The Australian Open has been an enthralling event thus far, living up to the excitement it always commands, given it’s the first big tournament of the year.
Fans and players alike clamour to be a part of this Grand Slam event, dubbed the ‘Happy Slam’, and we have been treated to some top-level matches already.
However, there was some controversy before the event actually began, which seems to have maintained relevance throughout the first two rounds.
Lindsay Davenport and Jim Courier are the latest to react, offering their views on this new ban.
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Speaking on Tennis Channel, it was journalist Jon Wertheim who offered the key context to this Australian Open ban, noting: “ATP and WTA will form some sort of a merger, but for now, two separate tours, two rules. And that was expressed.
“In many ways, one of them is this brochure you’re seeing. This is handed to players before the tournament, and is about specifications for patches and apparel on the court. How big can patches be? Can you have a brand on your headband, for example? Two different sets of rules.
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“Players noticed two things were absent, though. One was a reference to tattoos; more and more players are getting opportunities and offers to have their skin sponsored by brands. Also, there is no reference to wearable technology.
“Right now, players cannot play sanctioned matches with wearables, so two separate rules for patches and specifications for brands, for men and women, maybe next year, they’ll only need one sheet.”
Jim Courier and Lindsay Davenport give their opinions on this Australian Open ban
Just days after Courier and Davenport disagreed over their Australian Open winners, they were united once again on this front.
Davenport began by noting: “Interesting. I remember talking about the wearable technology. Sabalenka went out for a first-round match, and the chair umpire told her she had to take off her device.
“She normally wears it through the tour, the WTA, it’s allowed. Here it’s not [allowed], so the players have to get used to some different rules from tournament to Grand Slams.
“I think also the logos on the headband, that’s different from what we see on tour. So players and their clothing companies will have to adjust.”
Courier then offered an anecdote to relate to this issue: “Well, this is where the lack of a union really hurts the players, because they don’t get to negotiate this. This is being mandated to them as a condition for playing in these tournaments.
“I’ll give you a personal example. So, years ago, I was playing with a Wilson racket, and Wilson made me a preposterously low offer to use their racket because I knew I was addicted to it.
“So our team had the concept of ‘Let’s go sell it to an Apple computers’ or anyone, put the logo on the strings, and the tour said, ‘No, you cannot do that,’ which cost me millions of dollars.
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“But there’s no recourse because there’s no union that defends these players.
“The tours and these tournaments are trying to make it not look like NASCAR. I understand that. There has to be some middle ground or some leverage that the players can bring and say, you guys aren’t compensating for us. Other people are, so allow us to monetise it.
“I’m a business guy, and the players are not being well repped business-wise from this particular area of the business.”
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