Since moving to Melbourne Park in 1988, the Australian Open has been played on hard courts. The tournament had previously been staged on grass, including at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, but its move to the new Flinders Park complex brought a major surface change as well as a larger modern venue.
The first Melbourne Park-era surface was green Rebound Ace, used from 1988 through 2007. It was replaced by blue Plexicushion in 2008, which remained in use through 2019. Since 2020, the tournament has used a blue GreenSet hard-court surface. Although the materials and playing characteristics have changed, all of these surfaces are classified as hard courts.
This history explains a common quiz trap: the Australian Open is associated with grass because of its early decades, but it has not been a grass-court Grand Slam since the move to Melbourne Park. The French Open remains the clay-court major, while Wimbledon is played on grass.
The 1988 venue change also expanded capacity and helped the tournament attract much larger crowds. Mats Wilander won the men's singles title that year, becoming the only player to win the Australian Open on both its grass and hard-court surfaces.