The Australian Open is a unique beast. Coming right off the high of the Christmas-New Year period, and months before the rest of the Grand Slam calendar gets going, the hard courts of Melbourne are suddenly ablaze with the majesty and passion of some of the world’s best tennis stars.

Each year during the Australian summer, the whole city, and indeed the whole country, embraces the electric atmosphere at Melbourne Park. In a way, it’s uniquely Australian.

All of this creates an atmosphere that actively nurtures drama. From surprise victories to flash-flooding to one of the biggest matches of all time, we look back at some of the most dramatic moments of the Australian Open.

1976: An Aussie Hospital Janitor Wins The Open

Australian Mark Edmonson may not be as recognisable a name as Pat Rafter, Rod Laver or Evonne Goolagong, yet he’s every bit an Aussie legend.

Edmonson is still the lowest-ranked player to ever win a major tennis title and is the last local to win the Australian Open Men’s Singles tournament (back when it was played in Kooyong, no less). In doing so, he beat tournament favourite John Newcombe in a stunning upset.

Yet despite all of this, he was to many as average as it could get. He worked odd jobs to pay the bills between his tennis duties, including as a hospital janitor, and after his semi-final win, he simply took the tram back home.

Nothing but respect for MY Australian tennis great.

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1990: John McEnroe Is Disqualified

 The John McEnroe disqualification during the 1990 Australian Open is a sporting event indelibly marked in the memories of all tennis fans who were lucky enough to witness it.

During his fourth-round match against Swede Mikael Pernfors, McEnroe incurred three code violations for his signature aggressive behaviour. After the third violation was noted, chair umpire Gerry Armstrong called the match as Pernfors’ victory by default. McEnroe simply stood in the court in disbelief as the crowd around him booed.

He’d later note that he was unaware of the new rules. But the damage had been done.

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1992: Jim Courier’s Unique Celebration

American Jim Courier’s 1992 Australian Open campaign was much more remarkable for its off-court antics than what happened on-court.

After winning the Grand Final against rival Stefan Edberg, Courier fulfilled a bet with his coach by jumping into the Yarra River to cool off. It’s a celebration that Women’s singles champion Angelique Kerber repeated in 2016.

It should be noted that the Yarra River was then, and remains to this day, too polluted for human activities.

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1995: Pete Sampras Breaks Down

The 1995 quarter-final match between Jim Courier and Pete Sampras should have been your everyday Grand Slam affair, with two of the best tennis players of the ‘90s facing off against one another for a chance to get a step closer to Championship victory, under near-perfect conditions at Rod Laver Arena.

But it was the news that Sampras was given immediately prior to the match that changed everything. Pete’s coach, Tim Gullikson, had flown back to the USA, diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

The usually calm and collected Sampras slowly broke down throughout the match, which culminated in a rare show of tears by the former world number one. In a show of sportsmanship, Courier even offered to finish the match the next day.

Yet Sampras played through, eventually winning in five sets and cementing the moment in sporting history.

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1995: Rod Laver Arena Floods

Due to extreme rain, the roof was put on Rod Laver Arena for the men’s semi-final between Andre Agassi and Aaron Krickstein. The match went as punters expected: Agassi defeated Krickstein.

But that’s where things stopped going to plan. Immediately after the match concluded, rainwater flooded centre court. The flash flood was later found to be the result of a faulty drainage system.

Some players decided to roll with the punches. Women’s doubles champions Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva, due on court right after Agassi, decided to jump into the ankle-deep water anyway… for an impromptu dance party. Only in Melbourne.

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2017: Williams vs Williams, Federer vs Nadal

Sometimes it’s worth looking at the odds: According to one bookmaker, the chance of having the 2017 Australian Open singles finals feature Federer, Nadal, and both Williams sisters was 5000-1.

As expected, the Williams sisters put on a classic match, with Serena besting her sister and sometimes-rival Venus in straight sets.

Not only did Serena overtake Steffi Graf as the woman with the most Grand Slam titles to her name, but she did it without dropping a single set throughout the tournament. Oh, and she was eight weeks pregnant at the time.

The Men’s singles final between Federer and Nadal was dubbed “Fedal XXXV”. It was a much-anticipated match between two certified tennis legends, six years since their last Grand Slam Final face-off in Roland Garros and a rematch of the 2009 Australian Open Grand Final.

Margaret Court Arena was opened to accommodate the overflowing crowd, sporting networks recorded some of the highest viewing numbers for any tennis match ever, and many commentators quickly noted that it was possibly amongst the most important sporting matches ever.

In a nail-biting match, Federer won in five sets, with the final five games, fighting back from three-games-to-one down to win the match. Tennis greats including John McEnroe said those were the best five games of Federer’s entire career.

So despite the efforts of every other grand slam, 2017’s biggest matches were held in Rod Laver Arena in January. Sorry to Wimbledon, Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows, I guess.

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(Lead image: Rafael Nadal/Supplied)

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This summer’s most exciting event, Australian Open 2018 is almost here, with plenty on offer for everyone, from live music to great food and spectacular tennis. Book tickets through Ticketek here.