The Kooyong Classic is a professional tennis exhibition singles-only tournament, played on outdoor hard courts.
The tournament's success increased during the Colonial-sponsored years, and started to attract more and more international players, outside of the Australian constituency, as it became the most important warm-up event to the first Grand Slam of the season –the only one to be held in the same city as the Open, in Melbourne.
The first non-Australian champion was crowned in 1991, when Australian Open quarterfinalist Goran Prpić from Croatia defeated Richard Fromberg for the title, and the first all-foreign final came in 1993, with eventual World No.
[13] The next year, the Colonial Classic was held in mid-January one, just before the 1995 Australian Open, and switched from grass to hard courts, to make the playing conditions closer to that of the Rebound Ace-surfaced Grand Slam tournament.
Agassi became the most successful player at the event after his 1998 runner-up finish, reaching five more finals consecutively from 2000 to 2004 (beating Philippoussis in 2000, Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 2001 and Sébastien Grosjean in 2003).
[12] Different ways to improve the tournament studied by promoter Colin Stubs include lengthening it beyond four days (despite Roddick's withdrawal in 2009, due to the three-match format already being "too taxing" according to the American[16]), reviving the short-lived women's event, or allowing retired players to compete.
In men's singles, Michael Chang (1995–97), Andre Agassi (2000–01, 2003) and Andy Roddick (2006–08) co-hold the record for most titles with three victories each.