Brisbane (ATP 250)

"The Brisbane ATP 250 2026 has concluded. Medvedev claimed the title defeating Nakashima in the final. Below is my original tournament preview."

The Brisbane International was played every year from its inception in 2009 until 2019. After that, the tournament was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and did not return until 2024.

Brisbane is played on Outdoor Hard courts.

The Pat Rafter Arena and Show Courts 1 and 2 have permanent roofs -like giants umbrellas- that stay in place all the time, they do not open or close. This protects players from the sun and light rain, but because the sides are open, heavy wind can still blow rain onto the court. The tournament uses a total of 23 international-standard courts, but only these three main ones are covered; all other outside courts are completely uncovered.

Yesterday the first 12 qualifying matches were played, and in a few minutes the second round of the qualies will start. Also, today (Sunday) the first two main-draw matches will be played: Vukic vs. Tiafoe and Carabelli vs. Tien.

Statistics

These are the Stats for 2024 and 2025 (2-year average):

• 75.3% of points won on the first serve
• 85.7% of service games held
• 0.70 aces/game
• 0.27 tie-breaks/set

 These numbers suggest that Brisbane appears to have some of the fastest conditions on the ATP Tour.

Also, if we take the Tennis Abstract Speed Rating of Brisbane last season, it has a Surface Speed of 1.27, the 10th quickest on the tour. I remind you that the Tennis Abstract Speed Rating is a measure of how the court influences serve effectiveness, built from ace rates that are adjusted for the specific players involved. In simple terms, it tells us how “fast” or “slow” a court plays relative to the tour average (which is set at 1.00). A value above 1.00 means the conditions are favourable for big servers and shorter rallies, while values below 1.00 indicate slower conditions, where returns are more effective and rallies tend to be longer.

 If we consider the tournaments played on outdoor hard courts, Brisbane is definitely in the group of events with the fastest conditions.

Previous winners

2025: Lehecka d. Opelka

2024: Dimitrov d. Rune

Both Dimitrov and Murray have lifted the trohpy twice. Nishikori (2019), Kyrgios (2018), Dimitrov (2017), Raonic (2016) and Federer (2015) were the last 5 winners before the pandemic.

Weather

Brisbane will have a hot and humid week. Daytime temperatures will mostly be between 28 and 31°C (82–88°F), and nights will be around 19–24°C (66–75°F). Winds should be moderate, usually about 15–30 km/h (9–19 mph). Humidity will be high, often 60–80%. There is a chance of showers or thunderstorms at times, but it should not rain all the time.

Here is the link so you can check the weather for each day in Brisbane, hour by hour. This is important, especially during the middle of the day, because knowing the heat and humidity levels helps. When both are high, they add an extra layer of uncertainty to the matches.

Player Statements

Lehecka, 2025: "The tournaments are very well organized, which helps a lot in the early days of the year. Then, along with the balls and the courts. I can't help but feel that Tennis Australia is doing a good job so that all the courts are the same, all the conditions are similar. Whether you arrive in Melbourne, Adelaide, or any other place, you know what to expect. It's good that you can adjust in your mind what kind of things you want to work on in the coming days, weeks. You know you'll have the opportunity to work on it because it won't be like when you arrive elsewhere, the conditions are completely different. That also helps a lot. We'll see how it goes. I like being here."

Safiullin, Jan 2024: It's a fast hard court, and fast balls, so if you can serve well it puts more pressure on your opponent."

Edmund, 2018: “I like the conditions a lot, they really suit my game. If you’re playing aggressively and getting through the court you do get rewarded here.”

Summary

The conditions are extremely fast, and the humidity levels are also very high.

Lehecka, Dimitrov, Opelka and Mpetshi-Perricard in 2025, Rune, Dimitrov, Safiullin, and Thompson in 2024, were the semifinalists in the last 2 editions, what is a clear indicator of just how fast the court are. So this tournament is especially favorable for big servers and powerful hitters.

In this edition we've got Opelka, Kyrgios, Mpetshi, Shapovalov, Humbert... Clearly the tournament tends to attract plenty of big servers.

These are the links to the Brisbane Qualifying Draw and the the Brisbane Main Draw. You can check them at anytime to follow the latest updates and see which players advance in each round.