Craig Tiley, the director of the Australian Open, has declared that he would be pleased to acknowledge Novak Djokovic’s accomplishments if a stadium or other building were dedicated in his honor.
Novak Djokovic is the most successful singles player in Australian Open history, yet Tiley is unable to change the name of the Melbourne Tennis Centre.
Although not owning the naming rights, the Australian Open leases the stadiums and playing fields. Currently, Margaret Court and Rod Laver are honored by having their names added to the names of the tennis center’s arenas.
Recently, Tiley talked in a podcast and said: “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 government, the Victorian Government, 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.”
He further added: “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.”
This season, Djokovic extended his dominance at the Australian Open singles tournament by winning his 10th title. He missed the event in 2021 due to unfavorable circumstances. The foundation for his claims to be the greatest of all time is his achievement in Melbourne.
🇦🇺 Craig Tiley, Australian Open tournament director, is open to Novak Djokovic being commemorated at the tournament, perhaps via a stadium re-naming:
“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… pic.twitter.com/IXM8gCba7B
— Olly 🎾🇬🇧 (@Olly_Tennis_) September 28, 2023
Novak Djokovic in 2023
LWWWWWWLWW Currently the world no.1, Djokovic played his last match on the 15th of September when he beat world no.25 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 6-4 in the Rubber 2 of the Davis Cup (draw).
At present, during this year Djokovic owns a composed 46-5 record. The Serbian has won 5 titles in 2023 in Adelaide, Australian Open, French Open, Cincinnati and U.S. Open. Djokovic was the finalist in Wimbledon.
Novak Djokovic |
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