Category Archives: Australian Open 2023

MP calls for action on crime in ‘under siege’ town – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

Pearson urges voice dissenters to ‘be smart’

Karvelas also asks Pearson about the concerns that are coming from the left, including Indigenous affairs spokesperson for the Greens, Lidia Thorpe, who will be calling for treaty before voice at the Invasion Day rally.

And when you have a breakthrough response, a breakthrough response like constitutional recognition, you’ve got to grab it. You’ve got to switch from protest to grabbing the opportunity.

… And I believe that a full response to the Uluru statement will achieve actual real reconciliation. We’re at a point in our history where the protest has achieved the result we desire. And, and so we’ve got to be smart about it.

This this year is the most important here in the past 235. That’s my assertion. This is the most important year and and this referendum is the most important question concerning Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians since the first fleet.

We’ve got to understand what is at stake, and that is the chance for reconciliation and if the referendum is kiboshed through game play and spoiling game by the opposition, we will lose the opportunity forever.

Continue reading...

Novak Djokovic joins calls for Australian Open to address schedule issues

Posted on by
  • Concerns raised over late finishes at Melbourne Park
  • ‘It’s really gruelling,’ says Serbian nine-times champion

Novak Djokovic has added his voice to calls for changes to be made to the Australian Open schedule amid growing concern over player welfare and fairness at this year’s tournament at Melbourne Park.

Andy Murray was forced to back up just a day and a half after a gruelling near-six hour epic against Thanasi Kokkinakis that did not finish until 4am local time, a match that highlighted the issue for the first time at this year’s grand slam.

Continue reading...

Flags and Wallies: Melbourne Park fans spark player anger at Australian Open

Posted on by
  • Djokovic rails at ‘drunk’ spectator on Rod Laver Arena
  • Russian player Rublev barracked by Ukraine supporters

Spectators at the Australian Open were in the spotlight on Thursday after separate incidents sparked player anger on the court at Melbourne Park and the crowd stayed until 4am watching Thanasi Kokkinakis play Andy Murray.

In his second-round match against France’s Enzo Couacaud on Rod Laver Arena, Novak Djokovic complained to the umpire after appearing to be barracked by a supporter, one of several dressed in a Where’s Wally? costume.

Continue reading...

‘We need him here’: Djokovic comeback melts Melbourne hearts … almost

Posted on by
  • Serb roundly cheered despite fears of abuse from crowd
  • Detractors remain as some fans question his character

In the moments before Novak Djokovic returned to Rod Laver Arena, many fans were unsure whether he would be welcomed back as the nine-time Australian Open champion or rebuked as an unvaccinated Covid-era villain.

Even his vocal supporters, like Peta Kovitch, draped in a Serbian flag and a string of lights that lit up the name Novak around her neck, expected some abuse from the Melbourne crowd. “If they want to boo, well they can go to the football. I’m sorry, that’s where it belongs,” she said before the match.

Continue reading...

Nick Kyrgios’ withdrawal affects the Australian Open more than him | Emma Kemp

Posted on by

Happy slam’s return to normality suffers another blow with late loss of its most sellable product

The time was 4pm, 27 hours before Nick Kyrgios was due to play his opening match and three minutes before he confirmed he would not. The announcement on the PA that “Nick Kyrgios is on his way to the main media conference room” was so unanticipated that journalists had to run to get there before he did.

You never know what you will get with Kyrgios, but 11th-hour withdrawals have become a theme of his non-existent 2023 season. It started with the United Cup, when his Australia teammates were informed 10 minutes before their joint press conference in Sydney that not only would he not be there but would not be playing any part in the competition.

Continue reading...

Djokovic claims he was made ‘villain of the world’ over Australia Covid row

Posted on by
  • Former world No 1 points finger at media over 2022 drama
  • ‘Everything got out of hand … the media picked on me big time’

Novak Djokovic says he felt like “the villain of the world” during the storm that surrounded his deportation from Australia before last year’s Australian Open. The nine-time champion at Melbourne Park was deported from the country last January after his visa was cancelled over his Covid vaccination status.

A three-year ban from Australia initially accompanied that decision but that was overturned in November and the Serb is preparing for this year’s tournament, which begins on Monday.

Continue reading...