The Australian Open – a professional tennis showcase – will host a Fortnite tournament at the event in Melbourne Park on February 1st-2nd.
The Fortnite Summer Smash will make its return to the Grand Slam tennis tournament after last year’s showing at the Australian Open 2019 in January.
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Similar to last year, the event will feature a Pro-Am charity competition with $100,000 AUD (£52,643) in prize winnings as well as a $400,000 AUD (£210,572) Fortnite solos bout slated for February 2nd.
Craig Tiley, Tournament Director of Australian Open commented on the event in a release: “We’re excited to build on the success of the Fortnite Summer Smash by expanding it to a two-day event held during the finals weekend of Australian Open 2020. Each year we look for ways to make the Australian Open bigger and new opportunities to attract more people to our events. The Fortnite Summer Smash will again see some of the biggest gamers from around the world do battle just hours before the world’s tennis players compete for the AO title.”
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The Fortnite Summer Smash will look to build upon the success of last year’s edition, which is said to have generated over 11.3 million views on YouTube and attracted 1,500 competitors from around Australia.
Mark Reidy, Event Organiser at Tennis Australia spoke to the compayn’s ambitions of another successful showing: “Our first event was a huge success and something all of the competitors and fans enjoyed. It was great to be able to host some of the world’s biggest names in gaming and we look forward to welcoming a similar caliber of players back for the fans again in 2020. To host Australia’s biggest event in competitive gaming during one of the major sporting events in the world is pretty special and shows our continued investment in promoting Australian players to the world.”
Esports Insider says: The Australian Open is one of the most prestigious tennis events on the yearly calendar. Also referred to as majors (there’s some esports parallel there), the Grand Slam events are said to boast the highest prize winnings, media attention, and prestige. Nonetheless, it’s impressive to see Fortnite making its return to the Australian Open for the second year in succession.