The first decision is the session
The Australian Open sells day and night tickets separately, and on Rod Laver Arena they are genuinely two different events. A day session buys you into the arena for a set of afternoon matches; a night session buys you a different, later set under lights. One ticket does not carry over into the other, so before anything else, decide which slice of the day you actually want to be there for.
Day sessions: more tennis, more sun
A Rod Laver Arena day session typically starts around 11am and works through three matches, and your ticket also functions as your pass to everything else happening on the grounds that day. That is the appeal: you can duck out to the outside courts between matches and catch players up close on a first-come basis, then come back for the next match on Rod Laver. It is the best value ticket type and the one that shows you the most tennis. It is also the session you feel the Melbourne summer the most, so plan for full sun exposure across an afternoon.
Night sessions: the signature Melbourne experience
The night session, usually two matches starting in the early evening, is what most people picture when they picture the Australian Open: Rod Laver Arena under lights, the temperature dropping out of the day’s heat, a crowd that gets louder as the night goes on. It is fewer matches than a day session but a bigger occasion, and the best night sessions in the second week sell out first. If you are choosing one ticket for a first trip, this is usually it.
Ground pass versus a reserved arena seat
- A ground pass gets you onto the grounds and the outside courts, where you find a seat rather than reserve one. It does not get you into Rod Laver Arena or Margaret Court Arena.
- A reserved arena ticket, for Rod Laver or Margaret Court, guarantees your seat for that specific session. Margaret Court Arena is reserved seating for every session, day and night, with no ground-pass-style entry.
- A day-session arena ticket doubles as a ground pass for the rest of that day, which makes it the most flexible single-ticket option if you want both a marquee match and the freedom to roam.
Respect the heat
January in Melbourne can run into the mid-30s Celsius and beyond, and the tournament’s extreme heat policy exists for a reason: outside-court play can be suspended and the retractable roofs on the show courts can close once conditions cross a set threshold on the tournament’s heat scale. If you are booking a day session, plan for full sun for several hours, hydrate hard, and use the covered concourses between matches. Night sessions are a different climate entirely and far easier on anyone who has not built up a tolerance for Australian summer heat.
So which should you buy?
- You want the atmosphere everyone talks about: a night session on Rod Laver Arena.
- You want the most matches for your money and don’t mind the sun: a day session, which also works as your ground pass for the day.
- You want a guaranteed seat without the Rod Laver price tag: a Margaret Court Arena reserved ticket.
- You want to build a full day around the tennis: pair a day session with the outside courts in the morning, then a night session if your trip allows for both.
Melbourne in January is a genuinely different trip depending on which sessions you hold, and the good ones move fast once the draw is out. If you want help sorting day from night and building the days around it, that is exactly what we do on the Australian Open page.