Revealed: The one-word gender announcement you missed that proves the Australian Open has gone woke

The Australian Open has been criticized in the past for being ‘too woke’ – and a recent change to proceedings at Melbourne Park will undoubtedly irritate many fans of the Grand Slam.

In 2023, the iconic tournament came under fire for creating a special ‘mob ticket’ prize for the tournament’s First Nations Day.

Days later, organizers were blasted for doing nothing to mark Australia Day to avoid conflict over the under-fire national holiday.

Now player introductions include the announcer at Melbourne Park saying the gender-neutral “and their opponent” instead of “and his/her opponent” when the stars first enter the playing surface.

For example, after welcoming Nicolas Jarry to the court on Tuesday, the announcer said: ‘…and their opponent this afternoon, would you please welcome from Italy Jannik Sinner’.

The wake introduction was more traditional at recent Australian Opens.

The iconic Grand Slam has been criticized in recent years for being ‘too woke’ (photo, defending men’s singles champion Jannik Sinner)

It is not known if there will be non-binary players at this year’s event.

Ny Breaking Australia has contacted the Grand Slam organizers for comment on the introductions.

At last year’s tournament, Jordan Thompson branded the Australian Open ‘the worst tournament ever’ after the hometown star was left stunned by a new rule change that angered a number of players.

In his first-round match against compatriot Aleksandar Vukic, Thompson prepared to take a 3-1 lead in the second set as fans continued to enter Court 3.

The rules for the 2024 tournament appeared to have been relaxed to allow spectators to enter stadiums between matches, not just when changing ends, but that led to problems as there is a shorter break between normal matches compared to the gap in the game during the change of ends. .

As a result, Thompson was left standing and waiting for the fans to find their seats, and after asking the referee to address the deceased fans, he was stunned to hear of the rule change.

“You’re kidding, really? Oh my God,” he said. ‘This is the worst tournament ever.’

“It’s just not smart,” Thompson added at the end of his service game, as the referee clarified the new rules for him.

Australian Open boss Craig Tiley insisted no official change has been made for the 2024 tournament.

“I think it’s really important to note that there have been no rule changes,” he told Nine’s Today.

‘What we have basically said is that we want the fans to be in their seats when the game is going on, that is the expectation coming into the stadium and that has always been the case and has not changed this year.

“What we’ve done is we’ve tried to get the fans in their seats quicker because the worst situation you can have as a fan is having to wait outside the stadium for three or five games, you can have thirty or wait thirty games. minutes before you get in, and we don’t want that for the fans either.

“So we find a way to get fans into their seats as quickly as possible and whatever seat you can find, you sit down when the play starts, that’s the expectation.

“The fans know that when you come to watch the tennis and you are sitting in your seat, the intention is not to disrupt the game.”