TENNIS: All eyes on the prizes, Sydney silversmiths deliver for Australian Open

SYDNEY - Exceptional attention to detail is a defining hallmark of any great tennis tournament, something well understood by master silversmith Paul Smith. Smith is responsible for crafting the trophy taken home each year by the Australian Open women’s singles champion.

While the original Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup — awarded to the women’s singles champion since 1934 — remains in Australia, Sydney-based smithery W.J. Sanders produces an exact replica that travels home with the winner.

“It’s not technically an easy trophy to make,” Smith told Reuters. “Its design is quite simple, which means you have to be extremely precise. Its clean silhouette is what makes it such an elegant piece. To me, it’s the epitome of what a trophy should be.”

Smith is one of 10 artisans working behind the scenes in Sydney to craft 150 trophies for the 2026 Australian Open. Their work includes creating an exact replica of the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, awarded to the men’s singles champion at Melbourne Park.

According to General Manager Darren May, the team began working on the trophies even before the 2025 edition of the Grand Slam. Their efforts will culminate when the trophies are presented to champions on Rod Laver Arena early next year.

“When we get to those finals — men’s, women’s, and doubles — and we watch the champions lift their trophies, we remember every hour that went into making them and all the craftsmanship behind each one,” May told Reuters.

The major trophies — men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles — are all handmade from roughly 18 kilograms of silver. Each has an estimated value of at least A$860,000 ($573,534).

The highly specialized skill required to make these trophies is increasingly rare and has been officially listed as an “endangered craft” on Britain’s Heritage Crafts Red List. Despite that, May is committed to preserving the traditional method.

“You can mass-produce trophies, sure,” he said. “But mass production takes the life out of the object. The human touch is something a machine can never replicate.”

Earlier this year, Jannik Sinner lifted the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, while Aryna Sabalenka received the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. Both athletes are set to return to Melbourne from January 18 to February 1, each hoping to add another Australian Open title — and another expertly crafted W.J. Sanders trophy — to their collections. ($1 = 1.4995 Australian dollars) -Cordelia Hsu, additional writing by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford/Reuters