Long live Sir Andy and the people’s court

A new era of tennis has begun with the ascendency of the House of Murray. It’s an era couched in Murray’s down-to-earth persona, evident in his scheduled round three match against American Sam Querrey which was played on Hisense Arena on Friday.

Hisense Arena has been given the moniker of the People’s Court at Melbourne Park due to its accessibility, making it the home of the everyday tennis fan.

With its football like atmosphere, there are no airs and graces at Melbourne Park’s third indoor arena.

The famoulsy long queues that snake down the stairs and out of the doors may put some punters off but for others it’s like queuing for AFL grand final tickets: slightly uncomfortable but well worth the wait.

To put it another way, Hisense Arena is the Northern Suburbs of Melbourne Park and I’m not talking about today’s increasingly gentrified Northern Suburbs.

Hisense is like Melbourne’s North back in the day and I’m talking the kind of back in the day when Reservoir’s 3073 postcode was shunned rather than sought after.

This is back when house hunters drew a clear line at Bell Street and under no circumstances would they set foot north of this congested landmark.

Hisense Arena is the place where tennis fans on a day pass can get some respite from the Melbourne heat or the Melbourne rain.

It’s a polar opposite environment to the genteel and well-heeled world of Rod Laver or Margaret Court Arenas.

These courts are the domain of the older more refined tennis fans that remember the glory days of the Australian Open on grass at Kooyong.

These courts are also where the hangers on, the well heeled and the lovers of a freebie congregate to be seen.

Sure, there’s atmosphere on these courts but not like Hisense, the People’s Court.

Hisense Arena, which seats up to 10,000 fans, is the land of the inflatable flouro kangaroo, with pockets of green and gold and a sea of ubiquitous Australian flags when an Aussie plays there.

It’s where fandom is not refined to polite clapping but is enthusiastically wrapped in a shared bond of emotions between player and spectator.

Even esteemed journalists like the New York Times‘ Christopher Clarey found himself hustling for a seat during Nick Kyrgios’ second round match against Andreas Seppi on Wednesday night.

And just like the good old days of Melbourne’s North, there is no hierarchy, just a sense of everyone in this together.

In this way Hisense Arena is the great equaliser.

For some tennis purists the decision to schedule the world’s number one male tennis player on such an ‘outer’ court is nothing short of scandalous heresy but this is to misunderstand the new reign of Murray.

Followers of Murray have long noted his down to earth persona and self-deprecating humour and if a number one seed was ever to play on Hisense, then he is the ideal candidate.

Murray was enthusiastic about his trek to the outer reaches of Melbourne Park, saying, “it’s a great court to play on. Great crowd.”

He also noted, “the stadium was full before we finished our warmup on there today (had a) good, nice atmosphere.”

So much for the tennis snobs who were outraged that the tournament organisers had allegedly slanted the world number one.

As the world’s number one tennis player, surely a visit to Hisense Arena is an important step in ensuring an enduring connection between players and spectators.

For far too long visitors to Melbourne Park have had to buy expensive tickets to Rod Laver Arena in order to see the top players, and while this is fine, surely we should encourage top players to promote the sport by visiting courts like Hisense Arena.

After all, doesn’t Murray have a duty to promote tennis to all fans, regardless of their financial means, especially as he clearly does not find offence in playing there?

Tennis is a sport famously associated with the rich and glamorous. It’s often seen to be a sport of the beautiful people, but tennis is also a sport that speaks to fans from a huge kaleidoscope of backgrounds.

Unlike other sports tennis has a low cost of entry and tennis courts can be found dotted all around the globe. It is a sport designed for the masses to participate in so what better than an arena than encourages the everyday tennis fan?

And there is no better persona in international tennis than Andy Murray to bring tennis to the masses.

Long live Sir Andy Murray and his reign of tennis for the masses.