Tennis Australia takes a historic step for fan incentive at the upcoming 2023 Australian Open
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Australian Open (Image Credit: BBC)
Australian Open 2023 is about to start in a few weeks. The first Grand Slam of the season will start on January 16, 2023. The last match, i.e., the final of the men’s singles event, will be played on January 29, 2023. But before the main draw, qualifiers will be played for both the men’s singles and doubles events. Also, practice matches have also been scheduled for the Grand Slam Down Under.
Meanwhile, the Australian Open organizers, this time around has decided to charge fees from the spectators who will come to watch qualifiers and practice matches. The spectators have to buy tickets for these matches. However, the price for these matches will be comparatively less compared to matches in the main draw.
Eminent sports journalist Michal Samulski took to social media to share this news.
The entry-fee for the adults is $10, while for children it is $5 to watch Qualifiers and practice matches.
Australian Open Tournament director believes the move will help increase revenues
This is the first time that Australian Open organizers have taken such a decision. The reason for this decision is financial constraints that Tennis Australia is facing. The sports body is cash-strapped.
In 2021, it took a massive $40 million loan to organize the tournament. Australian Open 2022 was a successful event; however, Tennis Australia still accumulated losses. Despite Ash Barty winning the Australian Open 2022 ladies singles title while Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis won the Australian Open 2022 men’s doubles title, the tennis body could not earn enough to pay off their debts and minimize their losses.
Hence, this decision is hailed by Craig Tiley, Australian Open tournament director as a wise move.
“It’s a great price for fans to come in, watch great qualifying matches, but we’ve also got the top players on organised practice sessions playing practice matches, which they have agreed to do for 75-minute segments from three o’clock in the afternoon to about eight o’clock in the evening,” he explained.
“On Rod Laver (Arena), you’ll have a chance to sit in the stadium and watch the best players play. So the training, the ‘perfect practice’ we’re calling it, is a 75-minute segment where they’ll have ball kids, they’ll have umpires, they’ll have fans that can come (from the) qualifying, so you could actually watch a match. They’ll play against Novak (Djokovic), they’ll play against Rafa (Nadal) and play a set against Rafa or whoever.So we will definitely see Novak doing it and we’ll see Rafa doing and we’ll see Coco (Gauff), we’ll see Alex de Minaur, we’ll see all the players,” he continued.
The Australian Open is also trying to protect its Grand Slam status in the face of stiff competition from China, which is awarding higher prize-money to players.
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)