Noisy racket on Australian Open 'party court' forces match move

Unbearable noise forced a match close to the Australian Open's polarising party court to be moved, but the men playing in front of extremely drunk fans said they loved the atmosphere.
A second round clash between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina was briefly suspended on Wednesday night in the opening set at Melbourne Park.
The players were distracted by boisterous crowds making a racket as they watched France's Arthur Cazaux face Britain's Jacob Fearnley on neighbouring court six, which has a bar.
After moving to another court, Spain's Davidovich Fokina came through a tough five-setter to send the Canadian 29th seed packing.
While they were distracted by the noise, Fearnley and Cazaux had no problem.
I actually didn't really look at the court before I went on, so when I saw the bar, I was thinking it's going to be a pretty rowdy atmosphere, said Fearnley, who won a tense four-set clash in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Usually they go together, a bar and a rowdy atmosphere. Obviously there were some supporters who were extremely drunk, but it was a great atmosphere, amazing atmosphere.
Cazaux was similarly undeterred, enjoying the experience.
It's pretty special to have this kind of atmosphere, he told French media.
I don't know what the supporters were thinking about. It was 11pm, it was 10 Celsius, they were in T-shirts, it was incredible!
I love it, it gives me a lot of energy.
He added: Afterwards, I put myself in the place of Fokina or Felix, it would also drive me crazy to play next to a court where all I hear is screams. On the other hand, I take it.
The Australian Open first introduced a party court last year with opinions split on whether or not it was a good idea.
But organisers said ahead of this year's event that the two-storey bar had become one the most popular sites to take in the tennis and capacity has been expanded.

(2025/01/16 17:01)