The partner of a world-famous tennis player has called out the “lack of diversity” she witnessed at the Australian Open.
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Ayan Broomfield is currently in Melbourne watching her American fiancé Frances Tiafoe compete in the first grand slam of the year.
The 27-year-old Canadian, who is also a talented tennis player, took to social media yesterday to share how she was not seeing many “women or people of colour”.
Her video quickly went viral, racking up over half a million views and thousands of comments, with many on board with the importance of her message.
In a follow up post, Broomfield delved deeper into the topic and addressed some questions her fans had in the previous video.
“I just made a TikTok about how I was at the Australian Open, I was there to watch my boyfriend play, and I didn’t really see any other women or people of colour,” she said.
“In specific, black people, but people of colour nonetheless.
“A lot of people spoke about the heat, not having enough money to attend and not knowing enough black players to support.
“So, let me see if I can help.”
Broomfield went on to offer to give out some free tickets if she was able to.
“If we don’t keep taking up space and showing up, it is never going to get better, so my advice is we continue to come, we be present, and we continue to put ourselves in this room so at some point we feel comfortable.
“Representation matters.”
She then highlighted some tennis players of colour that people should be supporting, such as Frances Tiafoe, Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, Gaël Monfils, Destanee Aiava and others.
Broomfield added that her goal was to help diversity tennis events.
“I travel with my boyfriend about 80 per cent of the year to go to the events,” she said.
“My goal for 2025 was to bring more of my community to the events, whether that’s playing, supporting as fans, or just coming to experience the tennis tournaments.”
Historical perceptions
Dr Ryan Storr, who is a Sport Innovation Research Group Research Fellow at Melbourne’s Swinburne University, told news.com.au that the issue of diversity in tennis has a deep-rooted history but said the Australian Open is dedicated to changing outdated perceptions.
“Historically, tennis has been a white privileged sport,” Dr Storr explained.
“From the history of Wimbledon in England and over in the US with private country clubs.
“Historically tennis has had a white image and I think that shows in the lack of black and culturally diverse tennis players at the elite level and to some degree in the stands of some tennis tournaments and grand slams.
“However, I think tennis is aware of this and is consciously making attempts to address that.”
Dr Storr touched on some of the important diversity initiatives at the Australian Open, such as ensuring it is accessible for people with disabilities as well as having sensory rooms for neurodivergent guests.
He also highlighted the AO’s ‘Glam Slam’ which celebrates LGBQTI+ tennis players as well as the event’s First Nations Day, which puts the spotlight on Australian Indigenous athletes.
Despite this, he recognised that as a whole, tennis does need more cultural diversity. He hopes that with posts like Ms Broomfield’s, more awareness would be raised.
He added that the Australian Open is also putting a lot of resources into making this happen.
“Generally, tennis as a sport does need to do more work around cultural diversity,” he said.
“I think the Australian context is also different, as in America there is a large population of African-Americans and we don’t have that specific representation here in Australia.
“But we do have significant cultural diversity.
“There are perceptions among those of culturally diverse backgrounds that feel that tennis is not for them, so for Ms Broomfield to start that conversation and to be talking about it is a really positive thing.
“It’s so important to use social media and engage different communities to invite people to showcase some of the things that are happening.
“I’m hoping with Ayan’s videos and messages, it is raising awareness and getting different people to come down and support the Australian Open.
“There is a lot better representation now than there used to be.”
The Australian Open is in full swing at Melbourne Park, running through to January 26.
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