The 1999 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. It was the 87th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 18 through 31 January 1999. This was the first Grand Slam of the calendar year. Total attendance for the event reached 391,504.
In the singles competition, Petr Korda and Martina Hingis were the defending champions. Korda was unseeded at this tournament and was eliminated in the third round by American 15th seed Todd Martin. This loss resulted in him falling down the rankings from 20th to 76th. Later in July, Korda received a suspension from tennis by the ITF after testing positive for nandrolone at Wimbledon last year. Yevgeny Kafelnikov, on the other hand, ended up becoming the men's champion, defeating surprise finalist Swede Thomas Enqvist in four sets. With this win, Kafelnikov became the first Russian, male or female, to win an Australian Open title. In the women's singles, two-time defending champion Martina Hingis successfully defended her title, defeating another surprise finalist in Frenchwoman Amélie Mauresmo. This win allowed Hingis to join Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles as the only women to have won three consecutive Australian Open titles. Amélie Mauresmo would later become the World No. 1 in 2004, and despite being one of the top players of the early to mid-2000s, this would be her only Grand Slam final until the 2006 Australian Open, which she won.
In doubles, the defending champions were Jonas Björkman and Jacco Eltingh for the men's, Martina Hingis and Mirjana Lučić for the women's, and Venus Williams and Justin Gimelstob for the mixed. Eltingh did not participate at this year's Australian Open, leaving Björkman to team up with Australia's Pat Rafter. Rafter and Björkman later won the title, defeating the Indian first seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in five sets. Hingis and Lučić also separated, with Hingis teaming up with Anna Kournikova and Lučić teaming up with Mary Pierce. Lučić and Pierce fell in the first round, but Hingis and Kournikova went on to win, by defeating first seeds Lindsay Davenport and Natasha Zvereva at the final. The mixed doubles competition saw Williams and Gimelstob not competing, and none of the seeds reaching past the second round. In the end, the South African team of Mariaan de Swardt and David Adams won, defeating Williams' sister Serena and her partner Max Mirnyi in the final.
The Juniors Competition saw the first ever junior double, with Kristian Pless and Virginie Razzano both winning their respective singles and doubles titles. Pless defeated Mikhail Youzhny in the singles before teaming up with Jürgen Melzer to defeat the Czech team of Ladislav Chramosta and Michal Navrátil in the doubles. Razzano defeated Katarína Bašternáková in the singles final and teamed up Eleni Daniilidou to defeat South Africans Natalie Grandin and Nicole Rencken in straight sets. The last time a boy won both the singles and doubles title at a Grand Slam was Roger Federer at the previous year's Wimbledon, while the last girl was Cara Black at the Wimbledon the year before. Julien Jeanpierre and Mirjana Lučić were the last players to win Australian Open Junior singles and doubles titles in the same year; in 1998 and 1997 respectively.
Singles players Men's singles ChampionRunner-up Yevgeny Kafelnikov (10) Thomas Enqvist Semifinals out Tommy Haas Nicolás Lapentti Quarterfinals out Todd Martin (15) Vincent Spadea Marc Rosset Karol Kučera (7)4th round out Wayne Black Andrei Pavel Fabrice Santoro Andre Agassi (5) Bohdan Ulihrach Mark Philippoussis (14) Wayne Ferreira Andrew Ilie 3rd round out Gianluca Pozzi Petr Korda Jim Courier Paul Goldstein Nicolas Kiefer Daniel Nestor Martin Damm Jiří Novák Tim Henman (6) Jeff Tarango Ján Krošlák Patrick Rafter (3) Marat Safin Richard Krajicek (9) Mikael Tillström Christian Ruud 2nd round out Lionel Roux Andrei Medvedev Julian Alonso Hendrik Dreekmann Jason Stoltenberg Younes El Aynaoui Stéphane Huet Greg Rusedski (8) Cecil Mamiit Guillaume Raoux Sjeng Schalken Lleyton Hewitt Sargis Sargsian Franco Squillari Arnaud Clément Slava Doseděl Sandon Stolle Jens Knippschild Paul Haarhuis Andrei Cherkasov Michael Chang Mariano Puerta Byron Black Mark Woodforde Davide Sanguinetti Gustavo Kuerten Daniel Vacek Mariano Zabaleta Magnus Norman Justin Gimelstob Jérôme Golmard Àlex Corretja (2)1st round out Óscar Serrano Albert Portas Adrian Voinea Justin Bower Galo Blanco Sébastien Lareau Carlos Costa Fernando Meligeni Jonas Björkman Fredrik Jonsson Peter Wessels Félix Mantilla Arnaud Di Pasquale Javier Sánchez Kenneth Carlsen Scott Draper Carlos Moyá (4) Stefan Koubek Alberto Martín David Caldwell Vladimir Voltchkov Thomas Muster Michael Kohlmann Cédric Pioline (13) Albert Costa (12) Jan Siemerink Ramón Delgado Lars Burgsmüller Steve Campbell Francisco Clavet Dinu Pescariu Hernán Gumy Karim Alami Guillermo Cañas Todd Woodbridge Wayne Arthurs Michael Tebbutt Alberto Berasategui Sébastien Grosjean Bernd Karbacher Geoff Grant Brett Steven Juan Antonio Marín Márcio Carlsson Toby Mitchell Jan-Michael Gambill Mark Draper Oliver Gross Fernando Vicente Leander Paes David Prinosil Marcos Ondruska Markus Hipfl Dominik Hrbatý Joseph Sirianni Hicham Arazi Thomas Johansson (16) John van Lottum Laurence Tieleman Rainer Schüttler Edwin Kempes Petr Luxa Lucas Arnold Ker Takao Suzuki Women's singles ChampionRunner-up Martina Hingis (2) Amélie Mauresmo Semifinals out Lindsay Davenport (1) Monica Seles (6)Quarterfinals out Venus Williams (5) Dominique Van Roost (11) Steffi Graf (10) Mary Pierce (7)4th round out Maureen Drake Chanda Rubin María Sánchez Lorenzo Émilie Loit Sandrine Testud (14) Barbara Schett Anna Kournikova (12) Amanda Coetzer (16)3rd round out Karina Habšudová Sylvia Plischke Natasha Zvereva (15) Ruxandra Dragomir Jana Novotná (3) Jana Nejedly Conchita Martínez (9) Nicole Pratt Sabine Appelmans Serena Williams Mary Joe Fernández Elena Likhovtseva Rita Grande Andrea Glass Janet Lee Jelena Dokić 2nd round out Florencia Labat Lea Ghirardi Rachel McQuillan Anke Huber Meilen Tu Elena Pampoulova Jane Chi Åsa Carlsson Henrieta Nagyová Jennifer Capriati Cătălina Cristea Seda Noorlander Brie Rippner Anna Smashnova Samantha Smith Patty Schnyder (8) Alexia Dechaume-Balleret Adriana Serra Zanetti Magüi Serna Els Callens Barbara Schwartz Amy Frazier Virginia Ruano Pascual Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (4) Anne Kremer Li Fang Tatiana Panova Miho Saeki Julie Halard-Decugis Samantha Reeves Kristina Brandi Elena Dementieva 1st round out Gala León García Nany Basuki Park Sung-hee Lisa Raymond Laurence Courtois Yuka Yoshida Květa Hrdličková Irina Spîrlea (13) Katarína Studeníková Kimberly Po Marlene Weingärtner Christine Papadáki Karin Miller Annabel Ellwood Cristina Torrens Valero Silvija Talaja Anne-Gaëlle Sidot Kristie Boogert Evie Dominikovic Sandra Cacic Cara Black Pavlina Stoyanova Miriam Oremans Nadia Petrova Adriana Gerši Nathalie Dechy Elena Tatarkova Mirjana Lučić Maria-Alejandra Vento Larisa Neiland Corina Morariu Erika deLone Tina Križan Denisa Chládková Mariana Díaz Oliva Conchita Martínez Granados Sarah Pitkowski Raluca Sandu Wang Shi-ting Tara Snyder Paola Suárez Meghann Shaughnessy Laura Golarsa Ai Sugiyama Radka Bobková Nana Miyagi Jana Kandarr Mariaan de Swardt Cindy Watson Catherine Barclay Rita Kuti-Kis Tathiana Garbin Silvia Farina Tamarine Tanasugarn Sonya Jeyaseelan Jill Craybas Sandra Kleinová Alicia Molik Lenka Němečková Flora Perfetti Elena Makarova Amélie Cocheteux Gloria Pizzichini Lilia Osterloh
Events
Seniors There were five competitions open to professional tennis players. The Association of Tennis Professionals and Women's Tennis Association awarded ranking points in all events apart from the mixed doubles. The singles draws were contested by one hundred and twenty eight players, while sixty four teams partook in the doubles events, and thirty two teams lined up in the mixed doubles competition.
Men's singles
With World No. 1 Pete Sampras absent, along with World No. 2 and last year's finalist Marcelo Ríos, the No. 1 spot was thought to be up for grabs coming into this year's Australian Open. Andre Agassi was considered the favourite, having won the 1995 Australian Open and having what was thought to be an easy path to the semifinals, Carlos Moyá being the only player considered to be a threat to him. Patrick Rafter was also considered a favourite, despite having in-form players Thomas Enqvist and Mark Philippoussis in his path. Àlex Corretja was another possibility to claim the No. 1 spot, being the World No. 3 and only a third round appearance to defend.
With Ríos' withdrawal, Àlex Corretja was the top seed at No. 2, with US Open champion Patrick Rafter, French Open champion Carlos Moyá and Andre Agassi following. Tim Henman, last year's semifinalist Karol Kučera, Greg Rusedski, Richard Krajicek and Yevgeny Kafelnikov made up the rest of the top 10 seeds. Despite being the defending champion, Petr Korda was not seeded as he was outside the Top 17.
The first round saw the first upset of the tournament, with Moyá falling to World No. 37 Nicolas Kiefer in four sets. 12th seed Albert Costa, 13th seed Cédric Pioline and 16th seed Thomas Johansson also fell in the first round. Corretja, 15th seed Todd Martin and Korda all survived five set encounters. The second round saw the end of Corretja's No. 1 dreams as went down in four sets to World No. 86 Christian Ruud. Rusedski was also the victim of an upset, falling to qualifier Paul Goldstein also in four sets. The third round saw further upsets, as Rafter fell in four sets to Enqvist, Henman went down to Swiss Marc Rosset in three, and Krajicek went down to Wayne Ferreira in five. The third round also saw the end of Korda, falling to Martin in five sets; and Kafelnikov survive an encounter with 1992 and 1993 champion Jim Courier, Courier having retired in the fourth set.
The fourth round saw Martin, Kafelnikov and Kučera being the only seeds to progress to the quarterfinals. 14th seed Mark Philippoussis fell to Enqvist, and Agassi was defeated by World No. 44 Vincent Spadea in four sets. Unseeded players Tommy Haas, Nicolás Lapentti and Marc Rosset also progressed. The quarterfinals saw the end of Martin, being defeated by Kafelnikov in three sets. It also saw Haas defeating Spadea, and Enqvist continuing his good form against Rosset. The quarterfinals also witnessed the end of Kučera, being defeated in a five-set contest against Lapentti. This meant that Sampras would not be forfeiting his No. 1 ranking as previously predicted.
The semifinals saw the final seed in the draw, Kafelnikov, progressing past Haas in three sets to reach his first Grand Slam final since 1996. His opponent was Enqvist, who also passed to the final in three sets, defeating Lapentti. The final saw Enqvist win the first set, before Kafelnikov came back to take the next three. Kafelnikov's ranking rose to No. 3 following this tournament, and he became the first Russian tennis player to win the Australian Open.
Championship match result
Yevgeny Kafelnikov defeated Thomas Enqvist, 4–6, 6–0, 6–3, 7–6(7–1)
Women's singles
The seeds of the 1999 Australian Open were led by the previous year's Grand Slam champions. US Open champion Lindsay Davenport was the first seed, Australian Open champion Martina Hingis came second, Wimbledon champion Jana Novotná was third and French Open champion Arantxa Sánchez Vicario was fourth. Following behind came Venus Williams, four-time Australian Open champion Monica Seles, 1995 Australian Open champion Mary Pierce, Patty Schnyder, last year's Australian Open finalist Conchita Martínez, and four-time Australian Open winner Steffi Graf. Dominique Van Roost, Anna Kournikova, Irina Spîrlea, Sandrine Testud, Natasha Zvereva and Amanda Coetzer were also seeded.