Rod Laver Arena is a part of the Melbourne Park complex located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and is a current venue for the Australian Open in tennis. Originally called Centre Court, the arena was officially renamed in January 2000 to honour Rod Laver, a three-time winner of the Australian Open and one of Australia's greatest tennis players. The arena was finished in 1988 with a seating capacity of 16,820. The venue currently attracts over 1.5 million visitors per year.

The Arena features a retractable roof allowing competitors to continue play during rain or extreme heat. It is the centrepiece of Melbourne Park's Tennis Centre, and besides tennis, the arena hosts motorbike super-crosses, music concerts, conferences, World Wrestling Entertainment events since 2005, and ballets.

Rod Laver Arena was the centre-piece of the 12th FINA World Aquatics Championships, which were held from March 17-April 1, 2007. A temporary swimming pool, named the Susie O'Neill Pool after Australian swimming champion Susie O'Neill, was built to allow this to happen.

It hosted World Championship Wrestling in October 2000. The Rod Laver Arena played host to the gymnastics competition in the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

It is also known for hosting events for metal bands Slipknot, Iron Maiden, Linkin Park, Korn, Nickelback and many more.

Rod Laver Arena is equipped with the Hawk-Eye electronic system which allows tennis players to challenge the umpire's decision on calls made throughout championships.

The arena was the home of Melbourne Basketball from April 3, 1992 with the Melbourne Tigers and the South-East Melbourne Magic (then the Victoria Titans) calling the venue home, both attracting big crowds in the glory days of the NBL. The largest Basketball crowd was 15,366 in 1996 to see the local derby between the Magic and Tigers. Rod Laver Arena hosted 287 NBL games including NBL Championship deciders in 1992, 1996, 1997 and 1998, and played host to its last game in April 2000.

Kylie Minogue has played 20 concerts in total at the arena, dating as far back to her first concert here in 1990 during her Enjoy Yourself Tour, to KylieX2008.

P!nk has played 24 concerts at the arena, from her first concert in 2004 on her Try This Tour, The I'm Not Dead Tour where she played six nights in 2006, then her record breaking Funhouse Tour in 2009, where she played 17 concerts at the arena. She currently holds the record for most shows at the arena in one tour.

Britney Spears performed 4 shows at the Rod Laver Arena for her highly anticipated 'The Circus Starring: Britney Spears' tour. The first three concerts took place on the 11th, 12th, and 13th. Then, after visiting Sydney and Brisbane Spears returned for a final show on the 27th.

Records

On November 18, 2007, the record crowd for Rod Laver Arena was recorded when 16,183 attended Justin Timberlake's concert, as a part of his FutureSex/LoveShow tour.

In November 2007, World Wrestling Entertainment held the WWE Raw Survivor Series Tour and announced a record breaking wrestling attendance of 15,570 Australian WWE fans.

Soft courtsOn night 2 of the Australian Open 2009 the was a record crowd of 17,499.

Image:Inside Rod Laver Arena.JPG|Interior during the Australian OpenImage:Rod Laver Arena front.jpg|Rod Laver Arena, exterior (formerly Centre Court)

References

External links

• Official Website
• Peddle Thorp Melbourne