"I'd be a supporter of recognizing Novak Djokovic in some way" - Australian Open director Craig Tiley on the prospect of naming a stadium after Serb
Craig Tiley, the director of the Australian Open, has stated that if the stadium were to be named after Novak Djokovic, he would be willing to acknowledge the Serbian ace's achievements.
Novak Djokovic has hit the ball out of the park by matching Australian tennis legend Margaret Court's score of 24 Grand Slam victories at the 2023 US Open.
By taking down Daniil Medvedev in a clean sweep of sets, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 at Flushing Meadows, Novak Djokovic wrote his name in the history books as the first person to achieve this remarkable feat in the Open era.
Craig Tiley, on the latest episode of 'Rock n Roll Tennis' podcast, spilled the beans on the idea of naming a stadium in honor of Novak Djokovic. He made it clear that the naming of the arena in Australia is not in his hands because, unlike other Slams, they lease the facility.
“You’re the second person who’s asked me that today. Look, I mean, ultimately the naming of the arena is not my decision or tennis Australia’s because we….a lot of people don’t really understand the Wimbledon and the French and the US Open, they own the facility in which they run their events. We lease it and the Govt, the Victorian Govt owns our facilities and we lease the facilities from them and we are fortunate that they invest in those facilities but we don’t own them," Craig said.
The director of the Australian Open went on to praise the efficiency of the Victorian government and express his hope that tennis tournaments will be held more frequently.
“So sometime in September, December we move in, we roll out everything for the event and by the middle of February we move out and then right after a year it’s run by a trust for concerts and all that. So you don’t see these tennis courts in the stadium. We wish we did own it because we think we could have some more creativity on running more tennis events throughout a year," he mentioned.
Finally, Craig Tiley praised the Australian government and voiced his approval for naming a stadium, if at all, after Novak Djokovic to celebrate his extraordinary achievements on Australian soil.
“Yeah, the government, they do a great job on the presynched and uh.. and it’s a great presynched infrastructure the Govt’s put together, it’s magnificent. But yeah, it’s a different construct to the other event. So naming of an arena would be a combination of input that would have to happen. But I would be certainly a supporter of recognizing Novak in some way, unbelievable achievements here in Australia," he concluded.
Novak Djokovic would like to play Carlos Alcaraz as much as he played the other two of the Big-3 and Andy Murray
Novak Djokovic is itching to go head-to-head with Carlos Alcaraz as frequently as he's locked horns with the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray.
While shooting the breeze with Sky Sports at the Ryder Cup All-Star game, the top seed opened up about his ongoing feud with Alcaraz.
On one hand, the Serb believes it will spice up the sport to have more rivalries that keep us on the edge of our seats. On the flip side, Djokovic has a horse in that race; it'll ensure he keeps swinging for the fences for years on end.
“I think it’s great for our sport there are more rivalries happening but obviously rivalries with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal particularly and also with Andy Murray are right up there for me. Carlos, I have just played him 3-4 times. Hopefully I’ll play him as many times as I played the other guys and that will mean I’ll be playing for years to come. I doubt that, let’s see how it goes," Novak Djokovic said.