“Until money starts talking”- “Corrupt” Tennis Australia called out on “disgusting behavior” as their controversial request to Aryna Sabalenka goes viral on social media

Sabalenka's firm stance and quick victory help resolve the scheduling dispute, but questions about gender equality in tennis linger.

“Until money starts talking”- “Corrupt” Tennis Australia called out on “disgusting behavior” as their controversial request to Aryna Sabalenka goes viral on social media

Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X)

This year’s Australian Open will be remembered for its multitudes of controversies. From the change of rules to harassing ball kids on the court, the tournament has seen it all. Now, the Australian Open has created yet another controversy – this time its sexism.

It was come to known that defending champion Aryna Sabalenka was asked to move to Margaret Court Arena which is a much smaller court, to make way for the men’s quarterfinal in which Andrey Rublev and Jannik Sinner were to partake. Apparently, the suggestion came after previous matches on the Rod Laver Arena lasted for more than three hours.

YouTube video

Though it was suggested, both Sabalenka and her QF opponent Barbora Krejcikova declined to move aside and were firm in their stance to play in the RLA which has a seating capacity of around 15000 people.

FS Video

Sabalenka helped to mend the scheduling issues by winning the match in just 71 minutes. As a result, the final match of the evening, between Sinner and Rublev, began at 10.42 p.m. This was already late, but if Novak Djokovic or Sabalenka had needed a deciding set to wrap things up, it would have been considerably later.

Fans call out the sexist move of Australian Open during Aryna Sabalenka’s match

As the news broke out, fans on X (formerly Twitter) reacted to this ‘sexist’ move. They reasoned as to why Sabalenka should have moved to a smaller and why can’t the men move to the other court.

Aryna Sabalenka Australian Open
Aryna Sabalenka (Via SuperSport)

Let us check out the reactions:

What is notable is both the male players have never won a Grand Slam title but Sabalenka and Krejcikova have won a Grand Slam title each. Scheduling has always remained a major challenge in tennis, particularly during the Grand Slams, due to the wide and unpredictable difference in best-of-five-set match times.

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