The Australian Open’s ‘Party Court’ is back in the headlines after Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova claimed some people in the crowd “started to scream and meow” at her.
Pavlyuchenkova, speaking after her second round defeat to Paula Badosa, said she found the behaviour of some fans at Court 6 “disturbing”.
Now, the court itself is not new. Rather, it is the two-storey Courtside Bar that was built alongside the court that has transformed it into a prime destination for fans at the Open.
Tournament Director Craig Tiley told foxsports.com.au in October: “I think the idea about the courtside bar is just it’s an elevated experience for our fans on all the courts”.
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The Bar had a capacity for more than 400 fans to drink, eat, listen to live DJs, although not all players are a fan of the change and according to Pavlyuchenkova it has led to some “disturbing” behaviour.
“It was super loud, like in the restaurant basically, people talking and eating and drinking. I don’t know if they even watched the match,” Pavlyuchenkova told inews.co.uk.
“There were a couple of guys, I think they got drunk and they started to scream and meow [at me], I think maybe because I have this tattoo on my leg [which reads meow] or just because of course they had some drinks and so it was really disturbing.”
“It was not nice to be honest. I was really annoyed at the start of the match. I have no problem playing on the outside courts, but this one was special in terms of the noise and also the court.”
“I was actually thinking during the match ‘What was the idea behind it?’,” Pavlyuchenkova added.
“Yeah okay, maybe of course, for the fans, it’s super fun for them. But tennis is a special sport in a way. It’s not like baseball, or other sports where you can eat and walk around, or like basketball. It is completely different. It’s very quiet in a way. So yeah, that was really uncomfortable.”
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She is not the only one to voice similar concerns, with her opponent on Wednesday even admitting it is “a bit tough to concentrate” with the noise.
“It’s very noisy, very loud. It’s a little bit tough to concentrate there,” Badosa said.
“Especially also the court is pretty fast. But I’m feeling well there, so I’m not going to complain,” she added smiling, referencing the fact she had won both her matches on the court.
“But I know it’s pretty loud. It’s not very comfortable for the players to play there.
“In my opinion, I don’t really like it because there’s a lot of noise, as I said. I mean, my
opponent in the first round and now also complained. It’s not very comfortable.
“I cannot listen to my team either if they want to say something or if I want to, like, talk to them. Even during the points, it’s quite noisy. I don’t know if it’s going to work in the future.”
Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas is used to playing on the show courts but made an appearance on the ‘Party Court’ alongside brother Petros in doubles action.
Petros described it as a “weird concept”.
“I actually was on that court yesterday. I was watching Paula play on that court. It’s a very weird concept, in my opinion,” he said.
“It’s way too accessible, in a way, for the public to — it was a bit noisy, as well, so it’s not so easy to concentrate. But obviously the smaller courts are always like that in slams.
“You know, there is a lot going on with the people, with, you know, shouting also on other courts.”
Petros went on to emphasise the need to “block it out and perform”, refusing to make excuses after he and Stefanos went out in the first round of doubles action.
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