Sorry CPhill, I get a slightly different answer as follows:
It is true that there are 128 matches, but that icludes both men and women.
There are seven rounds in every Slam tournament, including the Australian Open:
First Round, with 128 players (sixty-four matches)
Second Round, with 64 players (thirty-two matches)
Third Round, with 32 players (sixteen matches)
Fourth Round, with 16 players (eight matches)
Quarterfinals, with 8 players (four matches)
Semifinals, with 4 players (two matches)
Final, with the last two players playing for the title
If you add the above number of "matches" NOT "players" you get:
128 - 1 = 127 matches to crown men's champion, and:
128 - 1 = 127 matches to crown women's champion.
In general, if the number of matches is n, then the number of matches to crown the winner
is: n - 1, or 2^R - 1. R for rounds.