MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Overzealous fans at the Australian Open's so-called “Party Court” — a venue equipped with a bar — grew so loud that a nearby match was moved to a different arena.
“When I saw the bar, I was thinking it’s going to be a pretty rowdy atmosphere,” said Jacob Fearnley, a 23-year-old from Scotland who played college tennis at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, and won the contest at the boisterous-as-can-be Court 6. “Usually they go together — a bar and a rowdy atmosphere."
While his 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Arthur Cazaux of France was going on there Wednesday night, the noise was drifting over to the adjacent Court 8, where Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain was starting his matchup with 29th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada.
There were chants and songs and yells and applause and foot-stomps. So at 4-3 in the first set, Davidovich Fokina and Auger-Aliassime spoke with the chair umpire about what was happening.
The chair umpire called a tournament supervisor and play was delayed for more than 15 minutes.
Eventually, the crowd was told: “Ladies and gentlemen, the match is now suspended on this court and will move to Court 7 in just a few minutes.” And the two players packed up and headed over to the new site, where Davidovich Fokina completed his 6-7 (7), 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 comeback victory.
The two-level bar at Court 6 was introduced last year and, while popular with spectators, it has been met with divided opinion from players.
Fearnley, who plays No. 2-seeded Alexander Zverev in the third round, said that eventually he got used to the way the place felt.
“As I kind of settled into the match, I kind of blocked it out as much as I could,” Fearnley said. "Obviously there was some supporters who were extremely drunk, but it was a great atmosphere. Amazing atmosphere.”
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
The Associated Press
