Australian Open organisers still believe in the value of capturing footage of players behind the scenes, but insist they do not want to make anyone uncomfortable after Coco Gauff raised privacy concerns.
After being summarily beaten by Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals, an upset Gauff tried to find somewhere private to let her frustrations out.
The third seed thought she had done so, but the ever-present backstage cameras at Melbourne Park caught her demolishing her racquet with seven swipes in a walkway, with the footage beamed around the world by broadcasters and social media.
By the time she sat down for her post-match press conference, she knew she had been caught on candid camera and said there needed to be a conversation about player privacy at the first grand slam of the year.
Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley said organisers were not opposed to making changes.
“We want to listen to the players, we wanna really understand what their needs and what their wants are,” he told Tennis Channel.
“So, that’s the first question we’ll ask; we’ve heard you and whatever adjustments [we] need to make we will make.”
Coco Gauff wanted to let out some frustration after a tough night out against Elina Svitolina. (Getty Images: Darrian Traynor)
Gauff was backed up by the likes of world number two Iga Świątek, who equated the constant recording to being “animals in the zoo, where they are observed even when they poop”.
The Polish player’s complaint came after footage of her being denied entry because she forgot her accreditation was also shared widely on social media.
Novak Djokovic also agreed with Gauff, saying he can only see the trend moving towards more cameras in those previously player-only spaces.
“It’s really sad that you can’t move away anywhere and hide and fume out your frustration [and] your anger in a way that won’t be captured by a camera,” he said.
“But we live in a society and in times where content is everything, so it’s a deeper discussion.
Novak Djokovic’s relationship with Australian Open organisers has become more fraught in recent years. (Getty Images: James D Morgan)
“It’s really hard for me to see the trend changing in the opposite direction, meaning we [remove] cameras; it’s only going to be as it is or even more cameras. I’m surprised we have no cameras while we’re taking a shower; that’s probably the next step.
“I’m against it. I think there should be a limit, and a borderline where this is our space, but commercially there’s always a demand.”
Tiley said there were “many places” for players on site without cameras, including locker rooms, training rooms, sleep rooms, recovery rooms, beauty rooms and coaches’ rooms.
He said Tennis Australia did not want to make any players uncomfortable, but maintained there was a benefit to the cameras in terms of humanising players, boosting their profiles and giving fans more connection to them.
“We’ll continue to review it and make sure the players are comfortable with it, but at the same time we also want to bring the fan and the player closer because we believe as tennis players we can really help lift up their value and also the love the fans have for them,” he said.
“But it’s a fine line we’ve got to keep walking.”
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