Anyone for tennis? Just tennis. A couple of fine players head-to-head across a net. Thats all I want. Not a noisy Entertainment Experience. Not a fine-dining day (or night) out. Just some tennis. But its becoming increasingly hard to find among the flim-flam and crass commercialism that threatens to swamp the Australian Open.
Tournament director Craig Tiley and Minister for Sport, Tourism and Major Events John Eren.Credit:Simon Schluter
I like tennis. I also play tennis (badly). And Ive watched a lot of tennis: I was there at Kooyong in 1972 to see Britains Virginia Wade defeat Our Evonne in the final. I was there in 1988 for the first Open at Melbourne Park, as it was then, when the event ensured its survival and moved from quaint but cramped Kooyong. The price to pay may have been a singular lack of success by Australian players, who used to munch grass for tea, since the tournament has been played on a synthetic surface: drab green in 1988, when Pat Cash came close to winning; bright blue these days.
Pat Cash during his match against Mats Wilander in the final of the Australian Open in 1988. Credit:Reuters
This should be a good time for tennis fans. Tickets are now on sale for the 2019 Open. Usually Id be planning ahead and buying some. This time … not yet. Didnt I hear that some tickets have actually dropped in price, or stayed the same? I did. Good idea – especially for the ground passes, if you dont mind queuing, sunburn and uncertainty about who youll see. But tickets are still expensive. Ive just checked: $62 could buy me a single upper – and they really mean upper – Rod Laver Arena seat on the first day. I paid less recently for an AFL finals ticket (also upper) at the MCG. I knew whod I be seeing then, too. At the Open you cross fingers.
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But my disenchantment with the Open isnt really about the vagaries of scheduling. Its the ubiquity of sponsorship. All tournaments have sponsors. Even Wimbledon has the name of a watch on its scoreboard. The US Open, like the Australian, sells advertising space on the net. The French Open, for all its style and class, also has signs around Centre Court. I was there in May: I counted four sponsors names whereas here I gave up after seven. And only here is MELBOURNE written on the playing surface, lest anyone confuse it with Manhattan.
Were meant to be delighted about this. This month, Open officials proudly announced a major sponsorship deal for “coveted corner signage” with what was described as “an aspirational Chinese distillery”. (Hmm. Isnt there meant to be an unhealthy link between alcohol and sport?) Open tournament director Craig Tiley, keen on world domination, was reported as saying: “Soon you will see advertising on the court which wont be brands people know in Australia, but they will be brands one billion people know in China …” Great. Perplexing signs.
Apparently Ive got this wrong. A catchcry from mission control is: “Think you know the Australian Open? Think again.” Theres something for everyone, including people who cant tell Venus from Serena. Fine, but I noticed at Roland Garros this year that the French dont confuse a tennis tournament with a pop festival. I also acknowledge that its tough to make a case against sponsorship when some players are walking billboards. And that Kooyong in the 1970s, when Newk defeated Jimmy Connors (I remember that, too), sported prominent ads for cigarettes. But when is enough, enough?
Im in a quandary here. Down three break-points. I could save money on tickets. Stay home and turn on the telly. But thats also changing. TV rights have gone from Seven to Nine, which recently showed off Open trophies on its news-desk. Nine has already trumpeted it will be using “an innovative cross-pillar strategy”. Oh dear. We could be in for a summer of Big Bash-style tennis. Never mind the quality of coverage or commentary, check out the daring camera angles. The Open is now a “community event built around food, music, kids and the game of tennis”. In that order. But the TV honchos love their tennis. One has said: “The Australian Open is the greatest aggregator of eyeballs on consecutive nights in Australian television.”
I wonder if they have an app to measure how many of those eyeballs are rolling or looking away.
Alan Attwood is a former tennis writer for The Age.
