SYDNEY, Oct 11: Sydney is bidding to take the Australian Open tennis away from its long-time Melbourne home, reports said on Saturday.

Melbourne has staged the year’s opening Grand Slam at its Melbourne Park complex since 1988 and drew a record number of 605,735 fans to the fortnight tournament last January.

But Melbourne is being challenged for its Grand Slam status by Shanghai, Dubai and now Sydney when its contract expires in 2016, according to reports.

The Sydney Morning Herald said Sydney’s pitch for the Open tournament included a plan to build a multi-million-dollar stadium at an inner-city harbour site.

Events NSW’s Chief Executive Geoff Parmenter has confirmed Sydney’s interest in the event.

—AFP