Big Brother is always there and always watching, wrote George Orwell in 1984, and this week at the Australian Open, players have been channelling their inner Winston Smith by rebelling against the all-seeing eye of the Australian Open.
The issue bubbled to the surface when footage of Coco Gauff smashing her racket was broadcast and then splashed all across social media. Then on Wednesday several other players piled in, including the fiercely private Iga Swiatek.
She compared the filming of players to ‘zoo animals’ being watched while they ‘poop’, while Novak Djokovic said the next thing would be cameras in the showers. Ridiculously exaggerated, and a ridiculous overreaction.
Should players be allowed private space in which to blow off steam after a match? To smash a racket, to cry, to debrief with their team? Of course they should – but they already have one. The locker room is still the holy of holies, sacrosanct for players only.
The Australian Open also provide a quiet room (ideal for weeping), a strategy room, a sleep room. There are even ‘beauty rooms’ for hair and make-up. Perhaps a wise addition for next year would be a room full of inflatable dummies which could be pounded with rackets.
The point is that if players want to get away from the cameras – they can. Gauff said she thought the spot she chose to demolish her Head PT was not under surveillance, but if she went to the locker room she could have been certain of that.
The issue of player privacy bubbled to the surface when footage of Coco Gauff smashing her racket was broadcast and then splashed all across social media
Other players have piled in, including the fiercely private Iga Swiatek – but it is a dangerous game to disavow measures which place more eyeballs on their sport
It is a very dangerous game for supremely well rewarded athletes to disavow measures which place more eyeballs on them and their sport.
Tennis is on an upward trend right now but there may come a time when stars will be begging for footage of them ambling along corridors to be consumed with such voracity.
Remember Break Point? Maybe you don’t, and if so I don’t blame you. That was the modestly successful attempt by tennis to ape the success of Drive to Survive with a behind-the-scenes Netflix documentary. It wasn’t exactly warts and all, with individual stars choosing whether or not to feature and the result being a stage-managed show in which players were very much the ‘heroes’ of their own episode.
So we had one about Alexander Zverev with no mention of the complaints of domestic violence against him; there was Nick Kyrgios portrayed as a loveable, misunderstood maverick with nothing on his more objectionable behaviour.
These things only work if athletes forget the cameras are on. That is when you get moments of red-blooded reality, like Gauff smashing her racket or Swiatek weeping on her massage table at last year’s French Open.
It is not just the spectacular stuff, either. Speaking as someone who has a degree of privileged access at the Grand Slams, it is absolutely right for fans to be given more of that window into players’ world outside the court. It can be interesting to see their little quirks, how they present themselves just before going on court, in particular the moment pregnant with tension when two players stand inches away, trying their best to ignore each other before doing battle.
Most importantly, it humanises the players. Seeing them strolling round the halls, interacting with various members of staff and – especially – with each other makes them seem more like people going about their days and less like robots whose only output modes are forehand and backhand.
It’s not like all the footage shown is negative, either. One clip shared on social media showed Alcaraz walking along and giving a friendly smile and hello to various ancillary staff – he is truly Rafael Nadal’s successor in that regard.
As with so many aspects of tennis and brand-building, players should look to the example of Aryna Sabalenka. She has been the star of the show as the presence of cameras has increased. And her co-star has been performance coach Jason Stacy, whom she lovingly tortures in the gym areas – flicking bands at him, chasing him with sticks and patting his bald head.
Aryna Sabalenka has become the star of tennis world as the presence of cameras has increased. And her co-star has been performance coach Jason Stacy, whom she lovingly tortures
The world No1 embraces every opportunity to showcase her personality to the world. That is just who she is, to an extent, but she is also being smart
The world No1 embraces every opportunity to showcase her personality to the world. That is just who she is, to an extent, but she is also being smart, knowing the ‘Big Brother’ cameras can be as important as Instagram and her beloved TikTok in shaping her image.
Perhaps this is because sponsorship has not come easily to Sabalenka. Born in the unfashionable – in tennis marketing terms, especially since the war in Ukraine – nation of Belarus, the cash has not flowed so freely into her coffers as those of Gauff, for example.
She knows she must work harder than others and the result was her strutting around a court in a floor-length Gucci dress for a pre-Australian Open advert having sealed a deal with the behemoth fashion house.
Of course, not everyone is like Sabalenka. Swiatek is her greatest rival on court but her antithesis off it. The Pole is extremely shy, doing her best to keep the world at bay.
And that is her right, knowing that doing so will limit her potential for commercial earnings. For the Swiateks of this world, they have to get used to the cameras and go to the many private areas available if they wish to escape them – it is really not that hard.
And, please, Iga, no more talk of anyone watching tennis players ‘poop’.
