Stefanos Tsitsipas is clearly not a fan of the newly-minted two-story courtside bar on Court 6 at the Australian Open, where he experienced the nuisance of playing there.
Dubbed the "party court," tournament organizers at this year's Australian Open wanted to enhance the player and fan experience to uncharted levels. And by doing so, they constructed a courtside bar adjacent to the tennis court.
The bar can house at least 400 exuberant spectators who are at liberty to roam around. Moreover, as live matches occur, soft music is played at a low sound. Already, this has been a tournament of firsts, with the organizers extending the schedule by an additional day to prevent late-night finishes.
While all stakeholders, including the players, have warmly welcomed that decision, this new move of introducing outside interference has not. And multiple players have raised concerns. Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas is one of them.
Having played his first-round doubles match on Court 6 with his younger brother Petros, the 25-year-old told reporters he understood the underlying premise of modernizing tennis. However, introducing any interference affects players' concentration levels.
"Yes, it would be a new change towards the direction that modernizes tennis and makes it more sort of entertainment style, let's call it, but you don't know until you're a tennis player, when you're trying to zone in, get in the zone, it's difficult when you see movement and when you see stuff happening around you."
"You know, there is a tiny little yellow ball flying around, and it requires your concentration sometimes over 100%. If that can affect you at 5%, we're in trouble. So I don't know what the science behind it is. I would like for people to sort of do experiments and try and see how much it affects concentration."
Tsitsipas admitted he did not like the idea and has singled out the US Open as having similar ecosystems of high-pitched outside noise that acts as a distraction. The World No. 7, however, insisted that Wimbledon will be his favorite tournament because it preserves its prestige of silence.
"I'm not a huge fan of it. That's why Wimbledon is one of my favorite tournaments, because there is silence and you can just concentrate and focus on your game. I have had a similar experience at the US Open. So not a fan. Hopefully one day. But for now, not quite there."
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