The Australian Open started off with a banger as some of the best names in the world came head-to-head against each other. However, amidst the excitement and edge-of-the-seat clashes, fans found themselves in the middle of drama between tennis legend John McEnroe and Victoria Azarenka. This all happened because the Australian Open authorities recently came up with a new rule that allowed the fans to move freely in between the matches.

While McEnroe suggested that the players need to adjust to the rules and regulations that have been given, Azarenka suggested her own opinion disagreeing with McEnroe.

Victoria Azarenka is on the players’ side

Victoria Azarenka doesn’t quite see eye to eye with John McEnroe’s suggestion that players should adjust to fans moving around during matches. While she highly praised the presence of fans as a long-standing tradition in tennis, Azarenka suggested that in certain areas, especially behind serving players, it can be distracting.

In tennis, tracking the ball is very important which is not the same with every sport. She pretty much understands this and suggests that finding a middle ground could prove to be beneficial for both fan enjoyment and player concentration.

“I think the fans are already allowed at the top. It’s been like this for a while. I think the sides are no problem. I think right behind the players when they’re serving, it can be quite distracting. It’s not like other sports. To me, football or basketball, you don’t have to track the ball coming at you from there so much. I think we can probably compromise to make it much, much easier for fans,” said Azarenka in the interview.

“Why do we have one minute where people don’t have time to come in? We’re trying to save time, but people are still kind of waiting. I mean, you have to be maybe a little bit conscious that we do have to track the ball when the speed is high. You have to be able to track the ball when people are moving. It is quite distracting. Sides, no problem,” she further added.

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While John McEnroe suggested that the players need to adjust to the new rule, Victoria Azarenka believed that coming to some common ground could prove to be beneficial for both.

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