Doha tennis crowd - what's your impression?
I have been attending the tennis matches in Doha for many years, and had a nice time at the finals last night as always. (Nadal & Davydenko gave us a good show!)
However, I've noticed that more and more spectators in Doha are displaying poor "tennis etiquette" during play... Such as:
1. Shouting extremely rude or nonsensical/random comments,
2. Continuing to cheer, jeer or make banging noises when the player is clearly about to serve or is trying to concentrate,
3. Using flash photography even after the announcer asks us to turn flashes off,
4. Stomping feet on the upper level seats (this area is a new addition to the arena and starts SHAKING with too much movement -- do you have a death wish?!),
5. Running up & down the stairs when the ball is in play,
Etc.
I can understand that sometimes people are desperate for a bathroom break or need to stretch their legs, so that last one has a reason. (Tip: if you don't reach the exit or your seat in time, sit down wherever you are. Even on the stairs. It will only be temporary.)
But #1-4, come on. Cheering for your favorite player is great (at the right moment), but we need some self-control and courtesy in such an intimate setting. There are times when the players are clearly irritated although they will not say it out loud. Please don't leave them with a bad impression! They should enjoy playing here as much as we enjoy watching them. And the whole audience should have fun & feel safe too. Don't you agree? Am I the only one who is bothered by this stuff?
Would like to know your opinions and experiences. :)
Interesting to hear good and bad points from you all about this.
I think it's clear to me now that the upper levels are much rowdier...and that's probably why I've experienced more annoyances over the past few years (I haven't been buying the middle & lower level seats lately). Maybe the noise up there doesn't reach the court floor as much as I imagined. Although I still say that I HAVE witnessed a few players getting frustrated with the audience (not for cheering, but for other things). Mostly during the earlier rounds and not the quarters - finals.
In general though...I still love watching tennis here and wouldn't want it to move anywhere else. Wouldn't it be nice though if the federation got more feedback from attendees so they could improve the experience every year? :)
Kts you must have been sitting in a different area then. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy -- I did. Shouting and cheering is absolutely a fun thing to do at any sporting event, but what I mean is that some people clearly don't know the right time to quiet down.
Anyway, glad to hear you had a nice time there.
I have found over the years that the 'tennis etiquette' is getting better.
however I do think that a small flyer should be handed out just in case people don't know and I don't think people should bring babies in.
First, i am very glad that one important compettion is done in our arabic county, and i only saw some parts in tv, but in those time, shouting become every day more in a lot of stadiums including some europeans ones. We hope that the next time the responsibles of the crowde do more effort to advise the spectators.
I wish to see you all in Godo Barcelona open tennis (19-25 April)
Salam
I was there in the stadium for the quarters and semis and found it to be extremely pleasent.The occasional shouting adds to the fun as far as I felt . Seen it happen during wimbledon as well. We have players like Serena walking out and shouting epithets. If you are not happy with the crowd ,dont go to the stadium. Go bake a cake.
Shouting between the serves and inbetween the rallies is bad. The chair Umpire often reminds us about that. So no need to worry!
Otherwise making loud noises and cheering/jeering is allowed. Nothing bad about it.
Flash photography is strictly forbidden. This one is generally adhered to, except for a few nutters here & there.
Also mobile phone should be switched to the discreet mode, which was not being done by many people in the upper tiers. I don't know whether this disturbs the players or not.
There is a good solution: Move the tournament, same as the Dakar race has been. For similar reasons.
I guess everyone will agree when I say that balls boys were too lazy to run and to get the ball the soonest. They are not agile compared to other ball boys in other Tennis Tourney's i have watched on TV and live in some parts of the world... they should get more training, I believe more than the stomping and unlikely noise made by unruly crowd, the standard and etiquette should start from the tennis court itself.
I agree alicat, maybe there should be some kind of pamphlet or something distributed before the matches.
But you know what, it's not only little kids who create disturbances. The grown-ups (of all nationalities & walks of life) are just as guilty! ;>
Many of the disturbances are unsupervised children who use the event as a social gathering - especially on the upper levels. Parents/ drivers/ nannies just drop their children off at the complex.
Many ball girl / boys that are not on duty on any of the courts gather on the upper areas and see it as a place to hang out - they are not supervised at this point.
Unless told many people in Qatar will not know the etiquette for watching a game of tennis at that level or - any level for that matter. Should the organisers think of a page in their programme or posters displaying the etiquette?