John Cain, the man who saved the Australian Open from certain death

The Australian Open has one of the most modern facilities in tennis today.. It is the only Grand Slam tournament with three covered courts, the Rod Laver Arena, the Margaret Court Arena and the John Cain Arena.

They are the three most important courts in the Melbourne Park area.a few acres along the Yarra River and a few kilometers from the city center, and named after three prominent Australian personalities.

The first two, Rod Laver and Margaret Court, are well known to tennis fans.. We are talking about two true legends who have 35 Grand Slam titles (11 Laver and 24 Court, sharing with Novak Djokovic the honor as the person with the best record in the ‘majors’).

however, Many people don’t know who John Cain is and what role he played in the history of tennis to deserve such recognition.

Well, Cain was the architect of making the Australian Open what it is today. The Labor politician He was president of the state of Victoria (where Melbourne is located) between 1982 and 1990an important period in the history of the tournament.

And the 80s started very badly for the Australian Grand Slam, which At that time it was held at the end of December, very delicate dates due to the celebration of the Christmas holidays. and the (even) greater difficulties that existed then to reach the other side of the world.

This led to notable absences each year, something the tournament suffered from, even threatening its status as a Grand Slam.

Its poor location on the calendar and the lack of facilities, with a Kooyong stadium that has become very old compared to the center courts of the other three Grand Slam tournamentsmade the tennis world consider whether it was time to take the tournament out of there in search of a better and more profitable venue.

It has been discussed that the United States will take his place.where a group of businessmen are willing to do anything to organize a two-week tournament in Florida to replace the Australian Open.

That choice raised alarms in the ITF, and its president, Philippe Chatrier, met with the president of the Australian federation, Brian Tobin, in search of a solution that would protect the possibility of the tournament.

A shock plan is needed, and for this they need the cooperation of local authorities. That is when the figure of John Cain. The President of the State of Victoria planned to build a large sports and recreation facility in the city center, an idea that piqued Tobin’s interest.who proposed to take the contest there.

That was the problem The planned facilities will be occupied to organize concerts and events as well. throughout the year without having to worry about the weather, something that contradicts the organization of an outdoor tournament.

But since everything has a solution in life except death, Both reached a consensus that the viability of the project would involve building stadiums with retractable roofs.an ambitious project that requires an investment of more than 100 million dollars to be financed over 25 years.

Despite criticism from the opposition, Cain was able to convince the sports minister, also from the Labor party, to give the green light to the works, which began in 1985 and lasted more than two years.

The new courts at Melbourne Park, then Flinders Park, hosted their first edition in January 1988. Yes, in January. With the change of facilities was added, a year earlier, a calendar movement helped fuel the tournament that now opens the season, and to top it all off, it was made into a luxury poster where not one of the racket’s stars is missing.

The premiere could not have been better. with Mats Wilander and Steffi Graf as Flinders Park’s first clay champions (until then played on the grass).

The Swede added his third crown on Australian soil, while The German premiered there in what would be a magical year for himas he won the other three Grand Slams, in addition to the gold medal at the Seoul Games.

A ‘Golden Slam’ started in a new Melbourne thanks, above all, to the determination of John Cain.