Jordan Thompson roasted by tennis fans after seagull drama at Australian Open
The Aussie tennis player was trolled online after a seagull interrupted his Australian Open match, leading to punters making the same joke.
Australian tennis player Jordan Thompson lived to rue blasting the Australian Open for being the "wokest tournament" after social media flocked to make the same joke after play was stopped by seagulls during his second-round match. On Monday Thompson slammed the Australian Open's rule which allowed fans to come and go as they please.
In the past, fans have had to stay seated and weren't allowed to enter the stadium until a change of ends but the Aussie Open scrapped the rule ahead of the 2024 grand slam. Thompson lost his second-round match to Greek seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 4-6 7-6 6-2 7-6. And to add insult to injury the Aussie's comments came back to bite him as he was trolled online after a seagull flew into the stadium as the Greek was up 30-15 and serving for the third set.
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The gull dived into the stadium, hovering just above the court. The intruder brought about a chorus of laughter and claps from Margaret Court Arena as it did laps around the court.
The lone seagull was soon joined by another compatriot who swooped into the stadium, with the players only able to watch as the birds circled overhead before leaving. By the time they had gone a host of social media comments had already flooded in about how the Aussie must think the Melbourne Park seagulls are woke.
Has Jordan Thompson complained about the wokest seagulls in the world yet? #AusOpen
— Chris Coleman (@CJCau) January 17, 2024
Jordan Thompson will call those seagulls woke #AO2024
— Ritesh Varma (@riteshvarma93) January 17, 2024
a seagull just flew into the stadium while jordan thompson was playing. Because of Woke. Seagulls are Now Woke https://t.co/tcRVAWGRT7
— ellieanor, who is very cool (@threeforsix) January 17, 2024
Australian Open seagulls wreak havoc
The pair's encounter is not the first time seagulls have made an appearance at Melbourne Park this year, with the birds causing play to stop in two matches on Monday. A seagull landed on the court during the match between Felix Auger-Aliassime, as play was halted while a ballkid chased it away.
The bird, however, once again circled back around above the court before making its way to court 3 where Jan-Lennard Struff was serving for the match against Rinky Hijikata. Both stopped and watched as the seagull circled overhead before disappearing.
Jordan Thompson says he had "no idea" about "woke" rule change
Following his first-round win, Thompson said the Australian Open rule change was sprung on him and it hinders the ability of a tennis player to concentrate. “How many years have we been playing tennis, and then all of a sudden they spring on us that they can come in between not even a sit-down? So it just disrupts everyone’s rhythm,” he said.
“I mean, if someone is walking at the back and you are throwing the ball toss-up, it’s impossible to see it because you have a moving person behind it. We are out there working, that’s our job, we’re tennis players. We don’t come in and storm into an office while someone is in a meeting.
“Like someone is just barging through the door, making a nuisance. Even though it doesn’t seem that way, but it is. It’s very off-putting.”
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