Craig Tiley defends Australian Open scheduling despite massive backlash following Andy Murray’s 4 AM finish
Australian Open Boss Craig Tiley maintained the tournament has no option but to continue with late finishes because of various factors.
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Craig Tiley (L), Clock at the and of Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis match (R)
The 2023 edition of the Australian Open is not a regular one fans are used to. First, a series of withdrawals by the top players right before the start of the tournament made it a somewhat dull affair. Now, the early exits of some of the big guns in both women’s and men’s sections has further taken the shine away from the season’s first Grand Slam.
As the tournament is progressing, albeit slowly, every day of the fortnight some unwanted news is coming out of the Melbourne Park. It is causing a massive uproar against the organizers. After yesterday’s 4 AM finish of the epic five-setter between Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis, scheduling of matches is the latest controversy.
The epic second-round battle between the Briton and the Aussie lasted more than five and a half hours ending at 4 AM Melbourne local time. Though Murray emerged victorious in the drama-filled match, he did not seem happy with the organizers. He criticized the scheduling calling it a ‘farce’ and later many of the former players, too, joined.
“It’s not beneficial for the umpires, the officials. I don’t think it’s amazing for the fans. It’s not good for the players,” Murray remarked.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova was also in no mood of going and made her opinion public about the same. “Murray and Kokkinakis will finish around 4 am. Crazy – no other sport does this,” she tweeted. Andy Roddick, the former American World No. 1 was equally critical.
Craig Tiley defends the unusual scheduling of the Australian Open
Tennis Australia boss and tournament director Craig Tiley had to field some tough questions after the unusual late finish. “We’ve had years where we finish every night at 12 or before. But you’ve also got to protect the matches. If you just put on one match at night and there’s an injury, you don’t have anything for the fans,” Tiley explained.
Tiley did not rule out a repeat of the same situation in the Grand Slam this fortnight. “We’ll always look at it during the debrief like we do every year. We’ve had long matches before but, at this point, we’ve got to fit those matches in the 14 days, so you don’t have many options,” he elaborated.
The Australian Open is yet to finish the first week and the challenges in front are increasing. The non-payment of ball kids was another news to this week. As the tournament attempts to redeem itself itself after the Covid pandemic, the organizers will definitely not get a clean chit after the fortnight ends. There are some serious issues which need to be sorted out before the next edition in 2024.
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Abhinavendu Singh
(290 Articles Published)