On Tuesday evening at Rod Laver Arena, tournament director Craig Tiley honoured the dedicated workforce that help to make the Australian Open the worldwide success that it is.
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At 34, Elise Nicholson seems pretty young for someone with 25 Australian Opens under her belt.
Having spent much of her childhood working with her family in the Program Sellers and Court Services department, she remembers the excitement of being given an interview for an official role in Court Services, aged just nine.
“My feet didn't even touch the floor and my head couldn't be seen from behind the chair,” she recalled.
Elise was born into a tennis family; her parents were publishers of Australian Tennis magazine for more than 25 years.
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“Nothing will ever be as good as the 'old days' at the AO,” she said. “I miss playing tennis on the practice courts after a shift, sitting behind the players on Rod Laver, sleeping in the office on hot nights because we didn't have air con at home.
“But the friends we have made along the way make it worth it.”
While 25 years is a lot of AO experience, Elise has a way to go to catch up with 40-year veteran Lisa Reade.
Starting as a ball girl at Kooyong, Lisa remembers assisting and serving drinks to some of the world's greatest players including Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, John McEnroe, Pat Cash and Andre Agassi.
“One of my special memories was having Martina hold the door open for me to walk through on the way to the outdoor courts,” she said, adding, “I felt bad that I wasn't holding it for her, but she insisted."
Lisa moved to scoreboard operations, starting with the old manually operated boards at Kooyong. When the AO moved to Melbourne Park in 1988, she learnt to use the first computerised scoreboard. It was a job that came with a few quirks.
“I spent quite a few years answering calls from the general public in the information room before the internet had score updates,” she remembers. “My favourite call was from Brooke Shields asking for an update on Andre's score. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell her.”
Like all those who have returned many times to work at the Australian Open, Lisa has seen the tournament change and develop over the years.
“[The] AO has improved every year and is now so much more than just a tennis tournament,” she said. “I now couldn't imagine having a January without being at the tennis. It has a great vibe and really is the 'happy slam'.”
After training at Melbourne Park in the Australian Open Junior Academy, Vanessa Larkins landed a job as a statistician, aged just 15 - it was the ideal role for a tennis-loving teenager. This year, she celebrates 20 years at the AO.
“As a massive fan of the game, the job to watch tennis couldn't have been more perfect,” she said. “I've worked on so many incredible and memorable moments over the years as I've been so lucky to be here to watch some absolute legends of the game through their careers.”
Among Vanessa's special memories are the late-night finals that produced such AO magic as the 2017 and 2018 men's finals she calls “those five-set Federer fairytales”.
“I was fortunate enough to work on Ash Barty's final in 2022, when she won,” she added. “It was really special to work on. That night was the most incredible Australian Open night where we had Kokkinakis and Kyrgios with the doubles straight after. It was one of those moments when you walk out and you're like, 'Did that just happen?”
Vanessa also recalls “that weird but 'never forget' Covid year, where working in RLA was so silent you could hear the bird poo falling from the roof while Rafa was playing an epic to no crowd, just in front of us.”
But she no doubt speaks for the legions of employees and volunteers whose hard work over the years has helped to make the Australian Open the success it is.
“Over the 20 years, I've loved watching Melbourne Park evolve to the unbelievable facility we have today. I've loved watching the game change, the impact of technology in tennis and the change in player strategies.
“I've met some great friends, had plenty of fun at parties, played so much table tennis on breaks and spent plenty of nights joining friends after work in the beer gardens.
“January will always be blocked out in my calendar for tennis.”