Yes, my time at the Australian Open is done for another year. As to whether I enjoyed the experience or not. This is not an easy answer, but I will say this you aren't interested in the same girls at 18 as you are when you are 40.
The last match I managed to see was Tommy Paul vs. Davidovich Fokina : There isn't too much report on this one. In the first set Paul had wrongfooted Fokina whose leg didn't move the rest of the body. Paul was playing very well and using the fast conditions. Foki was struggling with his movement, could not push off with the leg and not moving at all to the forehand side. Foki played it out, but could have easily retired. Paul through to the quarter finals for the loss of 3 games.
The Good
The Italians are having a great run at tennis. Sure Jannik Sinner gets most of the attention, but there are other players who have been doing well. Lorenzo Sonego made the quarter finals, this is something that not even Sonego thought would be likely. He hit one of the best shots of all time. His match against the Brazilian teen sensation Joao Foneseca where he silenced a hostile crowd.
Davidovich Fokina who won 2 5 set matches in a row coming back from 2 sets down, involving one of the most bizarre incidents of time. Foki got rid of his old coach last year, then the ranking plummeted into the 60s. Now he has a new team and can see some good signs for the year.
Hady Habib became the first Lebanese player to win a singles match in the main draw. He came through qualies as well. Habib learned to play the game in Beirut, then moved back to the US to improve his tennis. The local Lebanese community came out in force and gave the matches some atmosphere.
Catching up with old friends Lance, Owen, Brauman, Peta, Michael, Mirza, Hobart Hurricanes man, John, Andres and meeting some good people.
The Bad
The Australian Open has ceased being a tennis tournament as we know it. Now, it's an event where people go to be seen and don't give a shit about the tennis. Sure, there was always a small element of those types, but now it's actually rampant to the point where the fan experience is negative.
Just cause you can doesn't mean you should. For example the tournament has sold way too many ground passes, sure on Bogan Saturday it's a zoo where it's overcrowded. That was just one day, whereas now that is a common experience as the courts are not large enough for the people that are there.
You know it's way too many people when people are lining up to Daniel Altmaier and Comesana at Court 15, this was just not German or Argentine fans. As a non profit organisation TA are making all their money in January to cover for the rest of year. It's a lucrative gig, if you can get it.
There has been a lot of discussion around the Aussie Open crowds. As someone who has gone to a lot of punk and metal shows, plus don't mind a bit of wrestling. Yes, the crowds are definitely a lot louder, for the most part trying to get themselves over by being obnoxious and unfunny. Cheer as much as you like, but shut up when they are about to serve.
Then there was the booing of players. The fact that the price of the ground pass has become very expensive and it's not the great value it once was. Before I would recommend people to come to the event. I definitely would not recommend it now, but hey record crowds.
The Bizarre
One thing about this tournament that I will never forget is the moment where I witnessed a match being moved due to excessive crowd noise. For further reading about the match see the link below.
The one thing that needs to be clarified is that the French fans were not going out of their way to disrupt Davidovich Fokina and Auger-Aliassime. They were just casualties of the chants and feet stamping on the temporary stands where the sound reverberated onto their court.
It was my latest finish of the event and ego made me stay that late but thankfully Foki win.
Sinner Winner
Sinner didn't even need to play well tonight, just good enough when it counted. Zverev in his own words was not good enough and that statement could be easily said about this years edition of the Australian Open for different reasons.
5 comments:
Nils thanks again for keep us updated with all the happenings at the event. Great article
Cheers mate. Loved your coverage as usual. I feel like you surmised the entire tournament perfectly in your last paragraph. Hoping for a bit more in all aspects in 2026.
Maybe the tournament isn't what it used to be, but your match reports were as good as ever! Looking forward to next year!
The tournament was as good as usual for me… but maybe that was because of Sonego’s magical run ;)
Great to see you as usual!
Thank you so much for all the reports on the matches and things that most of the media will not cover. Very interesting analogies and sounds like Tennis Australia is treating fans like cattle.
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