Rainbow skates, pride flags and a question that keeps coming up

Rainbow roller skaters, drag queens, cutesy stickers and colourful flags were all available this Pride Day at the Australian Open on Thursday.

High-profile drag queen Courtney Act caught the 5am flight from Sydney to Melbourne to attend John Cain Arena’s Pride event, which was headlined by superstar Tash Sultana.

Wearing bright pink clogs and a yellow bedazzled three-piece outfit, Act smiled for photos with fans. On the sidelines, Open Season wanted to ask one question – did she think the nearby Margaret Court Arena should be renamed?

Courtney Act at the tennis on Thursday.Credit: Charlotte Grieve

The debate is a perennial as Court’s remarkable record on the court contrasts with her record of remarks about the LGBTQ community, including comments that transgender children are “of the devil” and her decision to boycott Qantas for supporting same-sex marriage. Still, Act was hesitant when the question was put to her.

“I feel like I could give an answer to that,” she said. “I probably want to think about it, and give you a bit more of a thoughtful answer than on the fly.”

Instead, she was keen to speak about the benefits of the AO’s Pride Day yet how inclusivity in sport still has a long way to go – particularly in the AFL, where there is not a single openly gay male player.

“I have firsthand experience that there are men who are not exclusively heterosexual in the AFL,” Act said with a cheeky grin. “I somehow seem to attract professional sports players. Rugby players, AFL players, soccer players, Canadian rugby players, Olympians.”

Lord Mayor Sally Capp at an AO cocktail party on Thursday afternoon.Credit: Charlotte Grieve

Later in the day, Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp was spotted in her signature chunky glasses at a glitzy function in the Zinc Room on the banks of the Yarra, where she was a little more forthcoming.

“It’s disturbing and disappointing to me when anyone, particularly leaders, make discriminatory remarks,” she said. “It doesn’t reflect who we are and who we want to be as a community or a city.”

While Capp stopped short of support for renaming the arena, she gave a little hint when asked about the idea of renaming it in honour of Evonne Goolagong Cawley. “If those proposals were put up, it would be warmly received … It’s good these matters are getting attention.”

Women’s tennis greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova were not so coy on their thoughts about inclusivity, penning an op-ed in The Washington Post that labelled a mooted partnership with Saudi Arabia a “significant regression” amid growing speculation the WTA tour will award the 2024 finals to Riyadh.

The duo said they respected cultural differences, but slammed the kingdom’s laws on women’s rights and its criminalisation of LGBTQ people. “The WTA’s values sit in stark contrast to those of the proposed host,” they wrote.

PRICE DROP

Controversial German player Alexander Zverev scraped through to the semi-finals in his 2am defeat on Thursday against golden boy Carlos Alcaraz.

The Spaniard has wooed crowds with his killer court moves and style. And while Zverev was all smiles in his post-match interview, it turns out some spectators may not be so pleased.

Thanks to the Open’s dynamic pricing model, where ticket prices change in response to customer demand, the cost of the men’s finals tickets went into freefall after the upset for the World No. 2.

The finals tickets were previously selling for a minimum of between $2000 and $6000 but have now dropped to just $899, according to analysis by writer Neil McMahon, who has been watching this issue closely and wrote about it for this masthead in recent days.

Zverev’s pending criminal trial over abuse allegations, which he denies, has become the “elephant in the room” of the grand slam. His promotion to the ATP’s player council has sparked much discussion among everyone except his fellow tennis players, who have adopted an almost uniform “no comment” policy.

The dust-up is likely to reinforce calls for a pricing rethink. Griffith Uni human rights lawyer Sarah Joseph described the current model as “legalised scalping” and an “absolute blight”.

We asked the Open to respond but haven’t heard back.

ALL’S ELLE

Stand back humans. Former supermodel Elle Macpherson has plans to take over the world. Not in a geopolitical sense, you understand, but in wellness.

The revelation slipped out on Wednesday night at the Melbourne W hotel’s architecturally impressive Curious Bar. Influencers and journalists were certainly curious to meet Elle and hear about her wellness company WelleCo.

The occasion was the launch of a new product line for super-greens plant-based elixir company the Evening Elixir, a “nourishing nightcap for beauty and rest”. Or, for the unsophisticated, fancy cocoa.

Sunglasses firmly in place, Elle Macpherson takes to the red carpet on Thursday.Credit: Charlotte Grieve

Present were: Nine’s Jo Hall, Allan Raskall and Lavina Nixon and shoe queen Lana Wilkinson, while Macpherson’s rocker boyfriend, Doyle Bramhall, roamed the venue looking for a non-alcoholic mint cocktail. Regis Healthcare co-founder Bryan Dorman and Collingwood-to-coffee king Nick Stone were also there.

In an interview with former Sunrise presenter Mel Doyle, Macpherson said she would love to see WelleCo as a global wellness pioneer. “I’d love to see the world well,” she added with feeling.

RAIN COVER FOR CELEBS

On Thursday afternoon, Macpherson was busy on the AO circuit again – delivering the keynote Inspiration series address and taking to the red carpet. Play was suspended on the tennis courts about 3.30pm due to rain.

But the drizzle did not delay Macpherson, who turned up six minutes earlier than scheduled.

Her hair was immaculately resilient to the wet weather, but she politely declined to take off her sunglasses when repeatedly asked by the assembled press pack. “The rain!” she replied.

On the guest list for the cocktail event: domestic violence advocate Rosie Batty, corporate titan and AO boss Jayne Hrdlicka, former player Alicia Molik, coach and commentator Rennae Stubbs,
doubles legend Judy Dalton and a range of media personalities, including TV and radio hosts Sylvia Jeffreys and Jackie Henderson.

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