Tiley slams ‘ridiculous’ calls to move Australian Open, Djoker and Kyrgios to play exhibition match

Craig Tiley rubbishes claims the tournament should move from its January timeslot to a cooler month, reveals Djokovic v Kyrgios ‘arena extravaganza’.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia, right, will make his return to Melbourne Park this Friday against Nick Kyrgios, left. Picture: Getty

Tennis Australia’s chief has rubbished claims the Australian Open should be moved from its January timeslot to a cooler month amid concerns about competing in summer heat, as he revealed Novak Djokovic will make his return to Melbourne Park this Friday against Nick Kyrgios.

Responding to reports at the weekend which suggested the first grand slam of the tennis season — which has been played in Melbourne in January since 1988 and kicked off with one week of qualifying matches on Monday — should be moved, possibly to October to avoid summer heat, Craig Tiley said it was “absolutely ridiculous”.

“It was a bizarre claim. This is the season. It starts in January. It starts here in Australia,” he said.

“Australia is the summer, Australia is January. This event is, from the player’s perspective, one of their favourite places to play.

“They are coming here earlier. We are now seeing players here for six weeks, and seven weeks. The preparation for the Australian summer is very normalised, they know what they need to do.”

Spectators feeling the heat cool off in around a mist spray tunnel, during a previous Australian Open. Picture: David Caird

Local player Alex de Minaur and world number 24 also said there was no need to change the timing of the tournament.

“I mean, for me, I love starting my year here. There's nothing better than the Aussie summer — it’s nice and hot,” the 23-year-old said.

“Us Aussies at least, we thrive in the heat. I think we’re ready to kick off our year with playing at home so for us it’s amazing. We love it.”

Temperatures on court can be significantly higher than the outside temperature. For example, in 2018 it was reported Rod Laver Arena reached 69C on court compared with 39C off court.

An extreme heat policy operates at the Australian Open, with a scale that ranges from one (temperate playing conditions) to five (suspension of play).

Australian Open Mens Tennis champion Rafael Nadal feels the heat at Government House lawn, in Melbourne. Picture: David Caird

Asked how gruelling it is to play in hot conditions, Mr de Minaur said it depended on player preparation.

“Ultimately, you can decide where you want to do your pre-season. There's a lot of people that come here early (or) they go to the Middle East (to) get used to the heat,” he said.

But Mr de Minaur reported players may appreciate a longer off season after the final grand slam of the year — the US Open — is usually wrapped up in September.

It came amid news world number five, Novak Djokovic, will play his first game in front of a Melbourne crowd since he was sensationally deported last January because he was not vaccinated against Covid-19, this Friday in a ticketed exhibition match against homegrown talent Nick Kyrgios.

Mr Tiley revealed the news on Monday, ahead of the Australian Open tournament kicking off on January 16.

“We are going to have an arena extravaganza on Friday night at 6:30. (It will be) Novak against Nick,” he said.

“We‘re going to open up the stands … (with) ticket sales (opening) for that tomorrow. It’ll be a very low price point. So we can get the stadium full on Rod Laver.”

Mr Tiley insisted Mr Djokovic was welcomed by crowds at the Adelaide International last week and expected those in Melbourne to do the same although they faced vastly different lock down durations and rules.

“Our sporting fans are among the most educated in the world. They appreciate greatness. They appreciate players like Novak have won this event nine times,” he said.

“I‘m pretty confident that the fans of Melbourne similar to the experience that he had in Adelaide will be just as good.”

Mr Tiley also confirmed that players will not have to declare positive Covid-19 cases, but are recommended not to play if they are unwell.