{"id":413160,"date":"2026-01-14T21:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T21:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/413160\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T21:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T21:34:11","slug":"inside-the-melbourne-tournament-at-kooyong-with-no-rules-that-attracts-the-likes-of-kyrgios-zverev-bublik-berrettini-cobolli-tiafoe-khachanov-shapovalov-vekic-cilic-and-tien","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/413160\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Melbourne tournament at Kooyong with no rules that attracts the likes of Kyrgios, Zverev, Bublik, Berrettini, Cobolli, Tiafoe, Khachanov, Shapovalov, Vekic, Cilic and Tien"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kyrgios<\/p>\n

Kyrgios having fun at Kooyong shooting hoops with a giant tennis ball.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Classic is the unique event of the Australian tennis summer as the sole exhibition and only one not run by Tennis Australia, which effectively competes for players for its \u201cOpening Week\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club still hosts the event, which was first held in 1988 after the Australian Open moved to Melbourne Park, but board members decided in mid-2024 that they would no longer be operationally involved<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That resulted in the Classic taking last year off, with Cal Board\u2019s JJA Sports now owning the event, which also had a two-year COVID-related hiatus<\/a> from 2021-22.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis tournament\u2019s died twice,\u201d Johnston said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was running out of party tricks, you wouldn\u2019t do it, but I still think there\u2019s a way to do it. There are 256 players looking for matches in the week before the AO \u2013 and they can\u2019t all get it.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

\u201cComing back from having a year off didn\u2019t hurt us because the players missed it. There is a lot happening at Melbourne Park, but Kooyong is still a unique offering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnston has attracted star power again. Alexander Zverev<\/a>, Nick Kyrgios, Alexander Bublik, Matteo Berrettini, Flavio Cobolli, Frances Tiafoe, Karen Khachanov, Denis Shapovalov, Donna Vekic, Marin Cilic and Learner Tien are among the players in action.<\/p>\n

Italy\u2019s Lorenzo Musetti, who entered the top five in the rankings for the first time this week, was also scheduled to play, but withdrew due to injury.<\/p>\n

There are players who want to compete once, others twice, and some nominate particular days they are available, so it is a juggling act for Johnston, particularly in cases such as Musetti\u2019s, where a player withdraws mid-event.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The distances from Kooyong to the host venues of the three majors outside Australia.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Classic also prioritises Asian talent for broadcast reasons. China\u2019s Zhang Zhizhen and Bu Yunchaokete are both playing this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love to play here,\u201d Zhang said. \u201cThe people here are always nice, even though I\u2019ve played twice against Australians \u2013 Rinky [Hijikata] and Nick [Kyrgios].\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kooyong Classic is broadcast in 30 countries, with the likes of Pat Cash and McNamee as commentators, so there is pressure on Johnston to compile a strong field. He locked in three-time grand slam finalist Zverev only last week.<\/p>\n

Zverev knocked back Johnston\u2019s overtures a couple of months ago, but was looking for more match practice after his country did not advance to the United Cup\u2019s knockout rounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe business model is very reliant on TV,\u201d Johnston said, \u201cso it is important that we try and have the best possible field.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Matteo<\/p>\n

Matteo Berrettini was all smiles during his match against Learner Tien.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

That said, Johnston and his team make sure the on-site fans are well-served.<\/p>\n

They wheeled a basketball ring on court for Kyrgios to shoot hoops after his win over Zhang on Tuesday, while the crowd reaction, particularly among kids, reached fever pitch as the Australian star and fellow players entered the tunnel to sign autographs.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember playing here six years ago, and liking the atmosphere, being here in Melbourne,\u201d Berrettini said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided to take a couple more weeks to get ready [this pre-season], so playing this event is great for players to play real matches. It\u2019s perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Classic also leans into Kooyong\u2019s grasscourts as the backdrop for the social area, where punters can have a drink and chat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still about getting the right players, but it\u2019s more of an event now, where you can have a full day at the tennis, be watching, then come out to the bars,\u201d Johnston said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing everything come to fruition and people having a great a time is really pleasing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow our live Australian Open blog each day from January 18 for results, news, analysis and interviews.<\/p>\n

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kyrgios having fun at Kooyong shooting hoops with a giant tennis ball.Credit: Getty Images The Classic is the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":{"0":"post-413160","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}