After many of the world’s top tennis players have spoken out about behind-the-scenes camera access at Grand Slam events, the All England Lawn Tennis Club has decided to keep cameras in the corridors at this year’s Wimbledon Championships but will take measures to give players more privacy.
According to a report by Tom Kershaw in The London Times, “Wimbledon has told players it will not be making any changes to its camera set-up at this year’s championships despite a backlash over behind-the-scenes access at the Australian Open.”
The issue again came to the forefront of discussion in the tennis world last month when American star Coco Gauff was filmed smashing her racket in the warm-down area after a quarterfinal defeat to Elina Svitolina. After the clip went viral, Gauff said she “tried to go somewhere where I thought there wasn’t a camera, because I don’t necessarily like breaking rackets.”
Iga Swiatek, the No. 2 player in the world, similarly questioned the extent to which cameras should be allowed in behind-the-scenes areas after a clip emerged that showed her interaction with security personnel who stopped her when she forgot her credentials.
“The question is, are we tennis players or are we animals in the zoo, where they are observed even when they poop? That was exaggerating, obviously, but it would be nice to have some privacy,” Swiatek said.
In a letter to players, Wimbledon extolled the benefits of using these cameras for the broadcast, suggesting that backstage access has a direct positive impact on the product beamed to fans worldwide. However, the tournament also made clear that it would maintain clearly marked private areas for players and their teams. Additionally, the letter said that an in-house team would first review any behind-the-scenes footage before being sent to broadcast, rather than producers having free access to air whatever they want.
Access has been a key focus in sports broadcasts beyond tennis in recent years. Golf broadcasts have begun interviewing players between shots. Baseball broadcasts interview players while they’re on the field performing. Some basketball broadcasts have analysts sitting on the bench with the teams.
There’s certainly a level of privacy that needs to be respected, and it’s clear that tennis players aren’t trying to scale back access when they’re on the court. Creating clearly delineated areas where cameras are and are not seems to be a sensible approach that should work for both players and fans.
At the end of the day, players know that a good broadcast means growing the sport, and hopefully their pocketbooks. So long as there’s a willingness to grant access at appropriate times, it’s perfectly reasonable to have clearer boundaries regarding cameras placed behind the scenes.