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Australia Australian Open Men's Trophy

2012 One Dollar

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The year 2012 saw the running of the 100th Australian Open event. This event has become famous throughout the world for putting on a great spectacle. It is also 50 years since Australian tennis hero Rod Laver won his first Grand Slam tournament and how fitting it is that the venue is named after him. To commemorate this world-class event, the Royal Australian Mint has struck this cupro-nickel one dollar. The reverse was designed by Wojciech Pitranik and shows the men's trophy in the centre with parallel lines flowing across the coin to signify a tennis ball. The script reads AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2012 ONE DOLLAR. The obverse has the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of HM Queen Elizabeth II wearing her crown and facing right. It includes the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2012. Other Australian Open coins include the 2005 five dollars.

The 2012 Mens Australian Open event was hotly contested. Last years winner Novak Djokovic of Serbia played in the final against Rafael Nadal from Spain. The match was so close that is broke the record for being the longest final in tennis history at 5 hours and 53 minutes. The previous record was set four years earlier at the Wimbledon Grand Slam event. The eventual victor and retaining his Australian Open title was the Serbian Novak Djokovic. After the match was over, Rafael Nadal was overheard to say "good morning" as it had lasted until gone midnight. This win for the Serb star was his third Australian Open title (Sydney Morning Herald, 2012) .

One of the Worlds biggest sporting events, the Australian Open celebrates its centenary in 2005. The first tournament, known as the Australasian Tennis Championships, was played at the Warehouseman's Cricket Ground in Albert Park, Melbourne. The first Australian Open men's singles event was won by Alfred Dunlop of Australia beating Reginald Fraser of Australia in straight sets in 1905. The competition became the Australian Open in 1969 and moved to the Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park in January 1988. Rod Laver was one of Australia's greatest tennis stars. He was born on 9th August 1938 in Rockhampton, Queensland and won the Australian Open in 1960, 1962 and 1969. He was also Wimbledon Champion four times and was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981 (Australian Open, 2013) . Other Hall of Fame member's include Evonne Goolagong, Daphne Jessie Akhurst, Nancye (Wynne) Bolton, John Bromwich, Sir Norman Brookes, Pat Cash, Ashley Cooper, Margaret (Smith) Court, Jack Crawford, Mark Edmondson, Roy Emerson, Lew Hoad, Thelma (Coyne) Long, Ken McGregor, John Newcombe, Gerald Patterson, Patrick Rafter, Mervyn Rose, Ken Rosewall, Frank Sedgman, Fred Stolle, Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde.