Season 2, Episode 2: The Australian Open

They call it the Happy Slam, and there's probably nowhere in the world of sport where so many people could turn up and still maintain that well earned moniker than Melbourne. That almost unparalleled sporting city is now the permanent host of the once nomadic Australian Open, played in grand arenas named for legends of the sport in front of more spectators than anywhere else tennis goes.

We delve into the origins, venue and legendary (and in one case, controversial) players like Rod Laver, Margaret Court, Arthur Ashe, Monica Seles and more. There's even the standard diversion on the material make-up playing surface, because that's the level of excruciating detail we promise you at the Almanac.

It's a new season of tennis in 2026, in one of our favourite sporting  ...