“It’s weird to sit in the crowd and watch my friend. I enjoyed it, but the nerves were through the roof. Now I know how he feels watching me,” Thompson said of his friend, who won $1 million in the opening round of the competition.
Eyes on the prize: Thompson won until the second round.Credit: Chris Hopkins
As for his own game, he said he knew he had to change things.
“I had my team telling me to get to the net, but I knew I needed to do it myself. I just thought I could get into more games on the return. But he served well, he played well, he played well from behind. He moved well. That put pressure on me.”
Thompson, who has made the second round here six times, knows the monkey is still on his back, playing with his earlobe and asking if he is in danger of making it to the third round. The monkey should remember that Thompson is here as a wildcard.
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“When I was a set and under, I thought, ‘Wow, this doesn’t look good’, but yeah, I’ve had another crack. I don’t know what the Australian Open is for me. I think it’s well over 10. I’ll just have to do something else.”
Fans and players now see the color red
In 2024, Thompson’s most interesting contribution was declaring the Open the “most woke tournament ever” after organizers discovered they had relaxed rules to allow fans to come and go from their seats between games and not just when changing ends. How it woke up remains as much of a head-scratcher two years on as it was then.
This apparently pissed off the players; well, it pissed off Thompson then. But not nearly as much as it pissed off tennis fans before the change. Standing on the stairwell looking at the concrete wall while finishing that Aperol Spritz you just bought and wondering if you need a second trip to the bathroom and maybe another overpriced orange drink in a plastic cup before you get back to your seat.
But did he wake up? No. Although to be fair, most things labeled as awakened almost aren’t by definition anymore.
Anyway, that was about two years ago.
Fortunately, Thompson wasn’t at center court that night, so he didn’t have to deal with this year’s change — the net posts flashing red to signal calls.
The umpire’s chair also flashes red, all when the technology deems the ball to be out.
Network posts light up on the phone call at Rod Laver Arena.Credit: Christopher Hopkins
It’s not woke – the session policies weren’t either – but how do you describe the latest change? Adroit? Smart? Unnecessary? Yeah, pointless. But in a useless, harmless, “who really fits” kind of way. Like putting numbers on the backs of test cricketers.
It’s clearly boomerish to remember a time when real people stuck out an arm to signal the ball was out and stoically, if not happily, submitted to sitting mute while brats abused them into making bad choices.
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These calls are now made by a computer rather than humans (except for the head umpire), so it makes sense to extend the technology to flashing lights. Sort of. But why stop there? Why not some flames? A group of Bavarian slap dancers skipping on the court?
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