The 1977 Australian Open (December) was a tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 tournament played on outdoor grass courts

Grass court

A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Grass courts are made of rye grass in different compositions depending on the tournament...

 in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The tournament was held from 19 to 31 December 1977. Due to a scheduling change two Australian Open's took place in 1977 with the first taking place in January

1977 Australian Open (January)

The 1977 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The tournament was held from 3 to 9 January 1977. Due to a scheduling change two Australian Open's took place in 1977 with the second taking place in December.-Men's singles: Roscoe...

.

Men's singles

 United States Vitas Gerulaitis

Vitas Gerulaitis

Vytautas Kevin Gerulaitis was a Lithuanian–American professional tennis player. He is known for winning the men's singles title at one of the two Australian Open tournaments held in 1977. Gerulaitis won the tournament held in December, while Roscoe Tanner won the earlier January tournament...

def.  United Kingdom John Lloyd, 6–3, 7–6, 5–7, 3–6, 6–2.

• It was Gerulaitis's 1st (and only) career Grand Slam title.

Women's singles

 Australia Evonne Goolagong Cawley def.  Australia Helen Gourlay Cawley, 6–3, 6–0.

• It was Goolagong Cawley's 4th career Grand Slam title.

Men's doubles

 Australia Ray Ruffels

Ray Ruffels

Ray Ruffels is a former professional tennis player.Ruffels was an Australian Open semi-finalist in 1969 and 1975, and a quarter-finalist in 1968, 1970 and 1977....

/  Australia Allan Stone

Allan Stone

----Allan Stone played amateur and professional tennis in the 1960s and 1970s. He was ranked as high as World No. 38 in singles on the ATP Rankings , although Stone played for many years before the ATP Rankings were instituted.Stone found the majority of his success on the doubles court...

def.  Australia John Alexander /  Australia Phil Dent

Phil Dent

Phillip "Phil" Dent, born on 14 February 1950, in Sydney, Australia, is a former professional tennis player. Dent's high water mark as a pro singles player was reaching the Australian Open final in 1974, which he lost to Jimmy Connors 7–6, 6–4, 4–6, 6–3...

, 7–6, 7–6.

Women's doubles

 Australia Evonne Goolagong Cawley /  Australia Helen Gourlay Cawley vs.  Australia Mona Schallau Guerrant /  Australia Kerry Melville Reid, shared due to rained out final.