MELBOURNE, Australia — Iga Świątek asked “are we tennis players, or are we animals in the zoo?” as criticism of the Australian Open’s lack of privacy intensified Wednesday.
The previous night, Coco Gauff was filmed smashing her racket seven times in what she thought was a private area after her 6-1, 6-2 quarterfinal loss to Elina Svitolina on Rod Laver Arena. In a news conference afterwards, Gauff said that “maybe some conversations can be had, because I feel like at this tournament the only private place we have is the locker room.” She added that: “I kind of have a thing with the broadcast. I feel like certain moments don’t need to broadcast.”
With cameras in the parking lot, the gym, and the hallways, there are precious few areas for players to retreat to — far fewer than at Wimbledon and the French Open. Świątek herself had been filmed not being allowed into a player area because she didn’t have her accreditation — as happened to Roger Federer here seven years ago. On Wednesday, Świątek was filmed lying down with her eyes closed ahead of facing Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open quarterfinals.
Even the biggest stars have to wait as Iga Swiatek stops to collect her accreditation before she can enter 😅 pic.twitter.com/RoQTu4eMXu
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) January 26, 2026
Asked about the backstage cameras following a 7-5, 6-1 defeat by Rybakina, Świątek backed up Gauff’s position. “The question is, are we tennis players, or are we, like, animals in the zoo where they are observed even when they poop?” she asked in a news conference.
“OK, that was exaggerating obviously, but it would be nice to have some privacy. It would be nice also to, I don’t know, have your own process and not always be observed. It would be nice to have some space where you can do that without the whole world watching.”
Świątek pointed to the private areas at Wimbledon and Roland Garros as evidence that a balance can be struck.
“At Wimbledon there are courts like Aorangi, like people with accreditation can get there, but it’s without the fans. On Roland Garros there’s Jean-Bouin. There are some spaces that you can at least go when you need to, but there are some tournaments where it’s impossible and you are constantly observed, if not by the fans who can just buy some ground passes and go to your practice, then by the cameras.
“We’re tennis players. We’re meant to be watched on the court, and in the press. That’s our job. It’s not our job to be a meme when you forget your accreditation. Oh, it’s funny, yeah, for sure. People have something to talk about, but for us I don’t think it’s necessary.”
When asked if she would speak with the tournament about it, Świątek responded: “What’s the point?”
The tournament did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Świątek’s resignation at the idea of the Australian Open changing things reflects the tournament’s well-known commitment to innovation and experimentation. This is often positive — the one-point slam a couple of weeks ago was a big hit, likewise last year’s AO Animated — but other changes have been more divisive. The coaching boxes just behind the players that were introduced in 2025 have not been to everyone’s taste.
World No. 6 Jessica Pegula said last August that the decision to switch the Australian Open to a Sunday start in 2024 had been taken despite many players not being in favor of it. An Australian Open representative said that the players and tours were consulted and that all of the revenue from the first Sunday ticket sales went to the players.
The issue of a lack of privacy at Melbourne Park has been rumbling on for a decade, ever since the tournament installed the extra cameras for the 2016 event. Things came to a head a few years later when Petra Martić was heaving with tears after losing to Sloane Stephens in a tight third-round match. Like Gauff, she did not realise she was being filmed and broadcast to the world. “We live in Big Brother society,” Novak Djokovic said in a news conference a few days later. “I guess you just have to accept it.”
The U.S. Open similarly captures player areas, and on Tuesday Gauff referenced her discomfort at the cameras showing Aryna Sabalenka smashing a racket after losing to her in the 2023 final.
Players, many of whom broadcast intimate moments of themselves on their own social media channels, are aware of the cameras — but in the moments of extreme emotion that tennis throws up, it’s not an easy thing to bear in mind. Amanda Anisimova, the No. 4 seed, made the point that while there’s plenty of footage that’s fun, incidents like Gauff’s are uncomfortable. “The video of Coco that was posted, that’s tough because she didn’t have a say in that,“ Anisimova said in a news conference after losing in the quarterfinals to Pegula.
Most of the footage shown is pretty bland — players bumping into one another, or doing stretches, or talking with their teams. And as Anisimova said, there are sweet moments captured, like Madison Keys and her good friend Pegula laughing on exercise bikes just after they had played one another on Rod Laver Arena.
But a debate over whether a privacy line has been crossed has felt inevitable at a tournament where content is very much king.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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