The Australian Open has got underway and largely things have gone true to form on the opening day of the tournament in Melbourne.
Aryna Sabalenka and Alexander Zverev were the big names in action on day one inside the Rod Laver Arena and both came through their matches with minimal fuss.
The tournament this time around will feature some new things for the players to contend with – not least the new coaching pods which will be situated at the back of the court.
It’s an idea to try and limit the number of coaching violations that players are sometimes subjected to and it will be intriguing to see how it works out this year.
Stefanos Tsitsipas makes ‘weird’ claim about change in play at Australian Open
This will take some getting used to for players and it will be very intriguing to see how things play out with the new coaching allowances.
Tsitsipas has suggested that he had a hitting session with Jannik Sinner as a warm-up before he gets his tournament underway and noticed the pods for the first time.
He’s also shared what he thinks about the whole situation in terms of the coaches having more of an input during matches in 2025.
He said during his press conference: “I actually laughed when I saw them yesterday, I was playing with Jannik, I don’t know it’s kind of weird. It’s weird because I see my coaches and some of them are in that particular box and then some of them are upstairs which, I’m not used to.
“No, I’ve never seen a match change because of the tips given by the coaches because it’s still a very recent thing in tennis and you still haven’t had the opportunity to see a lot of intense battles and matches where players reach out to their coaches and the microphone picks up what they say and then it’s implemented and applied into the tactical part of the game.
” It’s still too soon to see those kinds of things because it’s a very recent addition to tennis. If I have to assume, I guess matches and outcomes have changed because of that but then it was secretly done. I personally have had my own issues without, receiving coaching violations for not doing it discreetly but I will definitely tell you there were lots of players on the tour doing it with their coaches and I’ve seen it as well in all kinds of videos of how they were doing it and not getting any coaching violations or penalties back in the day.
“It’s just that in my situation perhaps my coach wasn’t as discreet but that’s why I was getting penalties more than other players. Otherwise, I wish to see those things be applied to tennis and see matches change because of the outcome of what the coach says, I think it will definitely be cool for tennis because I feel like the crowds and the people who are passionate about tennis will get up close with the players and coaches. I feel it will be innovative for tennis.”
Tsitsipas would love to go all the way in Australia
The 26-year-old gets a lot of support in Melbourne with a large contingency of Greek supporters situated in Australia to back the player.
Out of all the Grand Slams, this is the one that Tsitsipas has come closest to winning. He reached the final in 2023 and will hope for a good run here once again.
Last year wasn’t a good one for the world number 11. He lost in the fourth round in Australia, reached the quarters in France and then didn’t make the second week at either Wimbledon or the US Open.
Tsitsipas wears his heart on his sleeve out on the court and he might be one player who looks to take advantage of having a coach giving him instructions from the court side.
As one of the more likeable players on the tour, the hope will be that Tsitsipas really causes chaos this year and starts to really challenge for the big titles again.
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