Kooyong Stadium, at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, is an Australian

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

venue, located in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

suburb of Kooyong. The stadium, was built in 1927, and has undergone several renovations. It has a seating capacity of slightly more than 5,000. At its peak the stadium was capable of hosting up to 15,000 patrons.

History

Kooyong was the venue for the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Ope ...

, whenever that tournament was held in Melbourne, becoming the permanent venue from 1972 to 1987. It was the last Australian Open venue to play on grass courts. The tournament was moved to the hard courts of Melbourne Park in 1988. Now a hard-court surface, it remains the venue for the

Kooyong Classic The Kooyong Classic is a professional tennis exhibition singles-only tournament, played on outdoor hard courts. It is held annually in January, right before the Australian Open, at the Kooyong Stadium in Kooyong, Melbourne, Australia. Eight invi ...

exhibition tournament. Kooyong has also hosted several

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organi ...

ties and finals, including the 1986 Davis Cup Final which saw

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

defeat two-time defending champions

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3–2 in late December. The stadium hosted a tie for the

2016 Davis Cup The 2016 Davis Cup was the 105th edition of the Davis Cup, a tournament between national teams in men's tennis. It was sponsored by BNP Paribas. From this season's tournament the deciding set of each match would be settled by a tiebreak at 6 games ...

against the USA in March 2016 on a portable grass court. In 2019 the club demolished the upper western and southern stands, revising the seating capacity to approximately 5,000. The venue had previously been capable of seating 8,500 spectators.

Concerts

The venue has also hosted several concerts: *On 24 October 1971

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

performed a concert there. *On 20 February 1972,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

rock group

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...

held a large open-air concert at the venue as part of its Australasian Tour. *On 13 January 1973

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped def ...

performed a concert there. *On 17–18 February 1973,

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

played three shows there as part of their 1973 Pacific Tour. *On 16 February 1985, Greek singers George Dalaras &

Dimitra Galani Dimitra Galani ( el, Δήμητρα Γαλανή) is a Greek singer and songwriter. Galani was born 1952 in Athens and began her musical career at the age of 16 providing vocals on several tracks of Dimos Moutsis and Nikos Gatsos on the album " ...

with their band, performed a concert there. *In February 1986,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

performed three concerts there. *In November 1987,

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

performed four concerts at the venue.

Notable members

* Eva de Jong-Duldig, Wimbledon player, has been a member of the club for over half a century.''Courtside''

References

External links

* Music venues in Melbourne Sports venues in Melbourne Tennis venues in Australia 1946 Davis Cup 1953 Davis Cup 1957 Davis Cup 1961 Davis Cup 1966 Davis Cup 1983 Davis Cup 1986 Davis Cup Sports venues completed in 1927 1927 establishments in Australia Sport in the City of Stonnington Buildings and structures in the City of Stonnington {{VictoriaAU-struct-stub

History

Concerts

Notable members

See also

References

External links