{"id":394713,"date":"2026-01-28T09:01:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T09:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/394713\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T09:01:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T09:01:07","slug":"australian-open-2026-iga-swiatek-and-jessica-pegula-criticise-cameras-in-players-areas-at-melbourne-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/394713\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Open 2026: Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula criticise cameras in players’ areas at Melbourne Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Six-time major champion Iga Swiatek says players are being watched “like animals in the zoo” by behind-the-scenes cameras at the Australian Open.<\/p>\n

Coco Gauff was captured smashing her racquet<\/a> in a corridor in the players’ area at Melbourne Park on Tuesday, leading the American to call for more privacy.<\/p>\n

The Australian Open has shown footage from the players’ zone in the bowels of Rod Laver Arena – which includes the gym, warm-up area and the corridor from the locker room – since 2019.<\/p>\n

Camera access is more restricted at the other majors.<\/p>\n

“Are we tennis players, or are we animals in the zoo where they are observed even when they poop?” said Poland’s Swiatek, who lost in the quarter-finals<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Semi-finalist Jessica Pegula described the constant filming as an “invasion of privacy” that needs to be “cut back”.<\/p>\n

“You just feel like you’re under a microscope constantly,” the American added.<\/p>\n

Tournament organisers Tennis Australia told BBC Sport the cameras are used to help create a “deeper connection” between fans and players. <\/p>\n

“Striking the right balance between showcasing the personalities and skills of the players, while ensuring their comfort and privacy is a priority,” a statement read.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Six-time major champion Iga Swiatek says players are being watched “like animals in the zoo” by behind-the-scenes cameras…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-394713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}