Australian Open 2026: Fans frustrated by long queues as ticket sales halted on opening day

New Delhi: Australian Open organisers faced massive backlash on the opening day of the tournament on Sunday as frustrated fans queued for hours at the gates of Melbourne Park, complained for confusion over the sudden suspension of ticket sales.

With heightened security at the Australian Open following the Bondi Beach shooting incident in Sydney last month, hundreds of fans gathered outside the venue in hot weather conditions before the event officials paused sales of the cheaper "ground pass" tickets just after the first hour of play due to heavy demand.

Ground passes are priced at A$65 ($43) for adults during the day sessions, offering access to the outer courts and are massively popular among fans at the year's first Grand Slam. Tournament director Craig Tiley also confirmed in the morning that only the expensive tickets to the main showcourts were available for sale, but fans were unaware of it as they queued outside the venue.

Josh Main, a visitor from the Netherlands, told Reuters that he went to look for tickets, but there was a big line outside the venue.

"They told us there are no tickets left, so we can’t get in. They did say there were tickets left for Rod Laver (Arena) but we’re not going to sit there today and it’s expensive. I think they said it was 300 bucks or something," Main told Reuters

Local Australian fans also voiced their anger, with Melbourne resident Elton Yu stunned to find ground passes unavailable at the venue.

"Never expected to not have any tickets for the ground pass which I always do," he told Reuters. 

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Tiley said the sales were halted just for the day session, and ground tickets were available for the evening.

"We’ve had to pause them because obviously we want people to come on site and have a great time. There's still the 'After 5' (o'clock) ground passes available, which is $49, come on-site for that," he told reporters.