Australian tennis player Jordan Thompson has criticised the Australian Open as the “wokest tournament ever” in an outburst after a change in seating policy, but later admitted he should not have used the word.
Under the new rule, which came into effect this year, spectators can enter the arena and take seats between games. Traditionally, fans were only allowed to do so every second game when there was a change of ends.
The decision has stirred controversy in the tennis community, with some tennis players taking aim at the rule.
One of them is Jordan Thompson, who expressed his frustration as he waited for spectators to find their seats on Jan. 15.
The world no. 47 was leading fellow Australian player Aleksandar Vukic in the second game and was prepared to serve when some fans walked into Court 3.
Mr. Thompson was seen trying to “shush” crowd members before asking the chair umpire to take control of the situation.
“Can someone tell them that every time we’re trying to play, they’re talking?” Thompson told the umpire.
“I’m trying my best,” the umpire said.
“Really,” Thompson responded. “You’re kidding me. Oh my god, this is the wokest tournament ever.”
Thompson defeated Vukic 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Later when asked to further explain his comment, he said, “Heat of the battle. Probably shouldn’t have said it.”
In a post-match press conference, the 29-year-old said he wasn’t aware of the new rule. But he argued that when people came in between the games, it “just disrupts everyone’s rhythm.”
“I mean, if someone is walking at the back and you are throwing the ball toss up, it’s impossible to see it because you have a moving person behind it,” Mr. Thompson said.
He likened the disruption to rushed into an office in the midst of a meeting.
“We are out there working, that’s our job, we’re tennis players. We don’t come in and storm into an office while someone is in a meeting,” he added.
“Like someone is just barging through the door, making a nuisance. Even though it doesn’t seem that way, but it is. It’s very off-putting.”
Djokovic ‘Divided’ Over the Rule Change
Despite winning over 18-year-old Croatian player Dino Prizmic, the world No. 1 said that the distracting noise and movement in the audience had a negative impact on his performance.In an interview, Mr. Djokovic said he was “divided” over the new policy, noting that letting people in to move to their seats had cost “quite a bit of time.”
“I did not know about that new policy or new rule,” Djokovic said.
“I understand the motive behind it is to enhance and improve the experience for fans, right? We do play for fans. We want fans to have a great, thrilling experience.”
The 36-year-old said he supported the decision to some extent, but at the same time he had been used to “some kind of atmosphere” for all his career.
“When that changes, it kind of messes up, distracts you a bit,” he noted.
Players Will Get Used To It: Tennis Australia CEO
However, Craig Tiley, Tennis Australia CEO and Australian Open tournament director, defended the new policy. He argued that the majority of players “will be fine with it” and while there’s some that would find it distracting, “We’ve got to work with that.”“We'll go on a journey—not dissimilar to eight years ago when we introduced the digital walls around the stadium—now it’s completely accepted in the game,” he told 9News.
Mr. Tiley said the rule has been applied in the upper bowl of the stadiums for years, and the organiser “just want to bring it down to the lower bowl.”
“Obviously, you’ve got to use discretion,” he noted.
“We also [don’t] want our fans to go out and get something to eat or drink and then have to wait three games, five games before they can come back in. It doesn’t make any sense.
