He won the very first Australian Open, back when it was still played on grass courts

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The Australian Open has been played on the outdoor hard courts of Melbourne Park since 1988, but that wasn’t always the case.

The Australian Open is now synonymous with the blue hard courts of Melbourne Park, but the season’s first Grand Slam didn’t always look the way it does today. Long before the modern era — and decades before the move to hard courts — the tournament was staged on grass, sharing that tradition with Wimbledon.

Back then, the event was not yet the Australian Open, nor was it held at Melbourne Park. And the first man to lift the trophy did so on a surface most fans no longer associate with the tournament at all.

Rodney Heath won the very first Australian Open — on grass

When the tournament was still known as the Australasian Championships, it was played at the Warehouseman’s Cricket Ground, one of several early venues used before the competition settled into its current home.

It was there, in 1905, that Rodney Heath etched his name into tennis history by defeating Albert Curtis in the inaugural final, winning 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 on grass. Heath claimed a second title five years later, overcoming Horace Rice in the 1910 final.

Grass was once central to the Slam now famous for hard courts

Today it’s Wimbledon’s perfectly manicured lawns and Roland-Garros’ clay that stand out as iconic surfaces, while both the US Open and Australian Open anchor the Grand Slam season with hard-court tennis.

But before the move to Melbourne Park and the shift to hard courts, the Australian Open shared its identity with the sport’s oldest traditions — and Rodney Heath’s early triumph remains a reminder of the tournament’s overlooked beginnings.