A quarter of Australians want the AO to be cancelled amid COVID controversies

The build-up to the Australian Open has been marred with controversies and Aussies aren’t happy about it.

A quarter of Aussies say the Australian Open should be canned. Picture: AFP

About a quarter of Australians say the Australian Open should be cancelled, according to new research.

A Roy Morgan survey revealed a third of people want the tennis tournament postponed.

Results from the survey, released on Thursday night, showed 36 per cent want the event to start on February 8, as planned.

The survey of 1648 Australians found 26 per cent wanted the grand slam scrapped altogether, 18 per cent said it should be postponed by a week and 20 per cent said it should be pushed back to later in the year.

It comes amid a string of controversies associated with the tournament build-up.

There has been intense backlash to players venting on social media about the quarantine arrangements.

Tennis players waiting for transport to go to practice at the front of the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne. Picture: Getty

Seventy two players have been confined to their hotel rooms for two weeks after being classed as close contacts due to being on the same flight as COVID-positive cases.

World No 13 Roberto Bautista Agut likened the quarantine to “prison, but with Wi-Fi” however he later apologised for the comment.

There were also grumblings from Kazakh player Yulia Putintseva about mice in her room.

The World No 28 shared her anger at the mouse situation on social media, saying she couldn’t sleep.

The 26-year-old had earlier in the week staged her own lockdown protest, sharing a photo of herself holding a sign that read “we need fresh air to breathe”.

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley called on disgruntled competitors to stop ranting online.

“What really upset me the most is if you’ve got a complaint come to me, don’t go on social media and take it out on the staff, take it out on the Melbourne community, take it out on Australia. Don’t do that. If you want to have a crack, at least come to me,” he said.

He said he was “hurt” that Tennis Australia staff were copping complaints from players.

“If you’ve got a complaint, come to me. I don’t have any problem with handling it. But I do have a problem if it’s someone that has been working round the clock and doesn’t get paid a lot of money and has a great passion for the game, loves the players, and is being treated like that. That hurts.”

Men's world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic. Picture: AFP

World No 1 Novak Djokovic said his recent string of complaints had been “misconstrued”.

“My good intentions for my fellow competitors in Melbourne have been misconstrued as being selfish, difficult and ungrateful,” he posted to Twitter.

“Not being able to train and prepare before the tournament starts is really not easy.”

It came after he sent a list of demands to organisers, including having exercise equipment in rooms, better food and allowing players to move to private houses with tennis courts for more training.

His requests were rejected.