m wrong!), so I don’t think pre-sale is necessary. Carly and Griffin were able to secure Quarter final tickets the day-of, so it seems like they aren’t too hard to come by (the reason why, I’m not sure!).
our weekend
My husband, Clay, and I were in Melbourne for less than 48 hours for this trip, but we were still able to find some cool cafes, restaurants, and neighborhoods. Side note – we will be back in Melbourne for a few months for the F1 race, so we’ll be able to see more of the city then, too.
when it came to choosing where to eat, shop, etc., I relied heavily on Morgan Riddle’s Melbourne Recommendations. as Taylor Fritz’s girlfriend (the american professional tennis player), she has been to Melbourne for the Australian Open several times, so I trust her recs. Her instagram along with her Australian Open recap vlog are both amazing resources!
high-level itinerary
- friday: arrive late, Uber to Airbnb
- Saturday: coffee and pastries, restaurant and bar hopping, Australian Open
- Sunday: South Melbourne Market, breakfast and shop on Coventry street, fly home
where we stayed
we booked an Airbnb in the central business district. The airbnb itself was awesome – it was in a very modern apartment building and everything was clean and comfortable. the location was nice for what we were looking for (relatively close to the tennis grounds), but I would probably stay in another neighborhood outside of the CBD (south Melbourne, south Yarra, St Kilda, etc) if I weren’t here for the tennis.
where we ate and drank
cafes:
Australians are notorious for being very proud of their coffee, but we obviously had to judge for ourselves.
Project Zero Coffee: the first cafe we visited, and it did not disappoint. The baristas were extremely friendly, the coffee was really good, and the pastries were immaculate. along with the typical coffee offerings, They had several more creative options as well, like a berry cold brew and pina colada / strawberry cheesecake flavored coffee beans. We had a berry cold brew and a “magic” – a coffee order that is unique to Melbourne and is essentially a stronger Flat white with less milk. for food, we had a plain croissant and a chocolate scroll. If you’ve seen my croissants around the world post, then you know how much we liked these pastries. 10/10 recommend this place!
Padre coffee: this Morgan Riddle rec in the South Melbourne market was super cute and the coffee was very good! Would definitely go back if I were at the South Melbourne Market again.
ada grace: amazing cafe near the South Melbourne Market! the strawberry iced matcha was top tier and the iced latte was perfection! also worth noting that these drinks were definitely American sized (aka huge)… which we appreciated.
Agathé Pâtisserie: UNREAL croissant in South Melbourne Market. Also featured in croissants around the world of course…
pieno di grazia: mid-tier croissants at South Melbourne Market. I wouldn’t go back! also in croissants around the world.
Restaurants and bars
Ten Square Cafe: a cute cafe tucked away on a side street in the CBD. the drinks were just ok (i think their prosecco that they were using in spritzes was flat?), but the food was good. I had the green bowl with chicken and Clay had the eggs benny. tbh though, I’m not prioritizing coming back here or anything!
blossom rooftop bar: a lively rooftop bar in the middle of the cbd! great views and fun environment.
Transit Rooftop bar: another fun rooftop bar, this one is just right off of the river! drinks were good and fries were *chef’s kiss*.
Pilgrim: we loved this little restaurant / bar on the river! It was also relatively close to the tennis grounds. We had drinks and snacks here, everything was a hit.
The australian open
pre-match
We arrived to the grounds right around 5pm, which is when our night session tickets allowed us access into the park. the night matches in Rod Laver didn’t begin until 7:30pm, so we spent the time walking around, getting drinks, shopping at the tournament stores, and watching the ongoing matches until then. the tournament shop had a ton of cute stuff – we left with 2 t-shirts, a hat, an ornament, and a ball for our dog. we also tried the new “lemon ace” cocktail that is supposed to be representative of the Australian Open like the Honey deuce is for the US Open or Pimms for wimbledon, but it was honestly way too sweet. to be honest, I felt like the grounds were way too crowded, causing the lines for food and drinks to be ridiculously long. I do wish we had explored the Topcourt area though, where they had several entertainment options like games, shopping, and a dj.
the match
we watched the third round match between jannik sinner vs marcus giron at the Rod Laver arena. it was fun to see sinner play since he is so good, but it was honestly pretty much a blow out with sinner beating giron in straight sets. Clay and I were exhausted and didn’t stay for Madison Keys vs Danielle Collins, but Griffin and Carly did and said it was a lot of fun (mostly because of the drama around collins).
conclusion
truly so happy to have crossed a second grand slam off of my bucket list! the Australian open was definitely different from Wimbledon, but i think a lot of that has to do with the cultures of each host country. The australian open was a rowdier crowd and definitely had more of a party vibe, whereas Wimbledon was quieter and posh. now I just need to find opportunities to cross off the US open and Roland-garros…
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