'Really unfair': Aussie tennis fans rage over ticketing farce
Tennis fans have vented their frustrations over the ‘unfair’ system used to sell tickets for A Day At The Drive, the upcoming exhibition series in Adelaide ahead of the Australian Open.
The exhibition matches were organised as part of the Souo\th Australian government’s deal with Tennis Australia, with several top players including Novak Djokovic, Ash Barty and Serena Williams to take part in exchange for the state assisting with quarantining overseas players.
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Those hoping to see the tournament believed tickets were to have gone on sale at 11:30AM on January 20, with no online queues for tickets to be formed before then.
But tennis lovers got a nasty shock when they logged on to find thousands of people already queued up at the time tickets went on sale.
Tickets, which were $30 for adults and $5 for children, sold out within minutes according to Tennis SA.
The situation prompted many unhappy tennis fans to speak out, with many saying the system was not fair.
“How can you say that sales open at 11.30 if there was a wait list which opened earlier than that?” one social media user asked.
“This is really unfair, next time just say when the wait list will open.”
Nailsworth resident Sophie Walker told NCA Newswire said it was a ‘shame’.
“We did not know the tickets were going on sale until early this week because they had not disclosed that yet,” she said.
“It is such a shame as we were looking forward to going (and) a lot of other people were in the same boat.”
Feeling very lucky to have snagged some tickets to A Day at the Drive, especially after the announcement that @janniksin is joining the top 3. This kid is the future of tennis, mark my words #Adelaide
— Sabrina Sghirripa (@ssghirripa) January 21, 2021
@DjokerNole hey mate, I missed out on tickets to the tennis in Adelaide. Any chance you could help a brother out?
— ash (@ashjack___) January 21, 2021
Paula Badosa positive for COVID before Aus Open
Rising Spanish star Paula Badosa has become the first Australian Open player to announce she has tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the season's first grand slam.
The 23-year-old has been isolating in Melbourne under the mandatory 14-day quarantine rule after a tournament-chartered flight from Abu Dhabi on which two co-passengers also subsequently tested positive.
Badosa said on social media on Thursday that she had been feeling unwell and had been moved to another "health hotel" to recuperate.
Please, don’t get me wrong. Health will always comes first & I feel grateful for being in Australia. Quarantine & preventive measures are pivotal right now. I talked about rules that changed overnight but I understand the sad situation we are living. Sorry guys. Stay safe. I❤️🇦🇺
— Paula Badosa (@paulabadosa) January 21, 2021
The world No.67 went on Twitter to say: "I have some bad news. Today, I received a positive Covid-19 test result.
"I'm feeling unwell and have some symptoms, but I'll try to recover as soon as possible listening to the doctors.
"I have been taken to a health hotel to self-isolate and be monitored. Thanks for your support. We'll be back stronger. Paula."
A total of 72 competitors have been confined to their hotel rooms before the tournament that starts on February 8.
On Wednesday, officials had reported that 10 people who travelled to Australia for the tournament had tested positive.
Yet some of those were likely to be viral shedding, where someone still has the virus in their system but is no longer contagious..
Yet the New York-born Badosa is still the only competitor to be named as an active coronavirus case.
With AAP
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