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read moreAustralia’s largest competitive gaming event, the Fortnite Summer Smash at Australian Open will return to Melbourne Park from on 1st and 2nd February 2020.
Expanding to a two-days next year, the Fortnite Summer Smash will take place during finals weekend and will feature a $100,000 Charity ProAm on the Saturday followed by the $400,000 solos championship tournament on the Sunday.
The inaugural Summer Smash at Australian Open 2019 saw big names including Lazarbeam, Lachlan, Dr Lupo, Vikkstar, Loserfruit, MrFreshAsian, Muselk and Valkyrae team up with local electronic-duo Peking Duk, Dave Hughes and Nick Kyrgios in the celebrity ProAm.
One of Australia’s top competitive Fortnite players X2Twins Jesse took out the main prize, earning more than $100,000 in front of a packed crowd at Margaret Court Arena.
Players from around the world will be invited to participate in the $400,000 solos tournament, with the final field for the ProAm Charity and the championship tournaments to be revealed in January.
Explaining the Australian Open’s increasingly diverse offering, Tournament Director, Craig Tiley stated “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.”
Tennis Australia Event Organiser, Mark Riedy added “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.”
More than 1500 Fortnite gamers from around Australia registered within 10 minutes for the chance to take part in qualifying for the 2019 Fortnite Summer Smash
The event generated 11.3 million YouTube views across dozens of videos and creators from around the world as well as more than 100,000 consecutive views across all streamed channels.
The Australian Open 2020 will take place at Melbourne Park from 20th January to 2nd February next year.
Images from the 2019 Fortnite Summer Smash courtesy of Tennis Australia.
7th December 2019 - Olympic Summit encourages international sporting bodies to explore esport opportunities
25th October 2019 - Footprint of Australian Open set to expand in 2020
16th September 2019 - NRL partners with esports media company to evolve Grand Final week
9th September 2019 - Latest stage of Melbourne Park redevelopment now complete
9th September 2019 - Fortress Esports announces plans to develop Southern Hemisphere’s largest esports venue in Melbourne
30th August 2019 - MotoGP eSport continues to expand
15th August 2019 - Gfinity Esports Australia to close
2nd August 2019 - Money In Esports Summit coming to Sydney
25th July 2019 - Tennis Australia to change hardcourt surface for Australian Open
27th June 2019 - China esports market value to hit US$1.9 billion this year
31st May 2019 - New guide explores the future of esports venues
16th May 2019 - Lendlease appointed to manage Stage 3 redevelopment of Melbourne Park
29th January 2019 - Record 780,000 fans share the excitement of the 2019 Australian Open
25th January 2019 - Virtual and Augmented reality experiences created for tennis fans at the Australian Open 2019
10th January 2019 - Melbourne Park ready for 2019 Australian Open
29th December 2018 - New Australian Open extreme heat policy to allow 10-minute breaks in men’s matches
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