Australian Open: At the Happy Slam, not everyone was happy

New Delhi: Roger Federer coined the word "Happy Slam" for the Australian Open successful 2007, and it has stuck. “Everybody is benignant of blessed to spot each other, benignant of aft the off-season. It’s benignant of similar the ‘Happy Slam,’” Federer had said backmost connected January 14, 2007.Daria Kasatkina, who took up Australian nationality recently, captured the temper successful an interrogation with The Guardian: "Everyone is truthful chill, similar ‘if you’re late, you’re late, mate.’ It’s OK, instrumentality it easy, don’t interest astir it."

That vibe is evident from the orderly mode of the nearest Flinders Street bid station. It is besides wide successful the packed trams that instrumentality you to Melbourne Park. Once you get inside, having navigated done lengthy queues, drinks, tract chairs and crystal creams go the flavour adjacent connected sultry days.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Federer, who attended the commencement of the 2026 Australian Open, explained successful item this clip around: “It felt similar a precise mean happening to accidental due to the fact that a batch of players, they’re blessed to flight the European winter,” said the six-time Australian Open winner.“Finally, you’re blessed to possibly spot the different players again [after a break], truthful it conscionable feels precise happy. The weather’s good, radical are incredibly excited and pumped up astir the Australian Open, we the players tin consciousness that, the vibes are incredibly happy, nobody’s exhausted and bushed [except for travel].

It stuck, and I’m blessed it’s inactive the lawsuit due to the fact that I inactive deliberation the players are ace blessed to beryllium here.”

Largely, that whitethorn good beryllium the lawsuit but determination person been grumblings successful the past 2 weeks ranging from prize money, beingness of cameras successful locker rooms, barring of fittingness trackers and the lengthy queues connected the extracurricular courts.

Prize wealth goes up but abbreviated of US Open

The Australian Open took the prize wealth to A$111.5 cardinal ($74.56 million) this year, bringing it up of past year's French Open ($65.42 million) and Wimbledon ($71.60 million) but abbreviated of the US Open's purse ($90 million).Last year, the players had written to the Slams and expressed dissatisfaction with however overmuch they were getting backmost successful Australia. Tournament Director Craig Tiley defended their presumption saying, "I judge the players should proceed to beryllium paid much and much players paid more, we person 128 successful the main gully and 128 qualifying (men and women), truthful we are supporting implicit 500 players financially each Grand Slam," helium told AFR.

Coco Gauff was 1 of the players who said unit would beryllium mounted connected the administrators if their demands remained unmet.The agitation implicit prize wealth is not new. There was a grounds prize wealth summation for the 2013 variation aft players considered bypassing the tournament. In 2018, Djokovic threatened the enactment of a breakaway subordinate national portion demanding a fairer stock of the gross raised by tournaments.

'Are we animals successful a zoo?'

Increases successful revenues and consequent prize wealth spell hand-in-hand with increases successful broadcast fees. More cameras are utilized to amusement much aspects of the tournament, going beyond conscionable the courts. Behind-the-scenes footage is important to the puzzle arsenic broadcasters look to get much bang for their buck. Though, immoderate players were not pleased.Gauff, upset aft her nonaccomplishment to Elina Svitolina successful the quarterfinals, thought she was unsocial and distant from cameras arsenic she trashed a racquet.

Instead, the enactment was captured by a sneaky camera successful the subordinate areas adjacent the locker room. Not-so-surprisingly, it was instantly clipped and made waves connected societal media.

In the property league later, Gauff said, “maybe immoderate conversations tin beryllium had, due to the fact that I consciousness similar astatine this tourney the lone backstage spot we person is the locker room.” She added: “I benignant of person a happening with the broadcast. I consciousness similar definite moments don’t request to broadcast.”Iga Swiatek backed Gauff. “The question is, are we tennis players, oregon are we, like, animals successful the zoo wherever they are observed adjacent erstwhile they poop?” she asked.“OK, that was exaggerating obviously, but it would beryllium bully to person immoderate privacy. It would beryllium bully besides to, I don’t know, person your ain process and not ever beryllium observed. It would beryllium bully to person immoderate abstraction wherever you tin bash that without the full satellite watching.”

“We’re tennis players. We’re meant to beryllium watched connected the court, and successful the press.

That’s our job. It’s not our occupation to beryllium a meme erstwhile you hide your accreditation. Oh, it’s funny, yeah, for sure. People person thing to speech about, but for america I don’t deliberation it’s necessary.”Djokovic, too, utilized an exaggerated illustration successful agreeing with Gauff. "I mean, I’m amazed that we person nary cameras portion we are taking a shower!"For their part, Tennis Australia said, "...we worth feedback from the players and volition proceed to enactment collaboratively to guarantee the close balance."

Just for the record, Wimbledon and Roland Garros person backstage areas for players to retreat to.

Record crowds but astatine what cost?

A monolithic 1,368,043 radical came done the turnstiles astatine the 2026 Australian Open. The main gully accounted for 1,150,044 radical - some records for the tournament. One crushed for this leap tin beryllium attributed to affordable crushed passes - astatine A$69 successful the archetypal week.On the look of it, that creates plentifulness of buzz, measurement and generates much gross for the tournament, adjacent if nutrient and drinks get much costly each year.

But the overcrowding has sullied the acquisition for galore of the regulars.“Having excessively galore people, astatine this oregon immoderate different tournament, is simply a precise bully occupation for us,” Djokovic had said aft beating Francesco Maestrelli. “It’s a bully sign. I truly similar the mentality here, that tendency to perpetually improve.”

Craig Tiley predicted expanding the analyzable into the adjacent Olympic and Yarra Park precincts to easiness the overcrowding issue.

He besides projected a “translucent dome implicit the full precinct.” How that would cookware out, if astatine all, remains to beryllium seen.

Is a smartwatch a performance-enhancing drug?

Eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner were asked to region fittingness trackers from their wrists. Aryna Sabalenka, too, was told to region a device. These wellness analytical devices, known arsenic wearables, are allowed by some the men's and women's tours, since 2024 and 2021, respectively, but not astatine Slams.

It is different constituent wherever tennis administrators request to travel unneurotic and simplify things but that's already a agelong list."Athletes person a cardinal close to recognize their ain show and wellness - including during contention astatine events similar the Australian Open," said Whoop, the marque worn by Alcaraz. "Blocking entree to idiosyncratic wellness information does not support sport."

The company's CEO Will Ahmed took to societal media aft Alcaraz was asked to region his tracker: "Ridiculous. Whoop is approved by the International Tennis Federation for in-match deterioration and poses nary information risk. Let the athletes measurement their bodies. Data is not steroids!"

Without giving the reason(s) down their decision, Tennis Australia defended itself and said they bash supply immoderate wellness information to the players.

"They tin show cardinal outer load measures specified arsenic region covered, changes of direction, precocious acceleration events and speed/spin of shots," it said.Football, baseball, American Football, hoops and cricket person each embraced information analytics and connected athletes' bodies to recognize their limits. Tennis, however, is precocious to the game. And aft the Australian Open, it has missed different stop.