Australian Open could be moved China as it faces financial difficulties

The Australian Open could be moved away from Melbourne and moved to Sydney or even China due to the first Grand Slam of the year reportedly being in financial ruin.

The shock revelation comes as Tennis Australia (TA) boss Craig Tiley warns the tournaments need a cash injection after two years of Covid crowd restrictions have left the major penniless.

Tiley told Australia's Herald Sun that TA's cash reserves had 'gone from $80m to zero, pretty much' despite the governing body receiving $1 billion of taxpayers' money over the last 10 years.

He said: "I know it was discussed and it was argued, absolutely. From a personal point, the Australian Open should always be in Melbourne – I’ve always advocated for that. But I’m just one person.

"There is an organisation, there is a board, there are stakeholders and there is also the company for the future."

The potential to move the event away from the state of Victoria has been rumoured before when, in 2010, private investment groups in both Sydney and Shanghai bid to snatch the event away - promoting the local government to plough the huge investment in to improve Melbourne Park.

Tiley added that the three other Slams at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and New York had all made major improvements recently and that, for Australia to stay in touch, they needed to add a further stadium to complement Rod Laver Arena and John Cain Arena.

In November, TA announced a record new TV deal worth $425 million - a deal worth $85 million per year.

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