Melbourne Park
Coordinates: 37°49′22″S 144°58′48″E / 37.82267°S 144.98005°E
Melbourne Park is a sports venue in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 1988, Australian's bicentenary, Melbourne Park has been home of the Australian Open in tennis, which is played annually in January. The venue was the home of the Melbourne Tigers basketball team, and can be adapted to host netball, ice skating, cycling as well as swimming, motorsport and music concerts and similar events. It is owned by Melbourne & Olympic Parks, which also runs the adjacent Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. The Yarra Park section of the Sports and Entertainment Precinct is run separately.
Melbourne Park was built in 1988 beside the Jolimont Yard as a new venue to host the Australian Open, as Kooyong, the previous venue, had become too small. It was originally known as Flinders Park until 1996, when then-Premier, Jeff Kennett decided to rename it Melbourne Park, mainly to advertise the name "Melbourne" to a wide international audience. The decision was met with strong opposition, and was compared by some to renaming Stade Roland Garros (home to the French Open in Paris) "Paris Park". However, over the years, it has become accepted by the Melbourne community.
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