Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova criticized the organization of the 2024
Australian Open after
being harassed by fans who booed her, shouted, and "meowed." The
32-year-old Russian was defeated in the second round by
Paula Badosa with a
score of 6-2, 6-3 on Court 6, precisely where Tennis Australia built a
two-story bar.
The 2021
Australian Open finalist expressed that Tennis Australia should rethink its
concept of the 'party court.' Although the bar's music is played at a low level
during the matches, there is nothing preventing fans from constantly moving
around the bar just meters from the court.
For
Pavlyuchenkova, the installation of the bar so close to the court became a
distraction in the match against Badosa. "It was super loud, like in the
restaurant basically, people talking and eating and drinking. I don’t know if
they even watched the match," the former world No. 11 said after the
match.
"There
were a couple of guys, I think they got drunk and they started to scream and
meow [at me], I think maybe because I have this tattoo on my leg [which reads
meow] or just because of course they had some drinks and so it was really
disturbing," she added.
“It was not
nice, to be honest. I was really annoyed at the start of the match. I have no
problem playing on the outside courts, but this one was special in terms of the
noise and also the court, Pavlyuchenkova stated. “I was actually thinking
during the match ‘What was the idea behind it?’,” she added.
“Yeah okay,
maybe of course, for the fans, it’s super fun for them. But tennis is a special
sport in a way. It’s not like baseball, or other sports where you can eat and
walk around, or like basketball. It is completely different. It’s very quiet in
a way. So yeah, that was really uncomfortable,” world No. 46 concluded.
Tournament
director Craig Tiley enthusiastically announced the Courtside Bar last October,
which has a capacity for 400 people and seats with a direct view of the court:
“Expect this will quickly become known as the ‘party court,’ and it’s a model
we’d like to expand further across the site in the future,” he said.