How to watch Australian Open tennis live and for free
Here's how to watch the 2020 Australian Open tennis. You can watch via TV or online for free.
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The 2020 tennis season is underway with the very best men from the ATP Tour and women from the WTA Tour in Melbourne fighting for the championship. It's a tournament of great intrigue, too. We're really coming to the twilight of Rafael Nadal's and Roger Federer's respective careers. This will likely be Australian fans' final chance to see the two be a real Grand Slam contender Down Under.
Novak Djokovic is without a doubt the odds-on favourite and he deserves to be. He dominated during the ATP Cup defeating both Daniil Medvedev and Nadal, both Australian Open contenders, giving Serbia the first ever trophy. Then there's Nick Kyrgios. Once largely despised by the country he's now far more lauded, especially after his stance on raising money for the bushfire appeal.
Keeping on the Australian front Bernard Tomic didn't qualify, while youngster Alex de Minaur has withdrawn through injury. Luckily Australia can call world number one Ash Barty its own. She likely will have the weight of the nation on her shoulders, but is a proven superstar.
Standing in Barty's way is Serena Williams, searching for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.
But enough with the talking, let's get to the watching. Where can you live stream the Australian Open?
How to watch the Australian Open
Last year marked the first year that Channel 9 broadcast the Australian Open. That will continue once more this year with exclusive broadcast rights. Channel 9 will show the Australian Open not just on free-to-air TV, but also online via 9Now.
Be sure to check out our Australian Open hub page for everything from tickets, travel, fashion and more. Or jump straight our Aus Open schedule to find out who's playing tonight.
Watch Australian Open on TV
When it comes to watching on free-to-air, Channel 9 will be utilising both Nine and Gem channels to show Australian Open matches. It's worth noting though that only having two channels available to broadcast the tennis means not every match will be shown.
Stream Australian Open online
9Now is the real home of the Australian Open, as it will have access to every single court. So if your favourite tennis player isn't one of the big names, they'll likely be bumped to a smaller court which is likely to be shunned for TV schedule, meaning you'll have to watch via 9Now.
You need to sign up to 9Now in order to stream live tennis, but that process is free. And 9Now offers all four of Channel 9's broadcasts in one spot. So that's Nine, Nine Gem, Nine Go and Nine Life. It's available on just about every format, too.
You can get it through mobiles and tablets (so iOS and Android) and through your PC or Mac via any browser. You can also stream it to your TV via Apple TV, Chromecast, Telstra TV, Fetch TV, Freeview Plus or a PS4 video game console. A native app can also be found on recent model Sony, LG, Samsung and Android TVs.
The only problem with 9Now is that it isn't a specialist sports broadcaster. So unlike Kayo Sports, which has special features like SplitView allowing you to watch four sports at once, with the Nine Network you'll be limited to a single match at at time.
Where to stream more tennis in 2020
Once the Australian Open has crowned its champions, tennis fans can begin looking forward to other events. Unfortunately, the broadcast landscape for all the other tennis tournaments through the year isn't as clear-cut. We have a detailed article breaking down how to watch all the year's tennis, but long story short, your most comprehensive option is Kayo Sports which has over 50 sports.
Kayo Sports offers the best bang for buck in general, but it also showcases Fox Sports, ESPN and beIN SPORTS channels. They're all streamed alongside some sports-specific features, to pretty much every major device. As these channels between them cover the majority of the year's tennis, you're unlikely to miss much with this option.
Main image: ATP Tour
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