World No.1 Iga Swiatek has questioned why the stands on the main court in Rome have been empty in embarrassing scenes for the tournament and the tennis world. The Italian Open is a Masters 1000 event and is the final tournament leading into the French Open.
While the tournament often attracting the biggest names in tennis, the main stadiums have been largely empty for some of the top ranked players in the world. Many have claimed the rising ticket prices for the main stadiums have forced fans to watch matches on the outside courts where it is more affordable.
Many of these arenas have been full. The rain delays in the first few days would have also impacted tickets. However, Swiatek was the latest to call out the dwindling numbers and thanked the fans that showed up during her day match for making an atmosphere.
“I really appreciate you guys coming,” she said in her on-court interview. “I know we can do better and fill out the whole stadium. But I am pretty happy you are here and supporting tennis.”
Swiatek isn’t the only one to question the attendance on the main courts in Rome. At the beginning of the tournament, tennis reporter Jose Morgado called out the scenes with a number of stadiums appearing empty.
This is a terrible look,” he wrote. Incredibly, the outside courts have been packed for matches with ticket prices considerably lower. This is was clear when home favourite Fabio Fognini played Miomir Kecmanovic on Pietrangali court.
Fans were left baffled at the scenes during live broadcast and called out organisers for raising the ticket prices for Italians.
