Okay so you know how I always catch highlights from the Australian Open? Well one match last month, I noticed players constantly grabbing these cool-looking towels courtside. Bright, big, you know? Honestly looked super practical – way bigger than my sad gym rag. Got me thinking… yeah, I need one of those proper tennis towels. Wanna know what happened next?
First move? Googling ‘Australian Open Tennis Towel’. Obvious, right? Tons of pictures popped up, but wow was it confusing. Official stores, random sport sites, even listings from overseas – no clear ‘buy here’ button. Felt like chasing my tail.
Figured official stuff usually comes straight from the source. Jumped onto the Australian Open official shop site. Scrolled… and scrolled. Gear everywhere – shirts, hats, balls – but towels? Nada. Zip. Big bummer. Searched specifically for ‘towel’ on their site. Nothing useful came up. Total miss. Felt kinda ripped off, honestly.
Time for Plan B. Headed over to a huge online retailer – that place everyone uses for everything. Typed it in again. Boom! Finally saw some. But wait… were they the real tournament towels? Or just tennis-themed junk? Had to squint at the pics:
- Aussie Grand Slam Tour Towel: Looked kinda similar? Blue and yellow stripes. But felt like a generic sports towel pretending to be official. Sketchy.
- AO Court Essential Absorbent Towel: Description screamed ‘big event’, used AO branding… but wasn’t actually labeled ‘Australian Open’. Weird.
- Melbourne Park Fan Towel: Bingo! This one directly mentioned “Australian Open” and had a little tourney logo on the image. Price jumped out though. That plus shipping? Yikes.
Btw, price hit me hard. Still sore from my old startup folding last year, so even “reasonably priced” feels steep. This AO branded towel? Felt like paying extra for fancy thread.
Anyways, remembered Nike makes gear for players sometimes. Zipped over to the Nike site. Searched ‘Australian Open towel’. Results? Zero towels. Just shoes, shirts, shorts – the usual. Did a wider ‘tennis towel’ search. Lots popped up, mostly plain ones or with the big Nike swoosh. None screamed AO vibe. Big miss.
Also poked around Adidas and a few other big sport sites. Same deal: either no towels, or boring generic gym towels. Maybe you could imagine Rafa wiping down with one? But probably not. Total bust.
Got frustrated and searched again, adding ‘fan towel’ and ‘merchandise’. Found listings on other general retail sites:
- Big Sports Retailer A: Had the ‘Melbourne Park Fan Towel’ listed. Price was high, stock looked low. Colors? Only blue/white was available. Meh.
- Big Retailer B: Actually called it “Australian Open Tournament Towel”. Looked right! But… unavailable. Literally grayed out. Ugh.
- Small Tennis Specialist Site: Found a cool bright yellow one! Described as “used at major tournaments”. Promising… but no mention of the AO anywhere. Couldn’t risk it. Passed.
So what’s the verdict? Finding a legit, in-stock Australian Open tournament towel is a massive hassle.
- Official shop? Nope.
- Major sports brands? Nope.
- Big online retailers? Maybe, kinda, if you squint and get lucky with stock/price.
Bottom line? If you really want one marked Australian Open, prepare for a wild goose chase online. Might have to settle for paying too much or grabbing a ‘maybe’ AO towel from the big retailers. Still bummed – thought this would be simple. Ended up stressing over towels for like two hours. At least my current gym rag got extra sweaty while I researched… silver lining?
