- James Duckworth was abused at home
- The Australian's mistakes on the field were celebrated
- He was playing against the Spanish Roberto Carballés Baena.
Australian tennis personality John Millman has said he “felt really bad” for his compatriot James Duckworth after “fans” began applauding the points he dropped in their second round match at Melbourne Park.
Duckworth, 32, lost in straight sets to Spain's Roberto Carballés Baena on Thursday and at times looked on in disbelief on Court 3 as his errors were wildly applauded.
The boos did not come from Spanish fans, but rather from enthusiastic fans of Lebanese star Hady Habib, who was due to play the next match on the same court against Frenchman Ugo Humbert, according to news corporation.
Millman didn't mince his words when it came to “Duckworth's poor treatment in his home slam”.
“I felt really bad for Ducks, he's a good friend of mine, you're at your slam at home and they're cheering you on because they want to see the next match,” Millman said on the ABC Tennis Podcast.
“I think that's where you have to have a little more class. That's what you (the players) have to deal with at the Australian Open.
Australian tennis player John Millman (pictured) has said he “felt really bad” for his compatriot James Duckworth after “fans” began applauding the points he lost in their second round match at Melbourne Park.
Duckworth, 32, lost in straight sets to Spaniard Roberto Carballés Baena and at times looked on in disbelief on Court 3 as his mistakes were applauded.
News Corp reported that the applause came from enthusiastic Lebanese fans (pictured) who wanted to see Hady Habib play in the next match on the same court against Frenchman Ugo Humbert.
'You're going to have some noisy followers. “We live in a very multicultural country, so there will be a lot of people who will have ties to a lot of different countries and support their cause.”
And according to the publication, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Félix Auger-Aliassime requested to move away from a nearby court due to the constant noise coming from Court 3.
Millman also added that the Australian Open crowd rivals the French one as the most intense.
“The loudest crowds are the Australian Open and the French Open,” he said.
“The Parisians really support their French players in particular, if you have one of them you know there will be a wild atmosphere.”
“The Australian crowd on the outside courts can get close to that line and sometimes maybe cross it.”
Fortunately for Duckworth, his tournament is not over after Carballes Baena bested him.
Sydney-bred Duckworth will team up with Aleksandar Vukic in the doubles, with the duo scheduled to play fellow Australians Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round at John Cain Arena on Thursday night.
James Duckworth will partner Aleksandar Vukic in doubles, with the duo facing fellow Australians Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round.
It remains to be seen whether the match will go ahead given the physical concerns of Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, who struggled with his pectoral problem during his marathon five-set second-round loss to No.15 seed Jack Draper.
He later confirmed that this was a long-standing problem that caused “physical and mental torture.”
Kokkinakis admitted he would probably have to retire from doubles as another long spell on the sidelines awaits him.
“I feel like I'm letting him (Kyrgios) down, I'm letting people down, but yeah, I don't know,” he said on Wednesday night.
'Tomorrow I won't be able to lift my arm. Then we'll see. “Unless we're both playing with serves under our belts, it seems pretty unlikely.”