The Australian Open awards two named singles trophies. The men’s champion receives the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, while the women’s champion receives the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.
Both perpetual trophies were first awarded in 1934 and honor influential Australian champions. The originals remain in Tennis Australia’s custody, while modern winners receive full-size replicas to keep.
What Is the Men’s Australian Open Trophy Called?
The men’s singles trophy is the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup. It is named after Sir Norman Brookes, an Australian player known as “The Wizard.”
Brookes won the Australasian Championships, the predecessor of the Australian Open, in 1911. He also became the first non-British man to win Wimbledon in 1907 and claimed the title again in 1914.
The Norman Brookes Challenge Cup was financed by Australia’s state tennis associations and made in England. Fred Perry became its first recipient after winning the Australian Championships in 1934.
What Is the Women’s Australian Open Trophy Called?
The women’s singles trophy is the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. It is named after Daphne Akhurst Cozens, who won the Australian Championships singles title five times.
Akhurst’s championships came in 1925, 1926, 1928, 1929 and 1930. She also won multiple Australian women’s and mixed doubles titles before her death in 1933 at age 29.
The sterling-silver cup was donated by the New South Wales Tennis Association. It was first presented in 1934 and was designed as a permanent memorial to one of Australia’s leading early women’s champions.
Why Were the Current Trophies Introduced in 1934?
An earlier tradition allowed a champion to keep a trophy after winning three consecutive titles or five titles in total. Akhurst met the five-title condition, while Jack Crawford completed a men’s hat-trick from 1931 to 1933.
Their achievements left the championships needing new trophies. The permanent Norman Brookes and Daphne Akhurst cups were introduced in 1934, and the practice of allowing a player to win the main trophy outright ended.
This history explains why the cups are both awards and preserved artifacts. Each year’s champion is connected to the same perpetual trophy without removing it permanently from the tournament.
Australian Open Trophy Design
Norman Brookes Challenge Cup Design
The Norman Brookes Challenge Cup is a large silver vessel with two handles, a lid and a broad base. Its design was modeled on an eight-tonne marble vase sculpted in the second century AD, giving the trophy a classical form rather than a tennis-specific shape.
The champions’ names are engraved on the trophy, creating a physical record of the men’s singles event. The original is used during the presentation ceremony before returning to Tennis Australia’s care.
Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup Design
The Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup is an ornate sterling-silver cup with handles and a fitted lid. Tennis imagery is incorporated into the decoration, including paired rackets on the cup and lid.
Like the men’s trophy, it carries the names of champions across generations. Its design is closely tied to Akhurst’s legacy and the history of the Australian women’s championship.
Are the Australian Open Trophies Made of Real Silver?
The perpetual Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup is made of sterling silver, and the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup is also a silver trophy. The modern replicas are handcrafted from Australian silver for presentation to the champions.
For Australian Open 2026, ABC Bullion and Sydney silversmith W.J. Sanders produced the tournament’s trophy suite using Australian precious metal. The work involves specialist silversmithing rather than mass production.
The Daphne Akhurst replica alone has required more than 250 hours of craftsmanship in recent production. It is made to mirror the perpetual cup rather than serving as a smaller souvenir.
Does the Winner Keep the Australian Open Trophy?
The winner lifts the perpetual trophy during the on-court ceremony, but the original remains with Tennis Australia. The champion receives a full-size replica to keep.
This approach protects trophies dating to 1934 while still giving the winner a permanent version of the prize. Earlier champions received smaller replicas, but the modern practice is to present a full-size copy.
The result is sometimes misunderstood in photographs. A player can leave Melbourne with an authentic handcrafted trophy without taking permanent ownership of the historical original.
The Mystery of the Daphne Akhurst Cup’s Missing Lid
The women’s trophy spent roughly a decade without its lid. When the Australian Championships were held in Sydney in 1970 and 1971, the base was sent onward to Melbourne but the lid was left behind.
Several champions, including Evonne Goolagong Cawley during her four-title run from 1974 to 1977, were therefore presented with a lidless cup. The missing piece was eventually found in a cupboard at Sydney’s White City Tennis Stadium around 1982.
The unidentified silver object was matched to the trophy because its paired-racket decoration corresponded with the rackets on the cup. It was returned to Melbourne and reunited with the base.
Who Has Lifted the Trophies Most Often?
Novak Djokovic holds the men’s singles record with 10 Norman Brookes Challenge Cups. His titles came in 2008, 2011 to 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019 to 2021 and 2023.
Margaret Court holds the women’s record with 11 Australian singles titles. Seven came before the Open Era began in 1968, while Serena Williams holds the Open Era women’s record with seven titles.
The trophies therefore connect very different periods of tennis. Their engraved names span amateur championships, the arrival of professional players, the move to Melbourne Park and the modern global event.
Other Australian Open Trophies
The Norman Brookes and Daphne Akhurst cups are the best-known prizes, but the Australian Open awards trophies across many competitions. These include men’s and women’s doubles, mixed doubles, juniors and wheelchair events.
Australian Open 2026 crowned champions in 19 events. Not every trophy follows the same design or bears the name of a historical singles champion.
The broader structure is explained in the guide to types of tennis tournaments, which shows why a Grand Slam contains far more than two singles draws.
How the Australian Open Trophies Compare With Other Majors
Each of the four Grand Slam tournaments has its own trophy traditions. The Australian Open’s distinctive feature is that both singles cups bear the names of major figures from the host nation’s tennis history.
The US Open, by comparison, uses silver singles trophies without naming them after former champions. Its wider development is covered in the US Open history and records guide.
Tournaments also honor champions beyond the presentation ceremony. The US Open Court of Champions is a permanent venue memorial, while the Australian Open’s engraved trophies create a continuing record that returns to the court each year.
Why the Trophy Names Matter
Norman Brookes and Daphne Akhurst were not selected as generic symbols. Both were Australian champions whose careers helped define the national event before it became the modern Australian Open.
Their cups preserve that history while remaining active sporting prizes. Every new champion adds a name to an object first presented in 1934, then receives a carefully made replica that carries the same design into a new generation.