The first of the great sporting institutions of the year, the Australian Open tennis championships celebrate their 114th anniversary in 2019... with prize money at Melbourne Park up 10 per cent on 2018 to A$60.5 million and a brand new 'player pod', part of ongoing redevelopment work that offers players the best training and treatment facilities.

Yes, it's come a long way since 1905, when Rodney Heath was crowned the tournament's first champion. Since then a host of legends of the game have fought for supremacy at the venue, with 104 names going on the men's trophy since its inception... allowing for the years missed during the global conflicts from 1916-18 and 1941-45, plus 1986 when the tournament skipped a year due to date changes.

Top among those names are Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Roy Emerson... each claiming the title on six occasions, with Australian Emerson establishing the longest run of consecutive wins from 1963-67.

This year it will be Federer and Serbian Djokovic going head to head to nose in front of Emerson, whose six titles came back in the days when the sport was still a strictly amateur affair.

Swiss titan and defending champion Federer probably goes into the tournament a slight favourite to make it three titles in a row at Melbourne having beaten Croatia's Marin Cilic 6-2 6-7 6-3 3-6 6-1 in last year's final, following his 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3 win against Spain's Rafael Nadal the previous year. The in-form Djokovic last won the title in 2016, when he beat Britain's Andy Murray 6-1 7-5 7-6.

But as the championship gets more competitive than ever, it's hard to predict whose name will be next to go on the trophy.

Some of the former legends listed are Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, Guillermo Vilas, John Newcombe, Jimmy Connors, Ken Rosewall, Arthur Ashe, Rod Laver and Lew Hoad.... and that's just since 1946 when the tournament resumed after World War II.

In truth you can't claim to be one of the sports true greats if you haven't won in Melbourne, one of the four Grand Slam tournaments along with Wimbledon, the US Open and the French Open.

Defending the women's singles title will be Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, who won her maiden Grand Slam at Melbourne Park last year by beating Simona Halep of Romania 7-6 3-6 6-4.

The first ever women's champion was Margaret Molesworth in 1922, the Queenslander going on to repeat the feat a year later.

The most women's titles have been won by Margaret Court, the Australian winning 11 times... seven before the 'open era' and four after.

She won the last of her titles in 1973, since then Serena Williams of the US has gone on to be crowned champion seven times, the most since the sport turned professional.

This year Serena returns to the site of her last Grand Slam title, where she beat sister Venus in the 2017 final.

Court also holds the record for most consecutive wins, seven from 1960-66. In the open era she won three championships and is tied with Evonne Cawley, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Martina Hingis.

For more information about the Australian Open which runs from 14-27 January 2019 at Melbourne Park visit the website.