Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova urged Australian Open organisers to reconsider their "party court" concept after facing harassment from fans who screamed and "meowed" at her.
The 32-year-old suffered a 6-2, 6-3 defeat to Paula Badosa in the second round, with the match commencing after 6 pm on Court 6, where Tennis Australia has constructed a two-storey bar.
Music in the bar is played at a subdued volume during matches, but fans are free to move around the bar, just meters away from the court.
“It was super loud, like in the restaurant basically, people talking and eating and drinking. I don’t know if they even watched the match,” Pavlyuchenkova told i.news.
“There were a couple of guys, I think they got drunk and they started to scream and meow [at me], I think maybe because I have this tattoo on my leg [which reads meow] or just because of course they had some drinks and so it was really disturbing.”
She added: “It was not nice to be honest. I was really annoyed at the start of the match. I have no problem playing on the outside courts, but this one was special in terms of the noise and also the court.”
The Courtside Bar, accommodating over 400 people, includes bar-style seating with a view of the court. Tournament director Craig Tiley expressed in October that they anticipate this becoming known as the "party court," a model they aim to expand across the site in the future.
However, such plans face opposition from players like Pavlyuchenkova and her opponent Badosa.
“I was actually thinking during the match ‘What was the idea behind it?’,” Pavlyuchenkova said.
“Yeah okay, maybe of course, for the fans, it’s super fun for them. But tennis is a special sport in a way. It’s not like baseball, or other sports where you can eat and walk around, or like basketball. It is completely different. It’s very quiet in a way. So yeah, that was really uncomfortable.”
Badosa, whose boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas also participated in doubles on the court that Thursday, voiced discomfort with the experience, stating it is not something she would want to see implemented more widely.
“The two matches I played there. It’s very noisy, very loud. It’s a little bit tough to concentrate there,” Badosa said, but also acknowledged she had won both times.
“It’s not very comfortable. I cannot listen to my team either if they want to say something or if I want to talk to them. Even during the points, it’s quite noisy.
“I don’t know if it’s going to work in the future.”