January 29 -31: The Australian Open in Melbourne

Melbourne has a sports-mad calendar and January sees it play host to the first tennis Grand Slam event of the year, the Australian Open. And this weekend -- our last 52 Weekender for January -- it's finals time on Melbourne Park's show courts.

Fingers crossed you can find a ticket... Regardless, Melbourne-based boutique hotel specialists Mr & Mrs Smith told us how to get the most out of an Open weekend, including the best places to play, eat and stay.

Courtside

Head for Melbourne Park, on the north bank of the Yarra River just east of the city’s CBD (Central Business District), where the Open holds court. Pick up tickets for day or evening sessions from the grounds or from any Ticketek agency (book online at ticketek.com.au/australianopen; 1300 888 104; tel: +61 (0)2 8736 2711) or try your luck at on-site box offices. You’ll pay more for tickets to the glam Rod Laver or Hisense arenas, where the top games (and big finals) are staged, with prices increasing as the Open winds down.

If you’d rather not be tied to one court, you can float around the whole park with a cheaper ground pass (A$19, 27-31 January; A$20 after 5pm), which excludes the two major arenas but takes in a host of smaller ones, as well as the sociable new Grand Slam Oval with its giant video screens and mix of bars, food stands, live bands and DJs. Celebrate in the Jacob’s Creek Wine Bar when your fave player wins; commiserate with pals in the Heineken Beer Garden if they lose.

Dress appropriately -- temperatures often top 35 degrees Celsius -- and beat the heat with an Evian Spa ice massage or chill out in the ANZ Ice Cube room. There’s even retail therapy on tap at the Lacoste Clubhouse if you’re more interested in pastel polo shirts than hitting balls with rackets. For a kitsch souvenir, you too can be a star at the Australian Tennis Magazine’s photo booth, where you can mock up a cover shot of yourself as a trophy-toting champ.

South Yarra's Lyall Hotel and Spa

Love match (or where to bed down in style)

For a chic boutique hotel within a tennis ball’s lob of the sporting action, book into the Lyall Hotel and Spa, in designer shopping district South Yarra (from A$360 for a double room). Alongside spacious contemporary Asian suites, there’s a sexy champagne bar, as well as a seductive spa for unwinding (Gwen Stefani is just one of its past celeb guests). You can enjoy a satisfying work-out with your credit card thanks to the Lyall’s exclusive Shopping Privilege Card, which gives guests 10 per cent off at over 20 hand-picked local stores. For a more intimate option, stay at four-room Villa Donati in leafy Richmond, an opulent Victorian townhouse with a bohemian, vintage feel (from A$255 for a double room, including breakfast.) Book online for both at www.mrandmrssmith.com.

Off-court action (what’s the score?)

Get your bearings at the vertiginous 92-story Eureka Tower at Southbank, Melbourne’s tallest building, which offers 360-degree views. Then descend to one of this green city’s gorgeous parks: relaxing Fitzroy Gardens is a five-minute walk from the Open grounds. Upscale Chapel Street and Toorak Road are the must-visit shopping drags nearby (try Aussie fashion stores Mimco, Alannah Hill, Collette Dinnigan or Scanlan & Theodore) or head to the CBD for department store shopping and niche brands on Little Collins Street or Flinders Lane. Melbourne’s GPO, a glam renovated post office on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Streets, boasts international and local labels.

What the best bars and restaurants are serving

The CBD is also where Melbourne serves up some of its finest food and drink. Stop by at informal Cumulus Inc [45 Flinders Lane; tel: +61 (0)3 9650 1445] for a smashing breakfast, the best oysters in Australia or a succulent lamb shoulder. Offering gourmet treats and a cool vibe, MoVida is one of the city’s top Spanish restaurants [1 Hosier Lane; tel: +61 (0)3 9663 3038]. A restaurant, cocktail lounge and bar over three levels, Seamstress [113 Lonsdale Street; tel: + 61 (0)3 9663 6363] has the funky Asian food and cool cocktail market all sewn up. Housed in an old underwear factory-turned-brothel, it dishes up quirky, clever menus and fun decor. The basement Sweatshop club has live DJs.