Melbourne Park crowd behaviour under scrutiny during Australian Open

An apparent increase in poor crowd behaviour at the Australian Open has been played down by Tournament Director and Tennis Australia Chief Executive Craig Tiley.

With drunken and boorish behaviour, including fans yelling out during serves and points - having to be addressed by chair umpires, players have linked the poor behaviour to alcohol.

However, Tiley has rejected suggestions crowd behaviour at Melbourne Park deteriorated saying the number of people interrupting points and being ejected from courts is no different from previous years.

The first Grand Slam of the year has attracted a string of record attendances in the past week-and-a-half, attracting a wider pool of fans to the precinct with sponsor activations and activities, including an increasing array of court-side hospitality options.

Players including Novak Djokovic and Danielle Collins have linked rowdy behaviour to the level of alcohol consumed by patrons.

Despite this, Tiley said that with tournament attendances totalling more than a million, there will always be some examples of poor behaviour, just as there would be in the broader community.

Speaking to Guardian Australia, Tiley advised “really it’s been no different in the number to what it has been in previous years, even with the larger crowd we’ve had come through the gates.

“You’re always going to have one or two. We’ve made it very clear anyone that comes onto the site that is going to be disruptive to the enjoyment of the people around them are not going to be welcome.”

The tournament has consistently broken daily crowd records and its total is set to surpass the aggregate record of 1.02 million attendance set last year.

Tiley went on to say “the Australian crowd, I believe they’re amongst the most educated in the world, and the ones that have the most fun at matches, and we’ve certainly seen that.

“There are always going to be moments (of rowdy behaviour), but the energy that it brings to the players, the event is remarkable, so for that we appreciate it.”

In response to long queues as tens of thousands of patrons seek entry to courts and wait for food and drinks, Tiley said Tennis Australia has managed to reduce the wait for entry this year, noting “it was shorter than it was last year’s in time (spent waiting), so we’ve improved our entry into the site.

“And again, it’s not about the numbers for us - even though we always talk about the great number however many people at this point are coming through the gate - but it’s more about the quality of that experience.”

Melbourne Park is working on a new vision for the precinct to guide development over the next 20 years, and Tiley last week raised the possibility of more space and facility upgrades.

He was even more explicit on Wednesday morning, but said the discussion wasn’t about getting more money from the Victorian Government.

Tiley explained “it’s about continuing to grow this event, continuing to be self-sufficient.

“We’ve got big ideas on what will continue to happen. Like everything, you’ve got to keep evolving and we think we are at a point right now where having more space would be great, and we’ll work closely with the Victorian government on that and what that looks like.”

Tennis Australia has previously sought to take on the management of Melbourne Park. The precinct is currently run by the Melbourne & Olympic Park Trust.

The tournament has consistently broken daily crowd records and its total is set to surpass the aggregate record of 1.02 million attendance set last year.

Images: Australian Open crowds. Credit: Shutterstock.