Australian Open hopeful Jordan Thompson lashed out at the match umpire during his eventful first-round win over Aleksandar Vukic over a new policy in place at this year's tournament.
Tennis fans are traditionally made to wait outside stadiums until a change of ends in the match or when a set is finished.
But the Australian Open has introduced a new policy for this year's tournament that allows spectators to move seats in between games.
It's already led to several blow ups from players in the opening two days of the tournament, who have been distracted by the noise of people moving and talking.
Jordan Thompson was furious about the policy
STANSPORT
Novak Djokovic screamed "shut the f*** up" at the crowd in his eventful opening-round win over teenager Dino Prizmic.
And Thompson is clearly not a fan of the new policy either - something he didn't learn until he was already on court.
The Aussie star had lost the opening set, but was a break up in the second with a chance to level the match.
But some games in the second set were disrupted by crowd noise with both players growing frustrated at the noise.
At one stage, Thompson asked the umpire: "Can someone tell them that every time we're trying to play, they're talking?"
The match official responded: "I'm trying my best."
But that only irked Thompson further, who added. "Really? You're kidding me.
"Oh my god, this is the wokest tournament ever."
Thompson eventually blocked out the crowd noise to progress past his compatriot in a match that lasted just over four hours.
Jordan Thompson shushed the crowd
Channel9
Djokovic feels the change in policy at the Australian Open has caused more harm than good so far with delays to match and more distractions for the players.
“I did not know about that new policy or new rule,” he said.
“Look, I mean, 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.
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Top class Thommo 🇦🇺
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 15, 2024
Jordan Thompson triumphs over fellow Aussie Aleksandar Vukic in four hours and 8 minutes, 3-6 7-6(3) 6-2 3-6 6-4 💪#AusOpen • #AO2024 pic.twitter.com/mbQxK0fMcK
“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.
“Today we lost quite a bit of time when they were letting people in to come to their seats, even though it was not a changeover. My opponent would wait for them to sit down. It dragged a lot.
“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.”
