Swiatek joins calls for player privacy at Australian Open: ‘Are we animals in the zoo?’
Novak Djokovic also feels for Coco Gauff, whose post-match meltdown was captured by cameras, but does not see a future with fewer cameras
Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic joined a growing chorus of players demanding more privacy off the courts at the Australian Open after cameras captured Coco Gauff in a post-match meltdown that the American said should have been a personal moment.
After Gauff’s 59-minute quarter-final defeat by Elina Svitolina, the frustrated American retreated behind a wall near the match call area deep in the bowels of the stadium to repeatedly smash her racquet on the ground.
Unbeknown to the third seed, cameras recorded her every move and the video was broadcast to viewers around the world, with Gauff saying she was unhappy that there was no privacy anywhere except the locker room.
After losing 7-5 6-1 to Elena Rybakina in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, Swiatek said to reporters: “The question is, are we tennis players or are we animals in the zoo, where they are observed even when they poop?
“OK, that was exaggerating obviously, but it would be nice to have some privacy. It would be nice also to have your own process and not always be observed.”
When asked whether she had spoken to the tournament’s organisers about the subject, Swiatek shrugged and said: “What’s the point?”