Australian Open: Did the Happy Slam become the Angry Slam? Or is tennis just changing?
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Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that's got only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women's semifinals Thursday night. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men's seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined $76,000 for behaving badly. Last year's women's runner-up exited in the first round.
Ho, hum. The real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one thing, continuing a recent increase in loud and unruly folks in the stands at Grand Slam tennis tournaments, whether calling out during points or between points, or booing lustily (which drew an animated and vocal rebuke from American Danielle Collins after she defeated an Australian player), or causing such a ruckus at a court equipped with a bar that an adjacent match was moved to a different venue.
“It’s been like that for a couple of years. ... Sometimes I think it’s disrespectful,” said Pat Rafter, a retired Australian player who won two U.S. Open titles and reached the No. 1 ranking in the late 1990s. “Sometimes, I think it’s just part of the game, the transition of this generation, and that’s what they want. This is the Australian Open.”.
Also drawing attention: Some folks involved in television coverage at Melbourne Park, whether those whose interviewing skills were lampooned on social media — and described as " embarrassing ” by Ben Shelton, the American who reached the men's semifinals — or the commentator who insulted Novak Djokovic during an on-air appearance before eventually apologizing days later after the 24-time Grand Slam champion demanded it.
