Pro-alex crowd good for tennis

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Australian Open king Novak Djokovic said the record-breaking crowd was “a very good problem” despite complaints from some spectators about overcrowding and long queues.

The first Grand Slam of the year has seen bumper attendances, with more than 100,000 streaming through the gates on the first day on Sunday.

Organizers have each day trumpeted the large number of people packing into Melbourne Park.

But with big crowds have come long queues to get into the venue and painful waits in sometimes fierce heat to watch a match.

The wait time to enter the grounds on the first day was about two hours at one entry point, the ABC said.

Asked his opinion on the issue, the 10-time champion Djokovic said: “Having too much crowd on this or any other tennis tournament is a very good problem to have.

“I mean, it’s a good sign. Obviously we want more attention, more people coming and wanting to watch the tennis live, follow it, livestream, et cetera,” said the 38-year-old Serbian, who first came to the tournament as a junior in the early 2000s.

Organizers Tennis Australia also faced flak for scheduling the immensely popular Alexandra Eala of the Philippines when she battled Alycia parks of hte United States on the intimate Court 6 on Monday.

Hundreds of her supporters were left disappointed and had to watch instead on a nearby big screen.

Responding to a fan complaint on X, the tournament said it would learn for next year.

“I saw the other day with Alex Eala. Yeah, that’s been a talk, which is understandable,” Djokovic said. “There’s some players coming from respective countries, like she’s coming from Philippines, which is now a big deal. She’s been the biggest ever tennis player from that country, which is a big country and there’s a big interest.”

During Eala’s match against Parks, many Filipino fans filled the stands to cheer her on.

“So things like that happen. I mean, you could argue that it was maybe a poor schedule and maybe they could schedule her on a bigger court. Yes, but again, she’s so young and she’s just coming through. Obviously, the first couple of rounds, the schedule is so packed, the big courts with big names, it’s difficult. It’s not easy to manage that. But again, it’s a good problem to have, to be honest.”

“Let’s just imagine if there’s a lack of people coming or that stands are empty. That’s a bigger problem. I mean, this is great,” Djokovic said.

Djokovic said he was aware of the chaos surrounding the Eala match, which she lost.

“You could argue that it was maybe a poor schedule, maybe they could schedule on a bigger court, yes,” Djokovic said. “Again, it’s a good problem to have, to be honest.”

“Let’s just imagine if there’s a lack of people coming or that stands are empty.”