Established back in 2009, many of the players competing in the 21st century got to experience the Brisbane International, which is held at the Queensland Tennis Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
With the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open, coming already after a couple of weeks, tournaments in Australia and New Zealand are popular as many players want to get Down Under ahead of the schedule.
In 2021, 2022, and 2023, the tournament was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes to the calendar, which saw the Brisbane International disappear from the Tours for a couple of years, as it moved to Adelaide, where two events were held.
But in 2024, the tournament once again returned, and the organizers made sure to attract as many visitors as possible to the hard courts in Brisbane, as the event was a place of a comeback for multiple successful players.
After a 12-month hiatus, Rafael Nadal confirmed his comeback in Brisbane, and so did Naomi Osaka, who was away due to pregnancy, with both making a victorious return in Brisbane.
The Brisbane International is usually held in the first week of a new season, and that's one of the main reasons why it attracts very strong line-ups of players, as usually, everyone is healthy and eager to kick off a new season of tennis.
Since tennis players sometimes change their approach to the start of the new season, the tournament didn't often see many repeated champions. For example, on the men's side, Andy Murray and Grigor Dimitrov are the only two players who have won more than once, with Dimitrov's second win coming in 2024.
Repeated champions were a bit more common in the WTA competition, as Serena Williams won it back-to-back in 2013 and 2014, while Victoria Azarenka triumphed at the inaugural event in 2009 and then again in 2016. The most successful player in the history of the Brisbane International is Karolina Pliskova, who won three times between 2017 and 2020, including back-to-back triumphs in 2019 and 2020.
The Brisbane International is owned by Tennis Australia, and the Centre Court is named after an Australian tennis legend, Pat Rafter, who is a former World No. 1 and a two-time US Open champion.
