‘I mean, do you know something,’ Murray told the umpire. ‘I respect the rules. It’s so disrespectful that the tournament has us out here until 3, f***ing 4 o’clock in the morning and we’re not allowed to take a piss.

‘It’s a joke,’ he fumed. ‘It is a joke a you know it! It’s disrespectful. It’s disrespectful to you, it’s disrespectful to the players and we’re not allowed to go to the toilet. Ridiculous.’

Last year, Murray was offended by Tsitsipas for taking a long toilet break. 

Murray then took to Twitter to mock his opponent after losing to him in five sets in the first round.

‘Fact of the day. It takes Stefanos Tsitipas [sic] twice as long to go the bathroom as it takes Jeff Bazos [sic] to fly into space. Interesting.’

Murray claimed Tsitsipas was going to the toilet ‘for 20 minutes every time’.  Amazon founder Bezos’s flight into space last month from the Texas desert took ten minutes.

‘In the toilets right there, what’s he doing in there? It’s never once taken me that long to go to the toilet ever when it’s right there.’

Murray’s prominent voice on bathroom breaks led to a rule change – with the ATP Tour bringing in fixed limits allowing only one visit per match, for a maximum of three minutes once they enter the facility.

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qxROJGdWGAM

The former world number 1 is currently in Australia for the Grand Slam this year and hopes things go smoothly this time around. 

“You can’t forget those events, it’s one of those things that stick with you,” said Djokovic in his first news conference since returning to Australia.

“It stays with you for the rest of your life. It’s something I’ve never experienced before and hopefully never again, but it is a valuable life experience for me.

“But I have to move on and coming back to Australia speaks about how I feel about this country and how I feel about playing here.”

“It’s a great place and the people in Adelaide, and generally in Australia, love tennis, love sports and it’s a sporting nation so hopefully we’re going to have a lot of people watching and we can have a good time,” Djokovic said.

“I’m hoping everything is going to be positive. Obviously, it’s not something that I can predict. I’ll do my best to play some good tennis and bring good emotions and good feelings to the crowd.”

Djokovic is motivated for the coming year and specifically the Australian Open for its highly competitive environment. 

YouTube Link; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0QN88SbI78

The administration expects all players to be fully vaccinated before they can fly in for the tournament. Victorian State administrator Daniel Andrews has had a say on the matter and believes there is a line for players wanting to enter the state for the Grand Slam. 

“I don’t think an unvaccinated tennis player is going to get a visa to come into this country,” he said. “If they did get a visa, they’d probably have to quarantine for a couple of weeks when no other players will have to.

“I don’t think any other tennis player, or golfer, or Formula One driver, will even get a visa to get here. The vaccine doesn’t care what your tennis ranking is or how many Grand Slams you have won. Sorry, the virus does not care. Professional sport is part of that authorised worker list and they have to be double-dose vaccinated.”

Last year’s Australian Open was a debacle itself as players were required to quarantine inside hotels for lengthy periods to meet the strict requirements set by the administration. 

Djokovic has refused to open up on his vaccination status currently and his decision of making it to the Australian Open is still hanging by a thread. 

“Things beings as they are, I still don’t know if I will go to Melbourne,” Djokovic said. “I will not reveal my status whether I have been vaccinated or not, it is a private matter and an inappropriate inquiry.

“Of course I want to go, Australia is my most successful grand slam tournament. I want to compete, I love this sport and I am still motivated.

“I am following the situation regarding the Australian Open … I believe there will be a lot of restrictions just like this year, but I doubt there will be too many changes.”

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEsK5BbcGUQ

Debates raged online after it became public that Margaret Court will soon receive the Companion to the Order of Australia, which is the highest civilian honor in the country. Court was already made an Officer to the Order of Australia back in 2007. 

The 78-year-old has had unquestionable feats on the tennis court, with over 24 grand slam titles, which still stands as the benchmark for singles titles. However, her views on the LGBTQ community and on same-sex marriages have made Court really unpopular with the masses and drew a lot of angry criticism toward herself. Recent news of Court receiving the Order of Australia award has further stoked the fire. 

“No, because I loved representing my nation,” Court told 3AW on Tuesday. “When I got the AO it was for my community reach program. We put out 75 tons of food a week. And this was for my tennis, and I think it was a long-time coming.”

“I wasn’t one who looked for it. I didn’t know I was getting it. I was very honored when I was told I was. There wasn’t a lot of fuss about it, but there has been a lot of other people who have made a lot of fuss about it.”

Court added further that she wouldn’t come to the Australian Open, even if she was invited. “I’m not coming to the Australian Open. No, I wasn’t invited,” Court said. “With coronavirus, we’ve been so busy with our community work. I haven’t even thought about it.”

While Court reiterated her view point that being gay is a curable choice, she further went on to say that a lot of what she said was misconstrued by trolls online. She also talked about the constant bullying and trolling she’s gone through during the last few years. 

“I’ve always said what the Bible says,” she said. “I don’t hate anybody. I love people, and I love gay people and transgender people, and we get them into our community services. We never turn anybody away.”

“A lot of things were said which I never really said, which I think was the sad part.”

“I’ve been bullied a lot in the last few years, and I don’t mind. That’s alright. But if I say anything, then [they say] I’m a bigot and I’m everything else, and I don’t like that,” Court concluded. 

As controversial as her opinions might be, they take nothing away from the stellar career that Margaret Court has enjoyed on the tennis court. Her laurels still stand out in individual tennis and make her a stalwart of the game. This justified the decision to give Court the Companion to the Order of Australia, which is the highest civilian honor in the country. 

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urJvkseYK3s

This time around the Australian Open was a more solemn affair, with nothing worth mentioning as such. However, the event wasn’t short of laughable bits, with the dance moves of a specific coin toss boy gaining prominence across the internet. 

The Australian Open court was host to a jazzy performance this year around as one coin toss boy had come out in his dancing shoes and couldn’t hold the urge to pull out some of the moves. The coin toss boy pulled out his moves during a match between protégés Kei Nishikori and Kamil Majchrzak. 

As is the case with all tennis matches, the coin toss was to be held before the start of the first round. It was expected to go about as any other coin toss, but the coin toss boy had other plans in mind. The coin toss boy caught literally everyone standing near the centre net off guard through his fancy dance moves. 

While he proceeded to move forward and flip the coin, the boy bust his right leg forward in a fluent movement, and then twirled and cycled around the area with a 360 spin that could put any ballerina to shame. He then finished the turn, with an even fluent movement to do what he was there to do; flip the coin. 

This rather impromptu and shocking jig by the coin toss boy got all those nearby, including the players, referee, and the crowd in stitches. Even the commentator couldn’t hide his excitement, as he showed it through his sudden reaction of amazement. 

The crowd, which had remained largely silent, by the time of the coin toss, roared in approval of the boy’s moves, and gave the kid a huge applause. The video was also tweeted by the Australia Open team, who were as surprised as we were at this sudden move. 

We all know Novak Djokovic for the feats he pulls off on the tennis court, right? I mean, who could forget the 2012 Australian Open Final, which lasted for almost six hours, before an exhausted Djokovic emerged victorious. Regardless of how phenomenal that match between Nadal and Djokovic might have been, it’s a surprise that Djokovic is using it to justify his injury stricken 2017.

In a recent tweet, Novak Djokovic blamed that final for the fact that he and Nadal are in need of rehabilitation after the injuries that they suffered in 2017. Not only that, he went on to comment on how Roger Federer now has a chance to usurp the title of number one tennis player in the world, all because Nadal had to go through that fateful match back in 2012.It’s a surprise that Djokovic claims that the match had lasting impacts on him and Nadal, especially when you consider how much younger the two tennis stars were back in 2012.

To claim that the only reason why Federer—one of the greatest of all time—has got a chance of becoming number one again is Nadal’s injury, would be absolutely preposterous. Federer is 36 now and still less prone to injury than Nadal and Djokovic, who are supposedly in their prime. Both Djokovic and Nadal need to take lessons on fitness from Roger Federer, instead of moping about how a match has had lasting impact on them. It’s a fact that only the fittest survive!