Extra rule at Australian Open
Tennis fans are not allowed to boo Djokovic
How will the fans react when Novak Djokovic serves at the Australian Open for the first time in two years? The tournament boss takes precautions. And introduces an extra rule.
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Novak Djokovic is back at the Australian Open this year.
Novak Djokovic (35) is currently preparing for the Australia Open (January 16-29). After he was not allowed to take part last year due to the lack of a corona vaccination, he can now aim for title number 10.
Five days before the start of the tournament he is playing a training game against Daniil Medvedev (26). This should actually take 75 minutes. But after a good half hour Djokovic breaks off. The reason? A drawing in the left thigh.
“I didn’t want to risk anything worse,” he says to the “9News” portal. Medvedev showed understanding, Djokovic continued. “I apologized to him.”
Whoever boos, flies
So far, despite all the fuss from last year, he’s been warmly welcomed by fans. That could change with the start of the Australian Open. Djokovic doesn’t have to be afraid of being booed or attacked. Because: Whoever boos will be sent out of the stadium.
This is the tough announcement from tournament boss Craig Tiley (61). “If they disrupt the fun of others – they’re out,” he told the Herald Sun. “You can stay away or we will throw you out.”
He confirms to the newspaper that security personnel will monitor whether fans misbehave. Depending on their behavior, they can be banned not only from the stadium but also from the tournament grounds.
“This is tennis”
This announcement is not only well received. For example, Stan Wawrinka (37) does not think much of it. In the “Herald Sun” he demands that the fans “can do what they want”. You can react if they cross a line, but he thinks they should be allowed to do what they want.
The 2014 Australian Open winner also explains why he thinks so. “They do this to every player every year – if they don’t like one player or like another, they will boo one and cheer for the other. This is tennis. This is sports. That’s what you want.”
Whether Tiley’s “Djokovic rule” has to be applied or not will only become clear from next Monday. (bir)
No entry problems this time: Djokovic is training in Australia before the first tournament(00:41)