Australian Open slammed for being the ‘wokest tournament ever’

Jordan Thompson shouting

Australian Open organisers have for the second day in a row come under fire for a rule change involving spectators at stadiums.

In an attempt to improve fan experiences at the season-opening Grand Slam, the powers that be have made a tweak to existing rules when it comes to movement during matches. In the past spectators were only allowed to enter arenas or move seats during a change of end or after a seat.

However, as of this year’s Australian Open, fans can move seats at the end of every game.

The move has not gone down well with a lot of tennis players and world No 1 Novak Djokovic was one of the first to be caught off guard during his opening-round match against Dino Prizmic on Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner shouted “shut the f*** up” after some spectators were noisy while moving around.

On Monday Jordan Thompson also lashed out when people were moving around during his clash against fellow Australian Aleksandar Vukic as he felt it was distracting to both players.

“Can someone tell them that every time we’re trying to play, they’re talking?” Thompson asked the umpire.

The response from the official was: “I’m trying my best.”

The Australian, who won in four sets, was also informed of the new rule change and replied: “Really?” You’re kidding me. Oh my God, this is the wokest tournament ever.”

Defending champion Djokovic admitted during his post-match press conference that he didn’t know about the new rules and was divided about it.

“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 of being out on the court,” he said.

“It’s hard, I must say. I understand that and I support it to some extent, but at the same time all my career, all my life I’ve been used to some kind of atmosphere. When that changes, it kind of messes up, distracts you a bit.”

He added: “I don’t know if it’s really the best rule, but I do understand from a tournament and fan perspective it’s probably better because they don’t want to wait. They want to come out and enjoy every single point.

“I’m kind of divided between the two in a way.”