RECORD crowds are turning out for this year’s Australian Open, but things may look different if not for a series of tournaments in Frankston nearly five decades ago.
45 years ago, a pair of international tennis Grand Prix events at an indoor centre in Frankston helped pave the way for the modern day iteration of the Grand Slam.
Although it was founded in 1905, for many decades the top stars of tennis decided against competing in the Australian Open. The long travel times and proximity to Christmas were often cited by international stars as reasons to stay home.
As the 1980s drew closer, greater efforts were made to persuade international players to Australia. Among those efforts was the staging of International Grand Prix events in Frankston.
The 1980 Hortico Melbourne Indoor Championships and the 1981 Miracle Indoor Championships in Frankston hosted players from Australia, the USA, Germany, and Paraguay.
Arthur Ranken was part of the team which established the host venue in the late 1970s. He said “they were experimental tournaments, but they worked well. As a result of them working well the state government came to us to see what they were doing and expressed interest in developing tennis facilities, which were built in Melbourne Park.”
“I was development manager for a company in Seaford in 1978, and the land was originally identified to be used to manufacture motorcars. We got talking to the owners and they said we like to get development into the area, so we built a rollerskating rink and we built a seven court indoor centre,” Ranken said. “That got the attention of the Lawn Tennis Association of Victoria and the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia, and they brought those two world Grand Prix tennis tournaments to Frankston.
“It all came together bit by bit as people proceeded, we developed demountable grandstand seating and it was all quite exciting.”
Throughout the 1980s, more international players began making the trip to compete in the Australian Open. After moving to Melbourne Park in 1988 the popularity of the competition boomed, and has only grown since.
First published in the Frankston Times – 27 January 2026