Tennis Anyone?

And yet, despite it happening on a regular basis to Djokovic over the past two decades, coincidentally even during yesterdays match against Fritz, there have been no calls to ‘educate and enforce the crowds’.

It doesn't matter who is playing, there needs to be some education regarding the etiquette for tennis. But if you watch the coverage, and see the segments that these channels do asking the people attending about who they think is going to win, it's pretty clear these are not generally tennis fans.

I saw a segment where they walked around asking people if they thought Andy Roddick was going to win the tournament, and nearly every person they asked said yes or that he had a good chance. Only one knew that Andy had been retired for over a decade.

Then they asked people who Carlos Alcaraz was, as well as some other current players, and they didn't have a clue. I haven't been to the US Open but it seems to be the event, more than any other, that attracts non-tennis fans. It's a place to be seen and an "event" to attend that is trendy (partly because of how it is marketed - all the buzz around the signature cocktail for example) but it's always been the event where the crowd is blissfully unaware of the norms. There's always a constant hum of people talking in the big stadiums, and you just don't get that at other majors or even at smaller events.

Unfortunately this behaviour is spreading, not shrinking. It is far from just being a thing directed at Novak, but his fans will always see it as something that is grossly unfair to him specifically...🙄

Completely agree with 95% of what you’ve written - the lack of civility and adherence to etiquette is unfortunate and something that should (but is unlikely to) be addressed.

What irks Djokovic fans is the suggestion that he is treated equally and has been during the career, which is simply laughable.

Well that was quite a battle between Felix and Alex. Pretty scrappy tennis at times, but Felix pulled it out somehow. Most likely will play Sinner but who knows, as Musetti can be dangerous.

I’m a little shocked that Iga lost, but quite a redemption for Anasimova after the double bagel final at Wimbledon.

Gabby and her partner Erin are in the final against Townsend and Siniakova. Should be a great match with #3 against #1.

Indeed, I wondered how she would handle that difficult loss at Wimbledon. I didn't see today's match, wonder if Iga was off her game. Regardless, a quite impressive rebound on the part of Anasimova.

I watched the end of Anisimova/Świątek - I try not to get pulled in by the sentimental stuff, but this time it did feel so good to see a player overcome a real setback!

A friend of my wife is from Serbia. Djokovic does not say nice things in Serbian when he’s on the court.

There are a few players that use the language barrier with the umpires to get away with stuff that the English speakers cannot...

You are free to disagree all you want of course. But the point I was making is not that people have to know the players - that was just an illustration of the crowd not being tennis savvy, and therefore not knowing the etiquette.

When it comes to the crowd walking around, they have loosened up on that a lot in the last few years, and I agree with that change to a point. If there is someone directly behind the players in the seats close to the court they will hold play, but in the upper areas of the courts they allow people to move around freely. I think that is a good compromise.

I've been to the Australian Open 3 times in the last 15 years, and the crowds have definitely become more rowdy, and that is partly due to the increasing popularity of the event. The first time I went was in 2010, and the attendance that year was about 650,000. When I went in 2019, it had jumped to around 800,000, and this year the set a new record of 1.2 million people (more than the 2024 US Open, and the largest of the 4 majors until we see what this year bring when this event is over). So in 15 years the event has basically doubled in size. Just trying to find a spot of ground near the main stadiums to sit down to eat was difficult. There are more non-tennis fans there, but other than matches where Australians were involved (or one with some South American countries - one match in particular comes to mind), they were pretty civil. One evening when we watched two Aussies play (a ladies match first then Draper was playing Kokkinakis) was a nightmare, with one guy yelling between every point, but even he knew to shut up during the points. It was a 2 set match followed by a long 5 setter and hearing this guy for 6 hours was brutal for everyone (we didn't get out of there until nearly 1 am).

The noise is something that is a bigger concern for a few reasons. One is that the umpire needs to be able to stop play, so the players need to be able to hear that if it's needed. That's what set the whole Medvedev thing off, when a photographer walked onto the court. But I also saw near the end of one match all the kids come down with their tennis balls ready for autographs, and one kid let a ball fall from their hands and it rolled onto the court - that's a safety issue for the players. I've also seen the extra ball that many players have in their pockets fall out during a point - again a safety issue that calls for play to be stopped immediately.

Another is that the players need to be able to hear the line calls. They don't want to be trying to run down a ball that is out and risk some injury or expend extra energy because they didn't hear the line call. Without real line judges that gave a verbal and visual signal, we only have the audible calls now, so the players need to be able to hear those.

But the more immediate thing in point after point is that the players need to be able to hear the ball being struck by the opposing player. If you don't follow tennis a lot you or play it you probably are not aware that the sound of the ball coming off is one of the first clues the players get to what kind of shot is being played. You need to hear if it's a mishit. a shot with a lot of top spin, or a shot with less spin. It can also tell you how hard the ball has been hit - the modern game is so fast that not being able to hear that is a real problem for the pro players.

Your baseball analogy falls flat in this case because hitters don't rely on the sound of the ball coming out of the pitcher's hand, but they do rely in part on that sound of the ball being struck by the other players racquet. This is why they not only need to tell people what the etiquette is, but explain why it is what it is...

It's one of the fastest growing sports here, so although it may be dying in the US, it certainly is not the case everywhere.

Like this? Social media and celebrity influence to answer your prayers.

Seems I’m not the only one imagining it…

And yes, great suggestion for tennis to be more like the UFC. Perhaps a guest broadcast appearance by Joe Rogan?

Looks like he should be thanking them! 🤣🤣🤣