Tiley backs Srdjan Djokovic over ‘misinterpretation’, wants crackdown on clock milking

Australian Open boss Craig Tiley does not believe there is a serious problem with political protests at the tournament and, separately, vowed to crack down on players time-wasting between points to avoid further scheduling mayhem after one match finished beyond 4am.

Speaking before Sunday night’s men’s singles final, the tournament supremo defended Srdjan Djokovic after the father of star player Novak Djokovic was captured posing for photos with pro-Vladimir Putin activists.

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley.Credit:Joe Armao

The Open won’t enforce a dedicated curfew in Melbourne unless players lobby for it but milking the serve shot clock will come under intense scrutiny.

Tiley maintained that the controversial scenes which attracted global attention where patrons brandished Russian flags and chanted messages of support for Putin were limited to a few trouble-makers.

Tiley confirmed that Srdjan Djokovic had not breached any event entry policies.

“But certainly the individual who was inciting the crowd [during the protest by fans supporting Vladimir Putin], he did, and he was removed,” Tiley said.

“I think there’s been some misinterpretation about what Djokovic’s dad did and some incorrect reporting on what he said.”

In a video from last Wednesday night, Srdjan Djokovic appears alongside spectators who are speaking Russian and carrying flags. He appeared to say: “long live the Russians”, igniting a firestorm of international media coverage. Serbian journalists and Novak Djokovic have since said the translation was wrong.

But Slavic languages expert Slobodanka Vladiv-Glover, who analysed the audio for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, said she was fairly confident Djokovic said “ziveli rusi”, which translates to “long live the Russians”. In Serbian, the word ziveli can mean both “cheers” and something akin to “hail” or “long live”.

Tiley said he did not believe Djokovic senior had uttered the comments.

“I am of the view that it would have been better if he [Djokovic senior] wasn’t in that situation,” Tiley said on Sunday.

“But he had every day been going out to the Serbian community [outside centre court] and congratulating them for coming and supporting his son. And that’s fair enough, right?

“That’s what great about the Australian Open. There’s a lot of energy and people have a good time.

“And it was just a few individuals in that group that ruined it for everyone, and they’ve since been removed from the site and are not allowed back.

“The things that I read that was claimed he had said is what he indicated he did not say, and I believe him.”

Srdjan Djokovic said he had no intention of being caught up in the situation.

“I am here to support my son only. I had no intention of causing such headlines or disruption,” he said via a statement on Friday.

In the statement, released by Novak Djokovic’s management, Srdjan Djokovic did not deny making comments relating to Russia.

Tiley said the sport’s decision-makers in tennis had to closely examine why match times are being pushed out. Scheduling chaos is a particular issue for the Australian Open which, in one infamous example this year, Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis were on court until the wee hours after nearly six hours of play.

Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis at the end of their five-setter after 4am local time.Credit:Getty Images

Official Australian Open figures show that in the Murray-Kokkinakis match, about 60 per cent of the breaks between points were longer than 25 seconds, far higher than the tournament average. For all matches at this year’s major, only 16 per cent of all breaks between points were longer than the 25-second marker.

Tiley said organisers were open to a curfew time in Melbourne – but only with the approval of players – but they must understand scheduling parameters.

The 25-second serving clock was introduced at the majors in 2018, ironically to crack down on time-wasting, but Tiley said “100 per cent” there had been unintended consequences – milking the clock or players subconsciously using the time allocated to them instead of serving when they were ready.

Regardless, Open officials will look at other ways to reduce match times.

“I think as a sport we’ve got to look at no lets, I think we’ve got to look at the length of the time between points, the length of the warm-up,” Tiley said.

“We’re happy to entertain a curfew, I know the players don’t want that, but we’re happy to entertain that.″⁣

He said the event was effectively locked in to two key sessions on the feature courts for most of the 14 days of competition, but the night session can’t start any earlier than 7pm.

“We have some restrictions,” he said.

The preferences and expectations of broadcasters, especially domestic broadcaster Channel Nine, were “extremely important”.

“As you know we have the news in Australia from six to seven, which is a protected time period,” he said. “That’s how we get the prizemoney to pay the players [via broadcast revenue].”

The tournament also backed the performance of the Dunlop balls after early criticism from players, including Murray and Rafael Nadal.

“The specifications of the ball were exactly the same as last year,” Tiley said. “However, in defence of the players the conditions were different [in 2023]. We had extreme heat, we had rain … that will influence the performance of the ball, and sometimes it will improve [it] and sometimes it won’t. That we can’t control.

“Over time the court speed stabilises, which it does, which it always does at the beginning of an event, and then players get used to the balls, which they did.”

Dunlop has recently re-signed with the Australian Open on a six-year deal.

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