2016 Australian Open

Spectator safety became a major issue during the tournament, with up to four separate cases reported:

• On Day 2, play was suspended during the fourth set of Bernard Tomic's first round match against Denis Istomin for 20 minutes after an elderly spectator collapsed due to heat stress; she was subsequently treated with an EpiPen and taken away from Hisense Arena.[9]
• On Day 4, Ana Ivanovic's second round match against Anastasija Sevastova was interrupted in the first set when another elderly spectator fell down a set of stairs, delaying play by 25 minutes.[10]
• On Day 6, in the most serious case, Ivanovic was again involved in a match that had to be suspended, after her coach Nigel Sears suffered a heart attack during the second set of her match against Madison Keys. Sears, who is the father-in-law of Andy Murray, had to be stretchered out of the stands and play on Rod Laver Arena was suspended for an hour. Having led by a set and a break at the time, Ivanovic proceeded to lose the match in three sets. Sears was later taken to hospital where he eventually made a full recovery.[11]
• On Day 7, Sam Groth's mother fell down a set of stairs on Hisense Arena during the second set of her son and Lleyton Hewitt's doubles match against Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil, causing play to be suspended by 20 minutes. She was later able to walk out of the court unassisted.[12]

On 7 March 2016, five weeks after the conclusion of the tournament, world number seven Maria Sharapova announced at a press conference in Los Angeles that she had failed a drug test following her quarter-final defeat by Serena Williams on 26 January. Sharapova confessed to taking the substance meldonium, which was placed on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances on 1 January; she was later suspended for two years (later reduced to fifteen months on appeal), backdated to 26 January, and was subsequently docked the $A375,000 she earned for reaching the quarter-finals.[13][14][15]

Below is a series of tables for each of the competitions showing the ranking points on offer for each event.

The Australian Open total prize money for 2016 was increased by four million Australian dollars to tournament record A$44,000,000.

¹Qualifiers prize money was also the Round of 128 prize money.
*per team

• Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray, 6–1, 7–5, 7–6^(7–3)

Djokovic and Murray had faced one another 30 times prior to the final, with Djokovic victorious on 21 occasions. Murray had lost four Australian Open finals, three times to Djokovic, while the Serb had won the title five times. After an even first game, Djokovic broke Murray twice to lead 5–0, before Murray held. Djokovic took the winning game to secure the first set 6–1 in 30 minutes. The second set went with serve until Djokovic broke Murray to lead 4–3. The Scot broke back immediately and held his serve, but Djokovic broke in the eleventh game, then went on to hold serve, taking the second set 7–5. Djokovic broke the Murray serve in the first game of the third set, but Murray broke back to restore parity in the set at 3–3. The subsequent games went with serve and sent the set to a tie-break. Djokovic led 3–0 and 6–1 before finally securing the championship victory by three sets to love, with a 7–3 tie-break victory.[16]

• Angelique Kerber defeated Serena Williams, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4

Going into the final, Kerber and Williams had faced each other six times with Williams holding a 5–1 advantage. Kerber broke Williams in the third game of the first set with Williams breaking back to make it 3–3. Kerber immediately broke back and held serve to win the first set 6–4. Williams took advantage of the third of three break points in the fourth game of the second set, the remainder of the set going with serve, leveling the match at one set all. Kerber broke Williams in the second game of the final set, but Williams immediately broke back and held her own serve to level the deciding set at 2–2. Another break for Kerber saw her leading 5–2 but Williams broke back once again, taking the set to 5–4 to Kerber. A cross-court exchange described as "breathtaking" saw Williams hit the ball long, securing the title for Kerber.[17]

• Jamie Murray / Bruno Soares defeated Daniel Nestor / Radek Štěpánek, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5

• Martina Hingis / Sania Mirza defeated Andrea Hlaváčková / Lucie Hradecká, 7–6^(7–1), 6–3

• Elena Vesnina / Bruno Soares defeated Coco Vandeweghe / Horia Tecău, 6–4, 4–6, [10–5]

• Oliver Anderson defeated Jurabek Karimov, 6–2, 1–6, 6–1

• Vera Lapko defeated Tereza Mihalíková, 6–3, 6–4

• Alex De Minaur / Blake Ellis defeated Lukáš Klein / Patrik Rikl, 3–6, 7–5, [12–10]

• Anna Kalinskaya / Tereza Mihalíková defeated Dayana Yastremska / Anastasia Zarytska, 6–1, 6–1

• Jonas Björkman / Thomas Johansson defeated Thomas Enqvist / Magnus Norman, 4–3^(5–4), 1–4, 4–3^(5–3)

• Gordon Reid defeated Joachim Gérard, 7–6^(9–7), 6–4

• Jiske Griffioen defeated Aniek van Koot, 6–3, 7–5

• Dylan Alcott defeated David Wagner, 6–2, 6–2

• Stéphane Houdet / Nicolas Peifer defeated Gordon Reid / Shingo Kunieda, 6–3, 3–6, 7–5

• Marjolein Buis / Yui Kamiji defeated Jiske Griffioen / Aniek van Koot, 6–2, 6–2

• Lucas Sithole / David Wagner defeated Dylan Alcott / Andrew Lapthorne, 6–1, 6–3

Seed	Rank	Player	Points Before	Points defending	Points won	Points After	Status
1	1	Novak Djokovic	16,790	2,000	2,000	16,790	Champion, defeated Andy Murray [2]
2	2	Andy Murray	8,945	1,200	1,200	8,945	Runner-up, lost to Novak Djokovic [1]
3	3	Roger Federer	8,165	90	720	8,795	Semifinals lost to Novak Djokovic [1]
4	4	Stan Wawrinka	6,865	720	180	6,325	Fourth round lost to Milos Raonic [13]
5	5	Rafael Nadal	5,230	360	10	4,880	First round lost to Fernando Verdasco
6	6	Tomáš Berdych	4,560	720	360	4,200	Quarterfinals lost to Roger Federer [3]
7	7	Kei Nishikori	4,235	360	360	4,235	Quarterfinals lost to Novak Djokovic [1]
8	8	David Ferrer	4,145	180	360	4,325	Quarterfinals lost to Andy Murray [2]
9	10	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	2,725	0	180	2,905	Fourth round lost to Kei Nishikori [7]
10	11	John Isner	2,495	90	180	2,585	Fourth round lost to David Ferrer [8]
11	12	Kevin Anderson	2,475	180	10	2,305	First round retired vs. Rajeev Ram
12	13	Marin Čilić	2,405	0	90	2,495	Third round lost to Roberto Bautista Agut [24]
13	14	Milos Raonic	2,270	360	720	2,630	Semifinals lost to Andy Murray [2]
14	15	Gilles Simon	2,145	90	180	2,235	Fourth round lost to Novak Djokovic [1]
15	16	David Goffin	1,835	45	180	1,970	Fourth round lost to Roger Federer [3]
16	17	Bernard Tomic	1,720	180	180	1,720	Fourth round lost to Andy Murray [2]
17	18	Benoît Paire	1,703	27	10	1,686	First round lost to Noah Rubin [WC]
18	19	Feliciano López	1,690	180	90	1,600	Third round lost to John Isner [10]
19	20	Dominic Thiem	1,645	10	90	1,725	Third round lost to David Goffin [15]
20	23	Fabio Fognini	1,515	10	10	1,515	First round lost to Gilles Müller
21	26	Viktor Troicki	1,475	90	90	1,475	Third round lost to Milos Raonic [13]
22	24	Ivo Karlović	1,485	45	10	1,450	First round retired vs. Federico Delbonis
23	25	Gaël Monfils	1,485	45	360	1,800	Quarterfinals lost to Milos Raonic [13]
24	21	Roberto Bautista Agut	1,640	45	180	1,775	Fourth round lost to Tomáš Berdych [6]
25	22	Jack Sock	1,525	0	45	1,570	Second round lost to Lukáš Rosol
26	27	Guillermo García-López	1,430	180	90	1,340	Third round lost to Kei Nishikori [7]
27	28	Grigor Dimitrov	1,420	180	90	1,330	Third round lost to Roger Federer [3]
28	29	Andreas Seppi	1,290	180	90	1,200	Third round lost to Novak Djokovic [1]
29	30	Nick Kyrgios	1,260	360	90	990	Third round lost to Tomáš Berdych [6]
30	31	Jérémy Chardy	1,255	45	45	1,255	Second round lost to Andrey Kuznetsov
31	32	Steve Johnson	1,240	90	90	1,240	Third round lost to David Ferrer [8]
32	33	João Sousa	1,191	90	90	1,191	Third round lost to Andy Murray [2]

The following player would have been seeded, but he withdrew from the event.

Rank	Player	Points Before	Points defending	Points After	Withdrawal reason
9	Richard Gasquet	2,850	90	2,760	Back injury[18]

Seed	Rank	Player	Points Before	Points defending	Points won	Points After	Status
1	1	Serena Williams	9,945	2,000	1,300	9,245	Runner-up, lost to Angelique Kerber [7]
2	2	Simona Halep	5,965	430	10	5,545	First round lost to Zhang Shuai [Q]
3	3	Garbiñe Muguruza	5,101	240	130	4,991	Third round lost to Barbora Strýcová
4	4	Agnieszka Radwańska	4,670	240	780	5,210	Semifinals lost to Serena Williams [1]
5	5	Maria Sharapova	4,542	1,300	430	3,672	Quarterfinals lost to Serena Williams [1]
6	7	Petra Kvitová	3,642	130	70	3,582	Second round lost to Daria Gavrilova
7	6	Angelique Kerber	3,710	10	2,000	5,700	Champion, defeated Serena Williams [1]
8	10	Venus Williams	3,511	430	10	3,091	First round lost to Johanna Konta
9	12	Karolína Plíšková	3,090	130	130	3,090	Third round lost to Ekaterina Makarova [21]
10	11	Carla Suárez Navarro	3,175	10	430	3,595	Quarterfinals lost to Agnieszka Radwańska [4]
11	14	Timea Bacsinszky	2,954	130	70	2,894	Second round lost to Annika Beck
12	13	Belinda Bencic	3,030	10	240	3,260	Fourth round lost vs. Maria Sharapova [5]
13	15	Roberta Vinci	2,825	70	130	2,885	Third round lost to Anna-Lena Friedsam
14	16	Victoria Azarenka	2,745	240	430	2,935	Quarterfinals lost to Angelique Kerber [7]
15	17	Madison Keys	2,600	780	240	2,060	Fourth round lost to Zhang Shuai [Q]
16	18	Caroline Wozniacki	2,571	70	10	2,511	First round lost to Yulia Putintseva
17	19	Sara Errani	2,525	130	10	2,405	First round lost to Margarita Gasparyan
18	21	Elina Svitolina	2,465	130	70	2,405	Second round lost to Naomi Osaka [Q]
19	22	Jelena Janković	2,445	10	70	2,505	Second round lost to Laura Siegemund
20	23	Ana Ivanovic	2,341	10	130	2,461	Third round lost to Madison Keys [15]
21	24	Ekaterina Makarova	2,300	780	240	1,760	Fourth round lost to Johanna Konta
22	25	Andrea Petkovic	2,230	10	10	2,230	First round lost to Elizaveta Kulichkova
23	20	Svetlana Kuznetsova	2,475	10	70	2,535	Second round lost to Kateryna Bondarenko
24	26	Sloane Stephens	1,965	10	10	1,965	First round lost to Wang Qiang [Q]
25	27	Samantha Stosur	1,935	70	10	1,875	First round lost to Kristýna Plíšková [Q]
26	28	Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova	1,880	10	10	1,880	First round lost to Lauren Davis
27	29	Anna Karolína Schmiedlová	1,875	70	10	1,815	First round lost to Daria Kasatkina
28	30	Kristina Mladenovic	1,725	70	130	1,785	Third round lost to Daria Gavrilova
29	31	Irina-Camelia Begu	1,630	240	10	1,400	First round lost to Johanna Larsson
30	32	Sabine Lisicki	1,622	10	70	1,682	Second round lost to Denisa Allertová
31	35	Lesia Tsurenko	1,398	10	10	1,398	First round lost to Varvara Lepchenko
32	34	Caroline Garcia	1,420	130	10	1,300	First round lost to Barbora Strýcová

The following players would have been seeded, but they withdrew or not entered from the event.

Rank	Player	Points Before	Points defending	Points After	Withdrawal reason
8	Flavia Pennetta	3,621	10	3,611	Retirement from tennis
9	Lucie Šafářová	3,590	10	3,580	Bacterial infection[19]

Team		Rank1	Seed
Sania Mirza	Ivan Dodig	7	1
Bethanie Mattek-Sands	Bob Bryan	7	2
Chan Yung-jan	Rohan Bopanna	16	3
Katarina Srebotnik	Jamie Murray	23	4
Elena Vesnina	Bruno Soares	30	5
Lucie Hradecká	Marcin Matkowski	33	6
Raquel Atawo	Raven Klaasen	39	7
Chan Hao-ching	Max Mirnyi	41	8

• ¹ Rankings were as of 18 January 2016.